Here Be Monsters
by FoxFireWitch
Summary: She was used to the chains by now. Old and heavy, made from metal that wouldn't rust. A collar just shy of being tight enough to choke. But in the end even stone turned into dust, and time was the only thing she had. So she would wait, for freedom or death, whichever came first. [rewrite of 'Of Men And Monsters']
1. I - To See the Sun Once More

_She was used to the chains by now. Old and heavy, made from metal that wouldn't rust. A collar just shy of being tight enough to choke. But in the end even stone turned into dust, and time was the only thing she had. So she would wait, for freedom or death, whichever came first._

. . .

 **A/N:**

This is a rewrite of 'Of Men and Monsters'. The main character is an OC, so do not expect Naruto to be the focus of this story. He was the hero in canon and he won't suddenly become some useless little nobody, but it is not him this stories follows. Accordingly you don't necessarily get to read about everything he does or learns.

That being said, I am not immune common pitfalls like making a character too strong or special or what have you. So feel free to point it out if I'm going overboard. I might not always agree, but I will certainly keep any and all criticism in mind and am grateful for it.

. . .

 **I - To See the Sun Once More**

Chikako woke to a familiar pain. Head hanging on her chest because the muscles in her neck were too weak and too stiff to keep it upright. Skin caked in dried blood and old grime. It itched and prickled, and she was half convinced it would come off with the dirt if she scratched at it. Not that that was an option. Her wrists had been chained to the wall above her head for days now. Arms long gone numb, yet somehow still burning and shoulders alternately screaming in pain or just dully throbbing in sync with her heartbeat.

She'd found herself in that position a lot lately, but never this long. When was the last time she'd had food? Water? It seemed like weeks. She couldn't even remember. There were so many things she couldn't remember, didn't want to. Pale face and golden eyes. A friendly smile, twisted in anger, then came the pain, so much pain.

She'd had questions in the beginning. Where's mommy? And daddy? Who are you? Many, many questions. Pain was a good teacher though. Don't ask, don't suffer. Easy. Effective. It was one of his favorite tools. Pleasure was the other, and they worked so well together. When there was nothing but pain, always pain, feeling numb became bliss. He liked drugs too. Here, take a pill and feel alive.

But only good children got to not be in pain and Chikako had never been a very good child. He liked her because she was smart, that was how she'd gotten her name. She didn't remember the real one. The one from before. He'd said it didn't matter. He'd given her a new one, a gift. There weren't many with names. Most just had numbers. Hers had been seven. One of the first. Strong to last this long. A favorite. Sheltered, he'd said.

The others screamed when he stuck them with needles, cut them open or painted lines on their skin. They bleed and begged and cried. Some lived, some didn't. He did it to her too. Once it was safe, once he knew she wouldn't die. She never got to die. Doomed to stay alive and suffer. Because she was his favorite. White snake. Monster among men.

He hid well. Slithered around their rules and beneath their feet. Weak he'd called them. Blind. But he'd been gone for a while now. Days at least. It wasn't right. They were his precious little experiments. His children. And they were screaming. Why were they screaming when he wasn't even here? Someone else was though. That wasn't right either. There had never been anyone else before, just the snake and the children.

Now there were animals with white faces and dark fur. One looked like a dog, but he didn't growl or bark. He just stood there and stared at her with mismatched eyes. One was dark, old and empty like her own. The other was red and spinning slowly. That one belonged to someone else. She could tell. He felt like thick, gray clouds and lightning. The eye though was fire and smoke, burning hot and excited, where the rest of him was like the calm before the storm.

The other children were wild things. She could almost taste their pain and fear in the air. They struggled and screamed. Fought for their lives. She didn't see why. What was the point? All another day would bring was more misery. They should be thankful to be granted death early, even if it was at the hands of more white animals. Her dog seemed nice though. he was still quiet, just watching her as she watched him back.

Her mind was fuzzy, she knew. Not enough food or water, too many drugs. She was burning up from the inside out, yet every breeze that slipped through the half-open door only made her shiver. The colors weren't right either, or rather there were too many, too vibrant. The lights down here were never that bright, but she could see everything. Even the things she usually just felt. Chakra in the air like mist and wrapping around the dog tightly. Then her chains were gone and the world suddenly shifted, sharply to the left and up.

"Bad dog," she tried to say, but it sounded slurred even to her. Chikako could feel acid burning in her throat. Closed her eyes against the vertigo, but it was no use. She retched, spat what little there was left in her stomach out and onto the dogs black fur. He didn't bark then either, but his chakra curled in distaste. She didn't apologize though. It was his fault for not warning her.

. . .

When she woke again she was greeted by white. Ceiling, walls, floor, even the blanket that covered her. Everything was white. And then there was the dog of course. Still there, waiting next to her bed. Her mind was a little hazy, but she could tell now that he wasn't really a dog. His face was a mask, his dark fur a black cloak.

"Dog," she rasped out, forced the word past dry lips.

"Hound," he corrected and held a glass of water to her mouth. She wanted to drink all of it at once, but he didn't let her. He was right of course. It would only make her choke or hurl it up again, but she tried anyway. He took the glass away when she wouldn't stop struggling. Stared at her with hard eyes until she heaved a sigh and gave up.

. . .

A man barged into the room, black coat billowing out behind him as if caught by a breeze. There were scars on his face, the top of his head covered by dark cloth and more of the white animals behind him. _Men_ , she thought. They were men, not animals. That was important. Animals just did what they needed to to survive, but men did what they wanted. Men could be monsters.

"Bring her to room 6C," the one without mask instructed and the others obeyed. Was he the worst of them then? The others didn't seem afraid though. Their actions weren't hastened by the fear of someone expecting punishment if they didn't move fast enough. Maybe they were numb too.

Sometimes the snake got tired of punishing her because she didn't scream anymore. But why should she? It never helped anyway. He had seemed to like the sound, the song created by pain. Not screaming had become her own little rebellion. There wasn't much else she could do to defy him.

So when these people picked her up she didn't scream either. Nothing but a huff escaped her as her bruised ribs were jostled. The dog noticed though. No, _Hound_ , he'd said. He took her from the one with a cat mask. Not gently, but mindful of her wounds. The cat didn't bristle and Hound didn't growl, so their odd little procession moved in silence. Out of the white room and into gray hallways.

These were a lot more like what she was used to. They were cleaner and the biting smell of chemicals didn't cling to the air, but they seemed familiar all the same. It was comforting somehow, even as echos of old pain flashed through her mind.

Hound placed her on a wooden chair at some point. The room it was in square and empty but for a table and another chair. The maskless man sat down on that one. Hound moved to stand in one of the corners behind her, but the other two left without being told to. They knew this game then. Chikako wondered if someone would explain the rules to her or if she had to figure them out for herself. She needn't have worried.

"I will ask questions, and you will answer truthfully and to the best of your ability," the maskless man instructed. He stared at her with hard eyes and it took her a moment to guess why. He was waiting for confirmation. She blinked, then nodded. That earned her a tiny smile and the killing intent she hadn't even noticed before lessened. How odd. The snake had always just expected that his orders were understood and followed. What he said was law, no discussions, no arguments. Would this man allow her to ask questions? What an intriguing thought.

Chikako decided she would play his game, and play it well. When he asked if she knew the name Orochimaru she didn't just say yes. She told him everything she had ever learned about the white snake and what he did. It was fascinating to watch the man's expression. He didn't wear a literal mask, but his face was one all the same. The muscles barely ever moving, so at odds with the way his chakra simmered in quiet anger. Behind her Hound's was a veritable storm, but she didn't turn around. This game was about information and she couldn't give hers away for free. So when she was done talking she asked a question of her own, and when the maskless man refused to answer she did the same.

He was smart enough not to threaten her with pain. It wouldn't have worked. Instead he tried a different tactic. Offering answers as payment before she could come up with questions herself. The trades weren't fair, but he was in the stronger position and she didn't want to risk ending the game by testing the rules too much.

"My name is Ibiki Morino," he told her and then waited expectantly.

"Chikako," she told him. "It's not the real one, I don't remember that."

It was good enough apparently, so they continued playing. For hours and hours he would share little things and get little things in return. He was the head of Torture and Interrogation, T&I for short. She had been the most important experiment, the favorite child. T&I belonged to the Intelligence Division. Orochimaru had been trying to change chakra somehow. Hound was part of the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad, ANBU. Chikako was eight years old and her number had been seven before she got a name.

"The village you are in is called Konohagakure," he offered.

"What an insight," she scoffed. "I know that, I was born here. Your offers are getting cheap."

"They are indeed," he admitted, standing up slowly. She flinched back, expecting to be struck and toppling her chair in her haste to get away. Ibiki stopped dead in his tracks, watching, waiting. Hound's chakra had surged at the sudden movement, but he hadn't left his corner.

It took Chikako several minutes to calm down again. She could endure pain, but that didn't mean she liked it. She nodded at Ibiki when she was convinced they were still playing the game. Just words, no violence. Questions and answers, those were the rules.

. . .

They kept playing for several weeks, months even. Hound wasn't always the one watching from a corner in the back of the room. There were a cat and weasel, hare and ox, even a boar one time. Some of them were calmer than Hound, some younger, come older. The cat might be a woman. But regardless of who they were, none of them ever left that spot in the corner for the hours Ibiki and Chikako played their game.

She had been given her own room for the time in-between sessions. Or cell, considering it was locked and a guard posted outside. Still, it was nicer than any place she remembered living in before. She had an actual bed with a soft mattress. A thick blanket and fluffy pillows to ward off the chill that never quite left these halls. Ibiki had taken to trading books for her more interesting answers. He even let her choose, always bringing at least three different ones. She also got a shelf to store her treasures.

The first book she picked was called 'The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi'. When Ibiki warned her that this one had sold poorly she told him she didn't care. She wanted that one because she recognized the author's name. Jiraiya was one of the Sannin. Orochimaru had ranted about him sometimes, forgetting that his little experiments were in fact children, able to listen and understand. The snake hadn't said it in so many words, but Chikako knew that he cared for his teammates. It was, after all, the losses all of them had suffered during the war that drove him to despise human fragility, to test the limits to which the body could be modified.

Chikako thought he might be searching for a way to become immortal. He was fascinated with her extraordinary sensing abilities, but the thing he really cared for was how fast she healed. How much abuse her body could take before it threatened to break down. How many days without sustenance it could endure before it started to consume itself.

The tale Jiraiya had written was about a ninja named Naruto. From what she knew about shinobi he wasn't a very good one. He was loud, flashy and obnoxious. His every action was colored and driven by emotions. And yet, he never gave up and somehow managed to actually prevail in the end.

The next book Chikako chose was barely more than a booklet. It listed the Shinobi Rules. Apparently they were taught to children in the Academy, a place were one learned how to be a ninja. She used it to better evaluate Naruto's behavior in The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi, but that only made him seem like an even worse ninja. Rule four stated that 'a shinobi must always put the mission first' and rule twenty-five 'a shinobi must never show their tears'.

Only, Naruto broke those frequently. He would cry for the lost and dead or even out of joy, and he would ignore his orders in order to do 'the right thing'. Chikako didn't know how he decided what was right. He just seemed to know and people agreed with him, even when what he had done was against the rules.

She asked Ibiki about it, and while he was willing enough to answer, it wasn't very helpful. On one hand he insisted that the rules existed for a reason. That they were important and should be obeyed. On the other though, he explained that blind obedience could be just as bad, if not worse, than disregarding the rules. In the end he advised her to try and understand the reasoning behind them, to act according to the spirit of a law instead of it's letter he called it.

It took a while before Ibiki offered her books that contained obviously practical knowledge, like how to use chakra. He said she could read it and keep it in her room, but she was not to try any of the exercises on her own. It was fascinating. Orochimaru had never taught her anything more than she strictly needed to know. Just enough to describe what she could sense to him, or which of her organs was in pain after he administered some new concoction.

She obeyed Ibiki, not willing to risk losing any of her printed treasures. Her reward were more practical books and after a while the freedom to visit the public library with one of the silent ANBU as her guard. The first time Chikako had been so excited, she completely forgot that there would be other people. The busy street with all of it's noise and buzzing chakra had completely overwhelmed her and the guard, it had been Hound that day, had to carry her shivering form back to her room.

Two days later Weasel offered to take her to the library at night, when the streets would be empty. He actually had to coax her into agreeing, but she was glad that he cared enough to bother. In the dark only a few shinobi jumped from building to building, the Roof Paths, Weasel called it. None of them paid them any mind though.

. . .

One day another man without a mask was there when Hound let her to the interrogation room she and Ibiki played their game in. He was very old, with a few darker spots on the leathery skin of his face. There were deep wrinkles around his eyes and mouth that made it seem like he laughed at lot.

"You're the Hokage aren't you?" She asked him and he nodded, smiling. Many of the library books mentioned him. Hiruzen Sarutobi the Sandaime. He had also been Orochimaru's and Jiraiya's sensei at some point.

"Would you like to leave this place? Maybe become a shinobi of Konoha?" He offered. She could feel Hound's chakra curl in on itself. There was a tension to it and mild anger. He hadn't known this - whatever it was - was going to happen and it worried him. She glanced in Ibiki's direction, but he was perfectly calm, at ease even. This was the kind of question that had a wrong answer then and he either didn't care or thought she would get it right.

She'd read many a book about Konohagakure, her shinobi and values, in order to better understand Naruto's tale. They wanted loyalty and honesty, trust in their leader. Valued strength in order to protect those that could not protect themselves.

"I will serve," she told him. _Will_ , not want. Very careful not to lie to this man, who had earned the title God of Shinobi on the battlefield. If serving gave her the freedom to learn, to become stronger, so that she might protect herself, then that was what she would do.

. . .

She was given a small apartment of her own. Right next door to Ibiki, who frequently left interesting books on her doorstep. Sometimes he'd invite her over for lunch, because he knew she couldn't cook to save her life he claimed. She knew better. It was to continue playing their little game of ask and answer. The questions were different now, more concerned with her progress and how she liked Konoha, and less with what had happened to her in Orochimaru's care.

Chikako didn't quite understand that Ibiki was actually concerned for her wellbeing until Weasel took the time to explain it to her. After three months he also told her that he no longer had official orders to watch her and wouldn't be able to visit as often. It made her sadder than she could reasonably explain. Weasel was one of the few guards that bothered talking to her at all. Most, like Hound, had perfected the art of using the least amount of words necessary to give instructions and generally kept at a distance, and some, like Cat, never made a sound at all.

Weasel though would sit at a table and read books with her. He'd discuss the theory and explain what she didn't understand, so that she might catch up to the Academy kids her age faster. She wouldn't actually be allowed to go to school with them, but the Hokage had promised she could take the graduation exam at the same time. Her exam wouldn't be the same because she would have to demonstrate all the things the other children got tested in over the years as well, but if she managed she would receive a hitai-ate like everyone else.

Learning with Weasel was very helpful. He knew a lot of tricks the books never even mentioned. For example, when one was pretending to be a civilian it was important not to completely suppress one's chakra. That would make other shinobi suspicious because even people without training had a certain amount of chakra. Weasel was usually polite and friendly, sometimes he would even joke around or laugh with her, but under all that he hid a deep sadness. Chikako had asked about it once, but he'd told her not to worry. Apparently the information was classified, so he wasn't allowed to tell her, but it would be fine in the end.

She trusted him, he'd never been wrong before. So when one day - about three months before her ninth birthday - a note appeared on her desk that said to become strong enough to keep herself safe, she promised the empty room she would do whatever it took. It was the last time she heard from Itachi Uchiha.

The paper called it a tragedy. The Uchiha Massacre. The sad tale of a young prodigy who had snapped under the expectations of his clan, who couldn't handle the pressure and rebelled in the only way he knew how. Chikako had snorted derisively at that particular phrase. Murdering a whole clan was not something a rebellious teenager just did to cope with life. Especially not Itachi who hated nothing more than violence.

It was a little as if the journalists couldn't quite decide whether to mourn the loss of one of the founding clans at the hands of it's brilliant heir or whether to pity the boy himself. Apparently the Uchiha had been blamed, only in whispers of course, for the attack on Konoha and the death of the Yondaime Hokage a little over eight years ago. Chikako hadn't even been a year old at the time, so she didn't know what had actually happened and records on the matter were few and far between. Whatever the Uchiha did or didn't do to deserve their death, it was buried deep beneath a mountain of classified files.

One day, Chikako promised herself and Weasel, she'd be high enough in the ranks to uncover all the hidden truths. For now however she had to learn enough to become a genin.

. . .

Both Hound and Cat, as if in silent agreement, began visiting Chikako the day after Itachi was officially declared a nukenin. Cat, as was her habit, never said a word. Sometimes she'd nod in greeting when she passed Chikako and other times the ANBU would escort her home after a long day in the library. The visits were short and occurred in irregular intervals. The time in between lengthening over the course of a year until they stopped completely.

With Hound it was the opposite. He was silent and reserved at first. Never acknowledging that he was even aware of her presence. He just happened to be there whenever she got lost exploring the village or ran into people of dubious reputation. She knew better of course, was familiar enough with his chakra signature to notice it trailing her without even trying.

She made a game out of slipping the tail and then attempting to surprise him. The first worked often enough. Itachi's tips and her ability to sense and manipulate chakra made it quite easy. The second though was harder. It turned out Hound had some actual hounds and hiding scent when sneaking up on someone was a lot more difficult than getting lost in a crowd at the market.

The first time Chikako couldn't sense Hound for a whole month she'd been afraid he had grown tired of the game and decided to move on like Cat, but then one of his ninken had found her. A grumpy little pug - Pakkun was his name - let her know that Hound had been on a mission that landed him in the hospital. He'd also snuck out, which was apparently a common occurrence. The pug asked her to deliver some food because the dogs could only help so much and Hound was being a stubborn idiot. That was how she learned Hound's real name was Kakashi Hatake and that he could play dead quite convincingly.

Pakkun helped her break into the flat without killing herself by setting off any traps. He also explained that suffering from chakra exhaustion wasn't a rare thing for Kakashi, but that it usually wasn't quite as bad either. She lived in his flat for a week, getting food and keeping watch until he was strong enough to take care of himself again.

He never thanked her, just claimed he was an adult and could look after himself. He did, however, come to her flat instead of crawling into his own when he escaped the hospital the next time. One of his dogs also just happened to run into her whenever Kakashi would be gone for more than a handful of days.

Curiously enough, Hound, or any of the ANBU really, was one of the few topics Ibiki never brought up when they had lunch together. It was possible he didn't know how long they had been around, or in Hound's case still were, she supposed. Chikako had never been under the illusion that her flat being right next to Ibiki's was a coincidence. He had clearly been under orders to keep an eye on her as well, but those orders had only lasted for three months according to Itachi. Now when Ibiki asked how she was or if she needed anything it was because he wanted to know, not because it was his job.

The head of T&I wasn't as good a teacher as Itachi had been, but they managed. The first thing he made her learn was Konoha Standard. A simple encryption that wasn't classified. It could be used in many ways, for example tapped out as an audible code or written down as encoded messages. Ibiki insisted the best way to learn codes was to use them, so sometimes they would have whole discussions without saying a single word.

Kakashi thought it was too annoying when there was no actual information that had to be kept secret. His ninken indulged her though. The ones that couldn't speak the human language were more than happy to in fact.

. . .

On the nineteenth of January, the year after Chikako's twelfth birthday, it was finally time to take her graduation exam. Between the tips Itachi had given her and the lessons she managed to annoy out of Ibiki and Kakashi over the years it was surprisingly easy.

First they had her fill out a written exam and then prove her physical abilities. For the latter Chikako had to complete an obstacle course that involved anything from swimming, to running, with a little bit of climbing and using chakra to walk up walls sprinkled in. Judging by the face of the teacher who oversaw that test, she hadn't actually been expected to be able to do that last one.

Next was ninjutsu. For that she had to demonstrate hand seals as they were called out. Then she had to watch increasingly longer sequences, memorize them and repeat them back. At some point the teacher started using seals she had never seen before and the sequences got so long that she couldn't remember the end, that was when they moved on to the next test. Namely demonstrating Transformation and Clone techniques. Those were especially hard. Not because she didn't know how, but because wrestling her chakra into them always felt wrong. As if she was trying to force a somewhat oval ball through a round hole that was just a little too narrow. It worked in the end, but if she did it too fast or too often it would hurt. Nothing major in the beginning, just slight cell damage caused by chakra burn. It healed fast enough, but she knew from experience that it would get exponentially worse if she didn't rest long enough in-between using jutsu.

After ninjutsu came genjutsu. First she had to tell when she was and wasn't being influence by one. Or at least that had been the plan. In reality her own chakra reacted rather violently to foreign chakra in her system. Which meant that minor genjutsu, like the one she was supposed to spot, were dispelled almost before they took hold. If she didn't pay attention she couldn't even tell that someone had tried to put her under one. Stronger genjutsu she had to actively dispel herself, but because her chakra reacted to those as well she didn't miss a single one. The teacher gave up after a while and told her to perform a genjutsu instead. She had a feeling that was another one of those things he didn't expect her to be able to do.

He was almost right. Chikako knew just one genjutsu and even that only because Kakashi had used it on her a few dozen times, not because he had actually been trying to teach it. It was called the Hell Viewing Technique and made someone see their greatest fear. The jutsu only worked over short distances and wasn't particularly convincing because the fear just suddenly appeared, but it would do. Kakashi had used it on her to test her innate defense against genjutsu and to make sure she wouldn't suddenly go into shock or become violent if she saw something that reminded her of life as one of Orochimaru's experiments. The teacher overseeing the graduation exam - his name was Iruka Umino - didn't seem quite sure whether he should be happy or sad that she passed that test as well.

It confused Chikako a little. He'd wished her luck before they had started. That had been genuine as far as she could tell. Yet during the actual exam, whenever she did a little better than he expected, it made him uncomfortable.

Her last test was a sparring match, taijutsu only, against a different teacher. He didn't give a name, only said he specialized in training other ninja. The fight didn't go very well for her. It started out slow, but whenever Chikako landed a blow or dodged one of his he would speed it up a little. She had never been very strong, even with the help of chakra to augment her muscles, so the ninken had focused on making her fast instead. She could run with them for hours at a time, but this man was always a little faster than her. In the end she had to concede defeat.

They made her wait outside for an hour, presumably to look over her written exam. It was well worth it though. When Iruka opened the door again he handed her a hitai-ate - her very own! - and made her officially a shinobi of the Leaf.

. . .

Three days later Chikako found herself in an Academy classroom for the first time. There were twenty-nine other children, half of which gave her odd looks. They probably all knew each other, whereas she was an outsider. The new girl to join the class on the last day of school. She wasn't the only one being stared at though. There was a loud, blond boy in the room who had apparently failed the exam and then managed to graduate anyway. And after a while she noticed some people whispering about another boy at the back of the room. He was very pale and the smile on his face seemed oddly frozen in place. There was quite a bit of space around him and he seemed to be new as well.

"Do you mind?" Chako asked, pointing to the empty seat on his left. She wasn't about to make herself a nuisance if he preferred to sit alone, but there weren't that many free places to sit and most of the other children weren't nearly as calm as him.

"Mind what?"

At first she thought he was mocking her, but he looked genuinely confused, as if he really didn't understand the question, so she explained it to him. It was a little bit of a struggle. Apparently he took phrases quite literally and had never even heard of idioms. The boy, Sai, did know a lot about the rules and regulations though. Chikako appreciated the distraction, even if his behavior was a little odd. They were in the middle of a discussion about when braking a rule might be appropriate - never, according to him - when Iruka entered the room.

The teacher gave a little speech about what it meant for them to officially enter the shinobi force. He explained that they would be divided into three man teams and assigned to a jonin sensei. Some of the children looked surprised by that announcement, which was really weird considering in how many books Chikako had read about this policy. Konoha was practically famous for her focus on teamwork. Iruka didn't pay any attention to the reactions, instead he simply began to list the members of each team.

There were some big names among the graduates. Team 8 and Team 10 were actually entirely comprised of clan heirs. Both of Sai's teammates on the other hand had last names that didn't mean anything to Chikako. One was a boy with mousy brown hair that seemed completely unremarkable. The other was a girl who wore a red dress that clashed horribly with her petal pink hair. She - and most of the other girls really - had protested rather loudly when Chikako was assigned to Team 7 with one Sasuke Uchiha. They had calmed down a little at the announcement that the other member of Team 7 would be Naruto Uzumaki though. Not that Chikako had cared, she was way too horrified by the fact that Kakashi would be their sensei.

She liked Kakashi. Really. He was pack. He was the one who taught her about pack. But he was also a horrible teacher, who ascribed to a figure-it-out-yourself philosophy. Chikako had probably gotten more actual lessons from Pakkun than from Kakashi, and that pug was one cranky little dog.

. . .

 **A/N:**

To those who are new here: welcome and thank you for reading.

And to those that have already read my first attempt at this story: welcome back, I hope you enjoy this version as well. As you might have noticed I have tried to change both the way I'm writing and a few things about the story itself.


	2. I - Long Shadows

**A/N:**

 _Kreivan Reyhers_

Thank you, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

 _milkymou_

Don't worry Ibiki can be a mother hen even without the official excuse and Sai is still going to be in contact with Chikako. The relationship with Kakashi is actually not new either, I mostly just made it more clear.

. . .

 **I - Long Shadows**

Iruka told them to take a lunch break, after which they would be introduced to their respective senseis. Most of the children took that as permission to completely ignore anything else the teacher did and started loudly talking to and about their new teammates.

The new Ino-Shika-Cho trio hadn't been a surprise to anyone, seeing as the original version - which was comprised of their fathers - was well known for their exceptional teamwork. The Nara and Akimichi of this generation seemed happy enough with the arrangement and had apparently been friends for years. The Yamanaka, however, had - like most of the girls - been hoping to be on Sasuke's team and was now quietly sulking. At least until she noticed the pink haired girl, Sakura, trying to introduce herself to Sai.

The boy predictably took anything she said at face value and otherwise ignored her because small-talk was another thing he had never heard of before. Ino had a field day throwing in mocking jabs, like how he wouldn't be interested in someone with such a large forehead. Sakura countered this by calling Ino a pig. Meanwhile Sai just kept staring ahead, seemingly content to stay in that exact position until his sensei came to fetch him.

Chikako watched the spectacle for a while, but got bored quickly. Both of her new teammates had left the room almost the second Iruka had told them to take a break, so she didn't get a chance to introduce herself. Ibiki would be at work this time of day and Kakashi was likely to avoid any and all genin until several hours after he absolutely had to meet them.

"Sai, come sit with me?" She called. He gave both Sakura and Ino, whose little fight seemed only moments away from involving more than verbal attacks, a look and then walked over to Chikako. Sai didn't even manage to sit down though before the girls noticed and refocused their ire. They got surprisingly creative in their threats when they accused her of first stealing Sasuke and now the new boy.

"We could kill them," Sai suggested in a very bland voice when he saw Chikakos half-panicked, half-confused expression. Neither of the girls took him seriously, cooing about his sense of humor instead, but Chikako wasn't so sure. It didn't seem very likely that he would have learned what jokes were in the past hour, so she shook her head just in case.

"Let's just get out of here," she told him. Sai didn't respond in any way, merely stared at her and waited. It reminded Chikako so much of herself that first time she had met Ibiki that her eyes widened in shock and then she took of running. Sai was right behind her, easily keeping up with her chakra enhanced speed. He didn't have a problem navigating the Roof Paths either.

. . .

Chikako ran for several minutes before she finally stopped on top of Hokage Rock. Her little panic attack had taken her straight to the giant stone face of the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju. Sai appeared at her side only a heartbeat later. They were both breathing somewhat shakily, but the boy likely hadn't even realized that she'd been trying to run away from him for the first part of that sprint.

How could he be so much like her, yet so different at the same time? He wasn't one of Orochimaru's children, she was sure of that much. His chakra felt completely normal, not a trace of the snake's sick experiments at all. But someone broke him. just how many monsters lived in the shadow of the Leaf?

"What do you think about the other teams?" She asked him, just to distract herself.

He listed them of as if reading from a file. Team number, jonin sensei, members and some of their individual strength and weaknesses, followed by the possible specializations. He didn't have information on everyone - mostly just those from prominent clans - but it was interesting nonetheless and certainly more than Chikako had known.

Team 8 under Kurenai Yuhi - a genjutsu specialist and new jonin - comprised of Kiba Inuzuka - primarily taijutsu, tracker - Hinata Hyuga - primarily taijutsu, tracker - and Shino Aburame - primarily ninjutsu, tracker. Sai noted that Kiba was stupid and brash, and Hinata shy and weak. He didn't seem to have a problem with Shino though.

It sounded as if he was repeating someone else's words, and not just because he rattled it off without any kind of inflection. Sai didn't seem to have an opinion on the character flaws he described at all, which meant he probably wasn't the one who had noticed them in the first place. Chikako didn't think that he had gotten some teachers personal notes on the students and official files - which he also shouldn't have access to - would not be this subjective. So were did he get his information? Could he still be in contact with his monster? Chikako had gotten a lot better after being away from Orochimaru for a few years, but Sai didn't even acknowledge orders - suggestions really - he just did as told.

If his monster was really still looming over him she couldn't ask about it. He was here, no chains, no collars, no watchers, free. There was either more she couldn't see, his monster had broken him so thoroughly that he simply never got better or he stayed with it of his own free will. None of these possibilities made her want to meddle and risk drawing the monsters attention to herself. But it might already be too late. All he'd said about her when describing Team 7 was 'unknown', on Sasuke, Naruto and even Kakashi he had quite a bit of information however.

Whoever Sai's monster was liked to know things, and it was interested in her team. If it were her she would try to learn everything she could about an unknown member. How much could she trust that assumption though? And how much was she willing to risk for an attempt at damage control that might very well have the opposite effect?

Ibiki had taught her a little about interrogation. 'You want the subject to think you are on the same side', he'd told her. People didn't tell enemies anything and even if they did the information couldn't be trusted. Friends and allies, however, were an entirely different matter.

"Once a week," Chikako told Sai, not even bothering with a preamble he wouldn't appreciate anyway, "Ibiki, he's kind of my guardian, and I have lunch together. He's rather busy you see, but he tries to make time to ask about my day." She made a pause to think about how to best involve Sai in a conversation, when the boy actually took the initiative.

"The head of T&I is your guardian?" He asked and she was a little surprised at the tiny note of incredulity in his voice. It was the first sign of emotion she had noticed him display, since introducing herself this morning.

"Kind of," she repeated. "He isn't officially, but he still behaves like it."

"And you ... report to him?"

'Not exactly,' was what she wanted to say. To explain that Ibiki wasn't her superior, but someone who genuinely cared for her. Sai wouldn't understand that though. He wouldn't think their situations were alike if she put it in those terms. So instead Chikako gave him a nod.

"Do you have someone like that?"

Sai hesitated, unsure, but then he gave a small nod of his own. She almost missed it with the way he froze up right afterwards. Was he expecting punishment? Was even that little bit of sharing prohibited?

"It's okay," she told him. "We don't have to talk about anything else right now."

So they sat, silently watching the village below them until it was time to go back. Chikako was a little uncomfortable at first, implications fueled by fear warring for dominance in her mind, but Sai's quiet presence was somehow calming. He didn't expect anything from her, didn't make attempts at empty small-talk, just kept her company.

. . .

They entered the classroom to a curious scene. At least Chikako thought so, Sai seemed completely oblivious - or maybe just indifferent. Sakura was giving Sasuke sullen looks from her table, two rows behind his. The Uchiha didn't pay her any attention however, too busy arguing with Naruto over how real shinobi could untie ropes or something. What had those three been up to during the break?

The looks Iruka shot them were more annoyed than anything, but he didn't comment. Instead he introduced each team to it's new jonin sensei. Each team except for Team 7 that was. Kakashi had of course not been there on time, which surprised Iruka for some reason Chikako couldn't fathom. Had the chunin never even heard of Kakashi? That man was practically legendary for being late to everything, up to and including a summons from the Hokage. At this point Chikako was half convinced that the only reason his ANBU identity wasn't common knowledge, was that Hound was strictly on time or early. The lazy-jonin persona Kakashi put on when he wasn't Hound seemed more like a disguise to her than the literal masks wore, both cloth and porcelain.

Iruka left them alone in the classroom after half an hour or so to attend to his actual duties, which no longer involved babysitting them. Naruto immediately started complaining, now that the Academy teacher wasn't there to admonish him for it anymore. 'Recklessly impatient,' Sai had called him earlier. Chikako hadn't quite believed him then, but now she thought it might actually be an understatement.

The blond was running around the room, peering out of windows and the door in quick succession, as if Kakashi might arrive faster if he just looked hard enough. Sasuke, in contrast, sat at his table, head resting on folded hands and looking supremely bored. Chikako thought she saw his jaw muscles develop a tick when Naruto came up with his fifth plan to pay their sensei back for making them wait. They had all been ludicrous so far and involved various amounts of paint and explosions. She didn't stay to hear the next one.

"Hey! Chikako-chan! Where're you going?" He called after her.

"Getting food," she told him, looking over her shoulder. For a moment he seemed like he wanted to come with her, but then decided against it when Sasuke said something about rules and missing their sensei's arrival. She didn't correct him. He was right about the rules. They were technically required to wait for their team's leader as instructed. In reality however, that might take anywhere from two to five hours, so Chikako decided she'd treat it as one of those cases in which it was appropriate to follow the spirit of the law, rather than it's letter. She'd be back long before Kakashi ever showed his face. And if the jonin had any complaints she'd just refer him to Ibiki.

. . .

Chikako was almost done with her dango and on her way back to the classroom when she ran into Pakkun.

"Fancy meeting you here," the pug said in a manner that suggested the complete opposite. He'd probably been following her for a while, but she'd only noticed his signature a minute ago.

"Dango?" She tried to bribe him.

"I'm not some whore you can just pay off you know?" The little pug huffed.

"Dango and belly rubs?" At that he glared, pretending to be offended, but then fell in step easy enough. They negotiated the whole way back on how many minutes of belly rubbing his silence was worth.

"Trap," Pakkun stopped her when she tried to enter the classroom. He scrunched his little, wrinkled nose up even more than it usually was and then used it to point to the ceiling. Sure enough, there was a chalkboard eraser stuck between wall and door. Chikako dodged the primitive booby trap to Naruto's great disappointment, but it didn't last long. The blond was easily distracted by the dog at her side.

"Whoa, what a cute little -," he started, but was immediately cut of by Pakkun.

"Don't you dare call me a puppy!" The pug growled and Naruto almost had a heart attack.

"It - it - A talking dog!" He stuttered and then ended in a shout.

Chikako glanced between him and the pug. Had he never seen a ninken before? It was possible she supposed. As far as she had been able to tell Kiba's dog couldn't talk so that might not be common knowledge.

"That's sensei's dog," she tried to say, but Naruto didn't let her get the whole sentence out.

"Oh my god! Our sensei is a talking dog!" the blond shouted. He was half hysteric and half excited. Granted, Pakkun's and Kakashi's teaching skills were more or less on the same level, but the idea still seemed silly to Chikako. When she saw the mischievous glint in the pug's eye though she decided to play along.

. . .

By the time Kakashi finally entered the room Naruto was completely enraptured by the silly tales of S-rank missions Pakkun made up. The pug was claiming to have rescued several princesses with some super secret canine techniques. Even Sasuke, who had been incredibly skeptical at the prospect of a dog sensei, seemed half convinced.

"How can I say this? My first impression is - you are all stupid," Kakashi told them with a deadpan look on his face and Chikako burst out laughing. He took a moment to glare at her and his wayward dog, subtly tapping out 'traitors - sleep - on - floor' with his left hand. That made Chikako laugh even harder. After all, he wouldn't actually make Pakkun sleep on the floor and she had her own flat.

The jonin told them to meet him on the roof and then vanished without another word. Naruto looked completely confused and Pakkun used that opening to disappear in a puff of smoke. Sasuke, who had apparently grasped the situation faster, glared at Chikako as if she had personally offended him. Which, granted, she probably had. Uchiha were proud like that. Or had been she supposed. Itachi was the only other Uchiha left and pride had never been one of his vices.

. . .

"Well then, let's begin with introductions," Kakashi said when they made it up the last set of stairs. He was sitting on the railing that lined the whole roof, back to the village and had seemingly not a care in the world. They sat down several meters in front of him, between two rows of trees that were planted on top of the building for some reason.

"Why don't you introduce yourself first?" Naruto demanded after Kakashi asked for their likes, dislikes and dreams for the future.

"Yeah, you look kinda suspicious," Chikako piped in as seriously as she could. That earned her another glare from Kakashi, but then he shrugged.

"Well, my name is Kakashi Hatake. You are too young to tell you my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future ... hmm. Hobbies though, I have lots of hobbies."

Chikako raised an eyebrow at him, but he simply declared that it was their turn. Sasuke didn't look particularly happy - he never did, did he? - but Naruto seemed eager enough.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki," the blond said, sitting up a little straighter and putting a hand to his hitai-ate. "I like instant ramen and when Iruka-sensei pays for my ramen, but I don't like the three minutes ramen needs to cook. And my dream is to surpass the Hokage, so the people of this village will have to acknowledge my existence!" He finished, jumping up at the end. Then sitting down again added: "My hobbies are pranks I guess."

That was kind of a weird dream. Not the becoming Hokage part itself, but rather the reason for it. Why would he need a whole village to acknowledge him? Kakashi didn't seem all that surprised. The whole spiel about ramen had him confused for a moment, but he didn't bat an eye at the blond's dream. Or rather his chakra didn't react. Kakashi generally had too good of a poker face to show emotion when he didn't mean to.

"Next," he said, scratching the top of his had and making that mop he called hair seem even more unruly than it usually did.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are lot's of things I dislike and I don't like anything," her other teammate declared with an air of impending doom about him. It seemed ridiculously dramatic and only got worse when he continued. "I don't really have a dream, but I do have an ambition. I will resurrect my clan and kill a certain man."

"Itachi," escaped Chikako on a breath before her brain had time to catch up with her mouth. Of course he would want to kill his brother. How had she not even thought about that before? If Itachi had attacked Ibiki or Kakashi she'd come after him just for that, friend or not. And Sasuke had lost more than a guardian figure he'd only known for a few years. He had lost his whole family in one night.

Kakashi's chakra suddenly sparked with lightning, pulling Chikako's attention back to the roof top. Sasuke was standing right in front of her, kunai in hand.

"What do you know of my brother?" He shouted at her, apparently not for the first time either. His eyes were filled with rage, the grip on his weapon so tight that his knuckles had turned white.

"That's enough," Kakashi said and let a wave of killing intent wash over all of them. His voice was steady, barely above a whisper and it made him seem all the more frightening. Naruto was shaking where he sat and Sasuke gasped, letting the kunai clatter to the ground. It wasn't nearly as bad for Chikako, who had felt a lot worse before, but even she had to actively keep her limbs under control.

"Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum. And you," Kakashi gave Sasuke a hard stare, "Are about to do both. And for what? Because she said a name you don't like? Get yourself under control!"

He kept glaring at the Uchiha, not giving him an inch, until Sasuke's shoulders sagged and he sat back down. Then Kakashi was suddenly back to his default persona. A lazy, eccentric and completely unthreatening jonin. It was probably the scariest thing Chikako had ever seen. That ability, to switch mental states in the blink of an eye, that was what made him such a terrifying opponent in battle. It might be peace time and Kakashi might be home, but the mentality necessary to live through a war and come out on top had never truly left him.

"Okay last but not least," he said with a nod in her direction. "The girl."

Chikako didn't skip a beat. She wasn't quite as fast as him, but switching mindsets wasn't new to her either.

"My name is Chikako. I like my pack and dislike whoever threatens it," she said, not even pretending to smile. Her acting skills weren't up to par and she didn't care if the Uchiha heard the underlying threat in her voice. The massacre had been a tragedy, but it wasn't hers. "My dream is to become strong enough to keep myself and everyone I care about safe."

'And I will do whatever it takes to achieve that dream,' she didn't say out loud. Judging by his look, Kakashi heard it anyway, but it wasn't like he didn't already know. He'd been there when she'd lost her chains, when she'd shared her past with Ibiki and when she'd decided to become a shinobi. Kakashi might not necessarily approve of everything her moral code entailed and just how far she was willing to go when pushed, but he knew.

"Well, now that we got that over with. Tomorrow we'll start our duties as shinobi," he said ignoring Naruto's exited exclamations. Apparently it wasn't so easy to keep the blond's mood down.

"First there's going to be a little test. Survival training if you will," at that the jonin actually cackled, which had Chikako a little scared. "Only a handful of the thirty graduates will be chosen to become genin, the rest are just going to be send back to the Academy. The rate of failure for this exam is over sixty-six percent."

Sasuke seemed a little nervous at that, while Chikako was mostly confused and still a little scared that Kakashi could cackle. Naruto though vented his insecurity by shouting at their sensei.

"What? No way! We worked so hard! What was the point of graduating in the first place if you're just gonna send us back?"

"Oh that?" Kakashi waved it off, as if that question had never really occurred to him. "That was just to see who might have a chance. Anyway, tomorrow I'll be testing your real skill on the training ground. Bring whatever tools you think you need. Oh, and skip breakfast, you'll just throw it up."

Their sensei handed each of them a slip of paper with the address of a training ground and a time on it, and then he disappeared in his usual manner. Naruto was frantically searching the paper for some kind of hidden meaning, whereas Sasuke just crumpled his up.

. . .

Today wasn't a lunch-with-Ibiki day, not to mention that lunch had been several hours ago, but that didn't stop Chikako from knocking on his door anyway. He seemed understandably surprised to see her. She usually kept to their routine, but he let her in without a word.

Chikako sat in her spot at the kitchen table for a while, just staring at one of the pans on the wall. Ibiki didn't ask questions then either. He'd learned years ago that waiting her out would generally yield answers faster, and being a professional interrogator meant he wasn't above using that knowledge to it's fullest potential. Instead he made tea for both of them and then sat down across from her.

"I've met a boy today. Sai," she started and then paused for a few seconds before continuing. "He's like me, but I think his monster is still here. Whoever it is .. they are interested in my new team Ibiki."

He tensed, but remained silent. Waiting for what she really wanted from him, and it didn't take long to get that answer too.

"Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha," she said, noting his chakra hitch just the slightest bit at each name. She shot him an incredulous look. At first she'd thought there was something about one of them she needed to know, but this?

"All of them?" She asked, not stopping long enough that he could inform her it was classified. "I know you can't tell me anything. I know. Just ... I can't protect myself, or them for that matter, if I can't see the danger. All I'm asking for is a breadcrumb. Just point me to where the trail begins and I'll follow it on my own."

Her plea was greeted by an even longer silence. Ibiki wasn't throwing her out though. He didn't even seem angry. Conflicted at worst. All she really got from his chakra was concern. And then finally, just when she was about to give up and leave: 'white - tree - had - deep - roots,' he tapped out in a code only the two of them knew. They had both come up with it together as a training exercise. It had never been meant for active use.

Chikako's eyes widened. Just how high was the classification on this? But Ibiki wasn't finished. He tapped out two more sequences of words, pausing a few seconds between them.

'gold - fox - attacked - leaf'

'black - clan - old - rumors'

Not one issue that connected them then, but three separate ones. What was this new monster after? One of them? All of them? What did it know about her teammates? And what did it know about her? Chikako had half-hoped Ibiki would tell her she was imagining things when she had come to him. She would have been hurt that he didn't take her seriously, but actually getting confirmation was so much worse.

She slept on Ibiki's couch that night. He didn't even ask her if she wanted to stay, merely got a spare blanket and pillow from somewhere. It was the first time she was glad Ibiki was such a paranoid bastard because it mean his apartment was secured by so many traps that no intruder would make it in unnoticed. At least that was what she told herself until her body and mind were so tired from being on high alert that she simply blacked out for what little was left of the night at that point.


	3. I - Insolent Punks

**I - Insolent Punks**

Ibiki actually had to wake Chikako the next day. She was usually a light sleeper and tended to wake up with the first birds, but she'd gotten, at best, three hours of sleep last night. Thankfully her quasi guardian had decided to be a nice man that morning and got her out of bed with breakfast instead of cold water.

Still, she was so bleary that it took her five minutes to notice what was wrong with her bedroom after she entered her own flat. She kept a mission ready bag right next to the futon she slept on. The bag was there, just like it should be. The futon, however, wasn't. She blinked at the empty spot stupidly for a while before she remembered the joke she and Pakkun had played on Kakashi yesterday. That asshole had actually stolen her bed.

. . .

Chikako reached the training ground ten minutes early, but both Naruto and Sasuke were already there, and glaring at each other.

"I miss anything important?" She asked them, which prompted Sasuke to glare at her as well.

"How do you know my brother?" He demanded instead of answering her. Chikako sighed. He probably wouldn't let this go so she might as well tell him. If she was honest she had expected this to happen yesterday, after Kakashi left them all on the roof, but maybe Sasuke had still been too shaken at that point.

"We're friends. He used to help me learn for the Academy graduation exam."

Sasuke's eyes widened, incredulous and a little shocked. He stared at her for a moment before letting himself fall to the ground with a heavy thump.

"I've never even heard of you before yesterday," he whispered.

"Well, he wouldn't have been allowed to talk about it. Just about two thirds of my life are classified."

"Like ... you can't tell anyone anything about you?" Naruto piped in, voice unusually quiet.

"More or less. For example, I can tell you that Chikako isn't my real name and that I have no idea who my parents are and whether they are still alive, but I can't tell you why," she explained and then added for Sasuke's benefit: "Itachi used to talk about you. Those were the only times I've ever seen him actually happy. I mean he would laugh or joke with me, but there was always this sense of sadness coloring everything he did. I have no idea why he suddenly murdered your clan though and I get why you want him dead, but don't expect me to help."

"As if I'd need your help," he scoffed. Chikako didn't tell him that he would need all the help he could possibly get. People might call Sasuke the Rookie of the Year, a prodigy even, but he couldn't hold a candle to someone like Itachi. The older Uchiha brother had been ANBU by the time he was ten years old. Sasuke was barely even a genin at twelve. He'd need years to catch up to his brother and that was assuming Itachi didn't improve during that time.

. . .

The mood hadn't gotten much better by the time Kakashi showed up. Two hours and forty-three minutes late. The three of them had mostly just sat around on the ground, staring into space and not talking to each other.

"Hey guys, good morning!" Their sensei called cheerfully, completely ignoring Naruto's outrage at his lateness and the glares Sasuke shot in Chikako's direction every few minutes. Instead he placed an old alarm clock on one of the three wooden posts to one side of the training ground. Then he held up two bells and explained that their job would be to take them from him. Whoever didn't have a bell at noon wouldn't get lunch and be tied to a post. And then he added - as if it was an unimportant afterthought - that, since there were just two bells, one of them would definitely fail and be sent back to the Academy.

Naruto looked more nervous than anything else, but Sasuke was clearly determined to pass this test no matter what. Kakashi advised them to come at him with the intent to kill if they wanted to have any chance at all. Chikako didn't think it would help. Just like Itachi, Kakashi was so far out of their league it wasn't even worth making the comparison. If he didn't want them to get one of those bells they wouldn't get a bell. Which meant he had either already decided which two would pass or getting the bells wasn't actually the purpose of the test.

Chikako's musings were interrupted by Naruto, who was spouting something about accidentally killing Kakashi if they were allowed to use weapons. It sounded like empty posturing to her and she wasn't the only one.

"In my experience those with no talent often bark the loudest," Kakashi said before telling them to start on his mark. Naruto didn't wait that long however. He pulled a kunai and moved into a position to throw it - with terrible form Chikako noted. The blond never actually got to complete the attack either. Kakashi suddenly appeared behind him, left hand on the blond's head and right hand gripping his wrist, so that Naruto's kunai pointed at his own neck.

"Calm down, I haven't said start yet," their sensei told him. Naruto looked horribly surprised and even Sasuke seemed a lot less confident than before. Chikako had barely caught the start of Kakashi's Body Flicker and even that only because she recognized the change in his chakra, to her teammates it would have been completely invisible. She didn't know why his speed surprised them though. It wasn't like he hadn't used the same technique the day before. Twice.

When Kakashi decided it was time to actually start the test both Chikako and Sasuke took cover in the trees. Naruto had a different idea however. He actually stayed right in front of Kakashi and demanded they fight. The blond ran straight at their sensei, only hesitating when Kakashi stuck a hand into his hip pouch. He was clearly expecting a weapon, so the orange book the jonin pulled out instead confused him so much he stopped dead in his tracks.

While Kakashi read, seemingly not paying attention to his surroundings at all, Naruto got his thoughts back in order and then jumped at him, shouting something about kicking ass. He was generally rather loud and all of his kicks and swings were telegraphed so obviously that Kakashi had several seconds to dodge them. Their sensei had quite a bit of fun mocking Naruto, to the point that the blond actually knocked himself into the river that cut through the training ground.

He didn't spent much time in the water and immediately threw a pair of shuriken when he emerged. Kakashi seemed rather happy with that. Of course he also caught each with one finger and didn't even glance up while he did it, so maybe he'd just read a paragraph he liked.

After Naruto half a dozen clones jumped out of the water. Chikako might have dismissed them as simple illusions, but the amount of chakra they carried was massive and Naruto claimed they were Shadow Clones. Could he really make that many solid clones? She'd noticed that his chakra reserves were uncommonly large of course, but this was just silly. In fact his reserves didn't seem to have shrunk at all, which made absolutely no sense. It was like letting water flow out of a bottle, only the bottle never emptied. How was that even possible? Was something interfering with her ability to sense chakra or was he somehow not using his own reserves to perform jutsu?

"What?" Kakashi suddenly exclaimed, effectively distracting Chikako. One of the Naruto's hung off his back while the others ran at him - with no formation whatsoever. Naruto might be creative and have enough chakra for three people, but he had no sense of tactics whatsoever and his techniques were sloppy at best.

"Nice plan," Sasuke said with a smirk just as Naruto was about to hit their sensei. The blond ended up hitting one of his own clones instead and then an all out brawl broke out between Naruto and his clones. All accusing each other of being a transformed Kakashi. It took him almost comically long to check by simply releasing the Shadow Clone jutsu, only to find out that he was all alone. Apparently the idea that Kakashi had used the Replacement Technique had never even occurred to him.

Shortly after that little fiasco Naruto managed to fall for an incredibly obvious trap and ended up hanging ass over teakettle from a tree. At which point Kakashi lectured him on thinking before using a jutsu. Sasuke used their sensei's apparent distraction to attack by throwing a volley of kunai and shuriken at him. Kakashi didn't twitch a finger before he was gone and the projectiles impacted with a log.

"You're distracted today," he admonished Chikako, suddenly right behind her. She shrugged at him, not even trying to get into a defensive position.

"Somebody stole my futon."

"Which might have been a valid excuse had you actually slept in your flat," he told her, visible eye narrowed. She didn't ask how he knew. Kakashi probably wouldn't admit it until the day he died, but he regularly sent his dogs to look in on her, or even did it himself some nights. It had started back in T&I because she used to have terrible nightmares and then it just became habit.

"Fine, I'm distracted," she sighed and then changed the topic in a rather obvious manner. "The test is about teamwork isn't it? It doesn't matter at all whether or not we get a bell as long as we do it together."

"How come you're sitting here and twiddling your thumbs if you figured that out? Decided being a shinobi is too hard after all?" He mocked, clearly trying to get a reaction out of her. Chikako merely raised an eyebrow at him.

"They needed to see that they don't stand a chance on their own first. Neither of them knows or trusts me, Sasuke actually actively dislikes me."

"So to gain that trust you decided to what? Not even try to persuade them and instead go straight for underhanded T&I tactics?" He interrupted her halfhearted explanation. His stare was hard, but he wasn't nearly as angry as he looked. Chikako sighed again, letting her shoulders slump.

"Okay, whatever, we can play your way. Now shoo," she told him waving one hand at the treeline. Of course he didn't let her get away that easily. Kakashi moved as if to put a hand on her shoulder and then threw her across the training field and straight at Sasuke.

The Uchiha grunted when she collided with his chest, but caught her anyway - out of reflex she assumed and was proven right a second later.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He demanded, as if she had launched herself at him like one of his brain dead fangirls. Chikako ignored him, instead grabbing his left wrist and strengthening her own muscles with chakra so he wouldn't have any choice but to follow. She pulled him out of the woods and towards Naruto.

The blond had just managed to cut the rope around his ankle and land on his feet when they arrived. Only to hit another snare and end up right where he'd started.

"Idiot," Sasuke scoffed.

"You are in the middle of enemy territory, in fact there is an enemy shinobi close by. So unless you plan to use your teammate as a distraction to be tortured and killed in your place, I suggest you cut him down and come up with a plan!" Chikako snapped at him, letting killing intent leak out and hit him. This probably wasn't how Kakashi had imagined the day would go, but she was too distracted by the monsters that lurked in Konoha's shadows to play nice. Sasuke would just have to deal.

And he did, surprisingly enough. He reacted to the cold steel in her voice as if someone had slapped him across the face, as if a completely different person was in her place, yelling at him. It only took him a second to clear his head and get Naruto down, after which he turned to her, waiting.

"The enemy is stronger, faster and more experienced than any of us. He is also a tracker so hiding and running are out of the question," she told both boys. They were a little wary of her demeanor, but listened all the same. "We don't stand a chance in a straight up fight, but we do have the numbers advantage. You're a prankster," she nodded at Naruto. "And they call you Rookie of the Year," another nod in Sasuke's direction. "So give me a plan that involves all the traps and dirty tactics you can come up with."

"Uhm," Naruto started hesitantly, but then continued more confidently when she gave him a small smile. "You know Ka- I mean the enemy, right?" Sasuke looked surprised at the question, and so was she, but she nodded anyway. It wasn't a secret. She just hadn't thought the boys would pick up on it that fast and judging by Sasuke's expression, he hadn't. Apparently Naruto was good at reading people. Interesting.

"Could we like ... blackmail him or something?" The blond continued. Sasuke looked intrigued by the idea, but Chikako was skeptical.

"I guess, but," she started and then stopped herself. Actually, that might work. Kakashi was close by though, so they couldn't discuss tactics out loud. She kept her back to where she sensed Kakashi and then began signing her plan to the boys, only for two very confused faced to stare back at her.

"Is that some sort of super secret jutsu? What's it do?" Naruto asked, excitement coloring his voice. There was a cackle from the treeline that made Sasuke flinch back. All Chikako felt was the need to slap her hand against her head. Did the Academy seriously not teach Konoha Standard? The most basic of all codes? It couldn't be something they had never talked about at all. Chikako remembered reading about ciphers in the Academy textbooks and while Sasuke had no idea what she was trying to tell him he clearly recognized the attempt. The Uchiha pulled out pen and paper and handed it over to her, to more laughter from the woods.

"Shut it," Chikako called over her shoulder and threw a kunai in Kakashi's general direction. It came flying back a moment later. She barely managed to catch it. There was a Henohenomoheji carved into the blade.

"Funny," she muttered when she saw it, but he stayed quiet after that, so Chikako used the time to write down her idea on the piece of paper and hand it back to Sasuke. Both the Uchiha and Naruto added a few things, passing it back and forth, but in the end they had a plan that might actually work.

"Come on then, let's play," Chikako called when they were done.

"Took you long enough, time's almost up," Kakashi informed them, left hand holding his favorite book and right in his pocket. He looked as bored as ever, but she could tell he was actually paying attention this time.

Sasuke moved to face their sensei.

"Ah yes, the Uchiha, the village's most powerful clan. This could be interesting," Kakashi chuckled. Sasuke didn't react to the taunt. Instead he hauled a barrage of shuriken at Kakashi, who mocked the obviousness of the attack. Meanwhile Naruto created a clone to stand at Chikako's side and slunk off into the trees. Sasuke's job was to distract their sensei, and he was doing it marvelously.

The boy didn't pull any punches. Flipping around mid-air half the time, like a leaf on the wind. He wouldn't be able to keep that speed up for long, but it didn't matter. He'd gotten Kakashi to put his book away and actually concentrate on the fight, and that was all they wanted. Sasuke was driven, she'd give him that. He even managed to touch one of the bells, but Kakashi threw him across the field before he could do anything more than make it chime.

"My turn," Chikako declared, throwing a few shuriken of her own and following right behind them. Sasuke should have gotten a feeling for how Kakashi fought by now, and Naruto had almost completed circling their battle field.

Chikako was more reckless than Sasuke, perfectly willing to rely on her accelerated healing and the fact that Kakashi didn't actually want her dead. Any bruises, cuts and chakra burns she sustained during this would heal within a day or two. They were certainly more than worth the look of surprise on Kakashi's faces when she ripped his sleeve open with claws made of solid chakra.

"Finally managed to get that to work then," he commented, pulling out a kunai. Kakashi rarely ever sparred with her and this wasn't even close to a real fight. Both of their stiles were far too lethal for an all out match, not to mention that she couldn't actually keep up with him. Still, being able to leave a mark of her own was nice, even if he would probably make her pay for a new shirt. Kakashi was cheap like that.

They both got distracted when a bunch of Naruto's stormed out of the woods, surrounding them in a wide circle. They were all yelling profanities of some kind before jumping into the air at the same time. A dozen kunai followed in the wake of each Naruto.

Chikako had been waiting for this of course and used the Replacement Technique to switch with one of the clones. Kakashi did the same, raising an eyebrow at her, but she just grinned and pointed at the clones.

"Harem jutsu!" The Naruto's bellowed and then Kakashi was surrounded by busty, blond girls, covered by nothing but wisps of chakra smoke. The distraction worked like a charm. Their sensei seemed completely stumped for three seconds or so, before he started systematically dispelling the clones.

"Come on, I'm not that easy," he complained, batting away a blond girl trying to get at the bells.

"So you don't want this back then?" Sasuke said from behind him, holding up a little orange book in triumph. When his last clone was gone Naruto transformed back into himself, laughing hysterically.

"Oh my god! Oh my god, I can't believe that worked! You pervert!" He shouted half-indignant, half-delighted. Kakashi let them bathe in their win for a moment. Then he body flickered behind Sasuke, took his book back before the Uchiha could even register what had happened, and kicked him straight at Naruto. The boys collided with a dull thump and then went down in a heap of limbs.

"You're a really sore loser you know that?" Chikako asked, but she was grinning from ear to ear. It didn't last long. Kakashi's chakra disappeared underground and then something yanked at her ankle. Suddenly her head was the only thing not buried in damp earth and Kakashi was crouching in front of her, happily reading his book.

"I wouldn't say I lost," he told her. "You're a bunch of insolent little punks, but you might actually make a half decent team at some point."

"Half-decent?" Sasuke grumbled annoyed, followed by Naruto's indignant bellow of: "Punks! I'm not a punk! I'm gonna be Hokage!"

. . .

"Use your teammate as a distraction to be tortured and killed in your place?" Kakashi quoted back at her verbatim after the boys were gone.

"What? You wanted teamwork, that was the easiest way to get them into the right mindset," she told him.

"I distinctly remember saying something about convincing them instead of using underhanded, manipulative tactics," he glared at her. He was more resigned than angry though, so she just shrugged.

"All interactions are manipulative on some level. It worked out well and nobody got hurt. I don't see your problem. By the way, while we're talking about our decisions. Are you planning on getting Sasuke's Sharingan activated at some point?"

"He's a genin. The most exciting thing he will do over the next weeks is paint fences and help old ladies over the street."

"Yeah, because having the Sharingan isn't going to help with his training or anything. Do you just not trust him with such a powerful kekkei genkai or is it that you don't want to talk about how you got yours?"

"Enough!" He growled at her, chakra sparking with real anger this time. She shrugged, wished him a nice day and left. They had these kinds of conversations from time to time. Chikako would dig a little too deep, see a little too much, and Kakashi would snap at her. They'd be fine tomorrow and it wasn't like she cared enough about Sasuke's progress to fight Kakashi on this. She'd mostly just brought it up out of curiosity because the jonin had been exceptionally vague when telling them about the memorial stone and their shortcomings as shinobi.

Sasuke was too arrogant, too confident in his own abilities and didn't even consider what a team could offer him. Naruto was too brash, too loud and didn't stop to think before he acted. Chikako was too careless with her health and felt she had to manipulate her teammates instead of trusting they would help of their own accord. He criticized the way they fought, their tactics, Naruto's and Sasuke's lack of knowledge about Konoha's basic cipher. It was a very long, very nitpicky lecture - most likely because they had dared to lay hands on his precious book - but he also told them what they could become, individually and as a team. And during all that he somehow managed to never even mention the Sharingan.

It wasn't a secret. Most shinobi had heard about the legendary Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake. The Bingo Book she got from Ibiki even outright called him Kakashi of the Sharingan. Sasuke had no clue though and he would feel entitled to know. She couldn't predict how well he would react to learning that kind of information from anyone other than Kakashi himself. Regardless, Sasuke might be her teammate now and she would fight by his side when the time came, but Kakashi was pack and pack trumped anything else.

. . .

Later that day Chikako spent some time on Hashirama Senju's stone head. She hadn't meant to go there, but just like when she had run from Sai, it was where she ended up. The location was nice enough. High above the village, but not actually that far away, and quiet. People rarely ever came here, especially not civilians. It wasn't the kind of place one could just visit without the use of chakra.

She'd been thinking about the three breadcrumbs Ibiki had given her. The colors were obviously a reference to her teammates' hair. White was Kakashi, gold Naruto and black Sasuke. The rest though, wasn't quite as clear.

What did Kakashi have to do with a tree that had deep roots? The tree could be Konoha itself, but seeing as the Shodaime was legendary for his Wood Release it might also be an actual tree, or a metaphor for any number of things really. The 'had' was curious as well. Ibiki was too pedantic to screw up the tense so that implied the tree - whatever it was - used to have deep roots at some point, but didn't anymore. Not a lot she could do with that.

Next was Naruto. The fox that attacked the Leaf was obviously Kyubi, but at that time Naruto might not even have been born yet. He certainly hadn't been older than one, so what could possibly have happened that day that would make someone interested in the blond?

Sasuke wasn't any better. The only rumors about the Uchiha clan she knew of also had to do with that attack twelve years ago. Was it the same secret? Or had there been other rumors about the clan at one point? Maybe in connection with the massacre?

Pity she couldn't just ask them. First of all, they might not know, and even if they did they had no reason to tell her. Naruto and Sasuke had only met her two days ago and Kakashi liked to keep his cards close to his chest. Not just the secrets either, but everything. If he could get away with it he would probably avoid telling people his name.

. . .

Sai found her less than an hour later, still in the same position.

"Are you sick?" He asked, when she shook her head, sighing for what felt like the hundredth time. Chikako gave him a weak smile. His tone had been as bland as ever and his chakra felt like various shades of neutral at the best of times, so it was hard to tell whether he actually cared or if asking was more of a habit.

"I'm fine," she told him. "Did you need something?"

"I have a question."

It took Chikako a few seconds of silence before she realized that he was waiting for permission to ask.

"When we are alone you may always ask me any questions you want."

Sai probably had a lot of weird questions. She wasn't quite willing to risk being overheard by someone like Sasuke, who might make fun of Sai, or worse Ibiki, who might decide he needed to be interrogated. As long as there was no one else though a few words wouldn't hurt either of them. Probably.

"I read a book," Sai started and then pulled one out of his pack to hand it over. 'How to make Friends,' was written on the cover in bold letters. Chikako leafed through it for a moment and then motioned for Sai to continue. "It advised to give people nicknames based on their characteristics in order to forge a closer friendship. I tried with Sakura and Michio, but they both got angry at me."

Michio, she assumed, was his third teammate. Very average boy, brown hair, brown eyes, no defining characteristics whatsoever.

"What did you call them?" She asked and then burst out laughing when he said 'ugly' and 'boring'. Sai waited very patiently for Chikako to calm down again, but it took several long minutes. He was wearing his fake smile, the one that looked almost natural, yet just wrong enough to be unsettling.

"You don't need to do that with me. If you don't feel like smiling don't force it, and maybe get some more practice if you actually want to convince people that you're happy," she told him, handing the book back. "The nicknames you used angered your teammates because they are rude."

Sai cocked his head in confusion, that seemed to be the only emotion he was actually capable of. At least as far as she was aware.

"But they are true. The book said to be honest with your friends."

"It's not quite that easy. Actually I might not be the best person to ask. My friendships aren't really the normal kind."

"I see," Sai said, turning around. Chikako stopped him by grabbing his wrist. He immediately froze, even though her touch was light, barely there even. She waited him out, not taking the hand away. This was another thing she recognized. If she let go he would run, but if she did anything more than hold still he'd shut her out. So instead she counted seconds that turned into one minute and then two and then Sai finally relaxed. She let her hand fall away again.

"It was just a warning, that my information might not be very good," she said and then tried to explain the difference between being rude and telling the truth. She told him that nicknames could be used to mock and that that was likely how his teammates had understood them. Chikako also told him to think about why he wanted to be friends with Sakura and Michio, because there were many different kinds of friendship.

They had a very weird discussion on what types of nicknames might be appropriate in various scenarios. Sai's first approach at a polite nickname had been to go with the complete opposite of what he actually thought, which would make Sakura 'gorgeous' and Michio 'exiting'. So she had to explain how those might be understood as an attempt to flirt and why Sai probably didn't want to do that accidentally. His next try involved comparisons with various animals and it only got worse from there.

. . .

Several hours later the sky was dark and the village quiet beneath their feet. Sai seemed almost more confused than when he had first found her to ask his question. Chikako idly wondered how helpful her perspective really was. After all, it was heavily colored by her experiences and she hadn't been lying when she'd said that none of her friendships qualified as normal.

"Until next time weirdo," Sai said when he left. She laughed, watching him go. It certainly wasn't a polite nickname, but she guessed that meant they were friends now.


	4. I - Two Old Drunks

**I - Two Old Drunks**

The weeks after the bell test were as exciting as Kakashi had promised.

For their first mission the members of Team 7 got to paint a fence Their sensei also made it very clear that day that he did not consider himself a member of the team unless they were either in life threatening danger or at the very least on a C-rank mission. In other words, he kept reading his book and chuckling every few minutes or so while Chikako wondered how Naruto and Sasuke managed to get more paint on each other than the stupid fence.

The next D-rank had them fishing trash out of the river, but at least with this one Chikako got to gloat. She spent the duration of the mission on top the water, mostly just because she could, but also to avoid being thrown in. Somehow the boys ended up fighting over who had to pick up what kind of trash and instead of resolving the problem like reasonable people they started a brawl. Kakashi forced them to keep working even after they managed to roll down the river bank, but he did save them from drowning each other.

That day he had a really smug look on his face after training and she didn't figure out why until after Naruto tackled her. The blond was practically begging for lessons on how to walk on water. Chikako was kind of surprised he'd waited until after both mission and training were over. Still she didn't relent. Chikako really had better things to do, like find out what the fuck connected Naruto to Kyubi's attack on Konoha. Also teaching them was Kakashi's job not hers. But then of course Sasuke had to start making a logical case about how a stronger team benefited all of them. And seriously? Not an argument she'd expected from Sasuke 'as if I'd need your help' Uchiha. Sadly that didn't change the fact that he had a point, and so Chikako ended up teaching both of them how to tree and then water walk over the course of several days.

. . .

Sai found her two or three times each week. At first he would tail her until an opportunity to catch her alone presented itself, but after the second time Chikako simply headed towards the Shodaime Hokage's stone head whenever she noticed Sai following. It might seem suspicious to anyone watching, but it was easier that way. Chikako didn't like being tailed at the best of times and Sai wasn't the most trustworthy person.

She hadn't tried asking about his monster again and he hadn't offered. Most days he would simply tell her about something that had happened, then she would try to explain it to him. Sai got confused by just about everything that had a reason based in anything other than facts and logic.

One day he'd asked why a mother would kiss the scraped knee of her child. Chikako had told him it was for emotional comfort, but he'd only given her a blank look and talked about the hygienic disadvantages of such an action.

Whenever he came up with questions like that she felt the need to tell him 'that's just the way things are,' and be done with it. She didn't though. Chikako tried to explain as best she could, but it was hard. After all, she'd never had parents to take care of her in that manner. The closest she had ever gotten to family were the paranoid head of T&I, a mass murderer and an eccentric, emotionally stunted man who liked to read porn in public. It wasn't ideal, but she wouldn't trade any of them for the world. And even that little dysfunctional group was likely more than Sai had ever known.

He seemed completely baffled the day she clarified that her lunches with Ibiki were not, in fact, reports. That the man wasn't interested in gaining intelligence from her, but merely curious about her day and how she felt. She confided that she hadn't understood it either at first and then explained it to him the same way Itachi had explained it to her. She didn't mention the Uchiha's name though.

Sai was too likely to relay anything he learned from or about her to his monster to be trusted with sensitive information. The way he sometimes worded questions very carefully had Chikako half-convinced that he didn't want to report on her, but had no choice in the matter. It was only small things, individually unimportant. Taken as a whole however they added up. He had never once asked her for specifics, names, dates, locations, nothing. He also avoided certain topics. The team's D-ranks were fine, anything to do with their training was not. He was too clumsy of a conversationalist too make the changes in topic even remotely subtle, but it was a clever tactic nonetheless. After all, one could not report what one did not know, and Chikako appreciated the effort.

. . .

Whenever Chikako wasn't training the boys, or with Ibiki or Sai, she followed Naruto around. He was an idiot and enjoyed juvenile pranks far too much for her tastes, but he was also a very kind and cheerful person, not a malicious bone in his body. Yet for some reason the villagers seemed to hate him. Many just ignored the blond little orphan, but some went out of their way to make his life miserable. Parents would pull their children away from him as if he was some kind of rabbit dog. Shop owners would suddenly be out of stock, remember the items Naruto wanted had actually been bough by another customer who just hadn't picked them up yet or something equally unlikely. One had actually accused the boy of being a thief before he had even fully entered the shop.

It was ridiculous and she couldn't make sense of it until an old drunk guy called him 'fox' and asked - shouted really - if he had come to kill some more of his children. Naruto had flinched back and run down the street, Chikako however had stopped dead in her tracks. People insulted her blond teammate all the time, but he never reacted like that. He just kept moving and pretended not to hear them, hiding his pain behind boisterous claims to become Hokage and wide smiles.

Naruto had something to do with the attack twelve years ago. People hated him and were afraid of him. The only insult from the villagers Naruto had ever reacted to was 'fox'. The Nine-Tails took the form of a giant fox.

 _Was_ Naruto the Kyubi?

Was that even possible? Orochimaru had been obsessed with the Tailed Beasts, or rather with their ability to heal and reform even after death. That was why Chikako thought he was searching for a way to become immortal in the first place. He had tried to give the children that same ability. It was why her chakra was so fucked up. The Tailed Beasts were in essence nothing more than sentient chakra constructs, and Orochimaru thought replicating their chakra in a human would also replicate their abilities. But as far as Chikako was aware he'd never gotten that far. She _did_ heal faster than normal, which while useful wasn't even significant enough to make a difference during a fight. The children also couldn't regrow lost body parts, much less reform after death. They were just somewhat more resilient humans with really weird chakra and advanced sensing abilities. Or at least Chikako was. Not all the children had been exactly the same and she didn't actually know if any of the others were still alive.

Orochimaru used to rant about something in the beginning. Something called 'jinchuriki' and what a pity it was that he didn't have one of those to experiment on. He never bothered to explain what they were though. The only thing Chikako could gather was that they were extremely rare and making one required a Tailed Beast.

She'd never heard the word from anyone but Orochimaru and didn't remember coming across it in any of the books she'd read either. Was that deliberate or simply because they were so rare? Would asking about it be met with a shrug and a 'no idea what you're talking about' or would it land her in one of T&I's lower levels?

Asking Ibiki wasn't an option, he'd already given her more than he should have and she'd promised to find the information on her own. Kakashi would probably know as well. Actually anyone born in the generation before hers seemed to know something. Chikako glanced back at the drunk man on the side of the road. Holding a transformation for an extended amount of time would hurt, but if she had to risk putting someone in danger by asking the wrong kinds of questions she'd rather it be that asshole civilian than herself or Kakashi.

So for the rest of that day she clung to the man like a shadow. Always out of sight and careful to stay well clear of any other shinobi. She manipulated her own chakra to match the environment as best she could, which practically made it impossible to sense, like a drop of water in the ocean. Chikako couldn't do that and use her chakra to mask her scent at the same time, yet, but Pakkun was the only scent tracker even remotely likely to come looking for her and he wouldn't blow her cover.

. . .

It was hours later when the old man finally decided he was done making a nuisance of himself in the shopping district. By that time he was roaring drunk and barely able to walk. He frequently had to stop and use walls or street lamps as supports to avoid landing face first in the dirt, but he eventually made it to one of Konoha's seedier neighborhoods. It was obvious that nobody had payed any genin to pick trash up around these streets for a while, if ever.

Naruto lived on the opposite end of the village, but if Chikako hadn't known that she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. The buildings in both areas were old and badly in need of repair. More than half of the street lights flickered or didn't work at all and the road was littered with debris that had never been cleaned up. Even twelve years after Kyubi's attack Konoha still bore some of the marks. Old wounds left to fester in the dark because nobody cared enough to tend to them.

The thought of simply interrogating the old drunk and then disposing of him flashed through Chikao's mind. It was unlikely anyone would notice if he went missing. Still, that seemed excessive. It would be nothing more than petty revenge for a slight that hadn't even been against her, and an entirely unnecessary risk to boot. After all, she was doing this to avoid suspicion.

Instead she moved to the other side of the street and transformed herself into a busty redhead that wore too much make-up and clothes that were too tight. She made sure to stagger a little and slur her words when she started to loudly complain about 'the blond demon child'.

The old drunk took the bait almost immediately. He was more than eager to join her on a bench in some back alley. Chikako might have thought it funny how easy the whole thing was, but instead she was horrified by what she learned. The man was wasted and bitter, so she wouldn't take his words at face value, but the claims made a terrible kind of sense.

The Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, had fought the Nine-Tails twelve years ago and because he couldn't defeat Kyubi he had sealed it instead. In Naruto. The old man, and apparently many of the villagers, were of the opinion that Naruto was nothing more than a demon waiting for another opportunity to kill all of them. When he'd shared that little tidbit Chikako had to make an actual effort not to hit him in the face. Naruto wasn't hated because he was loud, annoying, rude and liked to play pranks on people. He was hated for something he never got a say in in the first place and could do nothing about.

The blond might not be a hero, but he most certainly wasn't a demon either. He was the cage that kept all of them safe. Chikako had no idea whether or not he could let the Kyubi escape if he wanted to, but she knew him well enough to be sure that he wouldn't. For some insane reason Naruto loved this village. Despite all the anger and hatred thrown his way every day, despite the way he was ignored and neglected, he didn't want revenge. All he wanted was to be recognized as a person.

Even if Chikako didn't think she would have been satisfied to seek acceptance were she in his place, that wish she could understand. She'd lost her true name before she could even fathom what that meant. Been nothing but a number, experiment seven, for so long before Orochimaru had given her another name. It was like the worst kind of brand. She thought of herself as 'Chikako' and every time she did the snake would be there, slithering through her consciousness. Did Naruto think of himself as 'Naruto', or was he the 'demon child' in his own mind?

. . .

The next time Sai followed her Chikako opted to sit on the Yondaime's stone head. The boy noted the change with nothing more than a glance towards their usual spot.

"Who is worse," she started before Sai could get a word in. "The person that does something horrible or the one that let's it happen?"

"Both," was the immediate answer. Chikako stared at him for a moment. She had expected Sai to say something that involved words like 'circumstance' or 'orders', maybe even 'greater good'.

"I guess," she agreed after a while. She had found books on the Yondaime after what the drunk had told her. Minato Namikaze had been well loved by his people. Konoha's Yellow Flash, trained by Jiraiya of the Sannin and mentor to Kakashi Hatake. He also had an uncanny resemblance to Naruto and had been married to one Kushina Uzumaki.

By rights Naruto should be treated as the son of one of Konoha's greatest heroes. Instead he was hated and condemned to live in a run down apartment, as far away from 'decent folk' as possible. Chikako didn't agree with what the Yondaime had done to his own child, but she understood it. A sacrifice to save the village he loved. It wasn't a good choice, but it might have been the best one he could make at the time. Life was rarely just black and white, and when there was nothing but shades of gray to chose from, deciding which one was the lightest could be hard.

The Sandaime, however, was a different matter. He wasn't saving anyone. He wasn't making a necessary sacrifice. The only thing Hiruzen Sarutobi had done by letting people know what, but not who Naruto was, was throw a little boy to the wolves.

He was kind to Naruto, whenever he saw the boy, indulgent even and Naruto loved him for it. It disgusted Chikako because there was no way the Sandaime didn't know how the blond was treated by everybody else. A horrible kind of manipulation that reminded her so much of Orochimaru, but then the Hokage had been the snake's teacher. Maybe he was the biggest monster of them all. The kind, old grandfather sitting in his tower of lies.

"Why did you come?" Chikako asked out of the blue. She'd nearly forgotten Sai was there and the boy had the bad habit of letting her get lost in her own thoughts.

"You've been training too hard. Maybe you should rest for a few days." He told her, voice flat and even, but his chakra was agitated. With anyone else she might have called it nervous, but with Sai it came closer to a panic attack. _You're drawing too much attention_ , he meant. _I don't care_ , was what she wanted to say.

"I will, thank you," was what she said instead. And she would, for now at least. Konoha was home to too many monsters and Chikako was just a little girl. If she ever truly wanted to be free she needed to know more, to become stronger.

. . .

From then on she didn't ignore Naruto's sloppy execution of attacks or the stupid questions that revealed all the holes in his education. Instead she exploited the mistakes he made. Hard, fast strikes during sparring that took advantage of every little problem with his form, and with every hit she told him why she'd gotten through his defense. He took it as mockery at first, but then he started to adapt. He learned when to dodge and when to block, when to attack and when to wait. He learned that the ways to fight that looked cool usually only worked for very skilled shinobi and would end in an early grave for anyone else.

Naruto wasn't happy with what Chikako taught him. He thought her style was too underhanded, too unfair and too focused on killing. He didn't use most of what he learned, but he learned it all the same. It was good enough for her. One day the blond would have to fight for his life and then he'd understand that _fair_ didn't mean all that much when it stood in the way of your survival. Chikako hoped that lesson would be kinder to him than it had been to her, but she doubted it.

"I can't tell whether you want to help the boy or just beat him into a bloody pulp sometimes," Kakashi said after one of their more brutal sparring sessions. He usually didn't comment, happy to read his book and pretend he wasn't watching them. She shrugged.

"A little bit of both. He's really fucking annoying and knowing how to fight through pain isn't gonna hurt him in the long run. But please, feel free to actually do your job and teach us instead."

"Well, if you insist. I might have something."

. . .

 _Something_ had turned out to be another D-rank. The worst one any of them had ever been on. Kakashi had claimed it was some kind of ritual all genin had to go through. A test of their skills he'd said. In reality it was nothing but plain old torture.

The mission sounded easy enough. Find a lost cat, catch it and bring it back. Only, the cat wasn't lost at all. It had escaped and was very determined to never go back. They spent hours looking for the stupid thing and if Chikako hadn't known better she would have sworn it was a summon that specialized in stealth. She actually lost the cat's trail three times even after she had learned what it's chakra signature felt like. Granted, regular cats didn't have a lot of chakra so keeping track of it was harder, but it shouldn't have been that hard.

The few times they managed to corner the cat it had jumped, bitten and clawed it's way to freedom. The little monster could walk up walls just as well as any shinobi and it loved to use civilians as cover to keep them at a distance. It also had the uncanny ability to nudge things like ladders and crates just enough so they would fall over the moment one of the genin went past.

Kakashi had given them radios for this mission. At first she'd been grateful because it meant they could spread out further and still stay in contact. But then she'd learned it also meant that Kakashi could make fun of them without ever even having to get up. The lazy bastard spent the whole day reading on their usual training ground while his team got torn to ribbons by a cat and then he didn't even have the decency to pretend he was sorry.

The worst thing was that they weren't even allowed to defend themselves. Apparently the cat belonged to the daymio's wife and could under no circumstances be harmed. Kakashi had helpfully insisted that that included getting wet, dirty or losing even a single hair. Of course that only applied to the cat. By the end of the day the three genin were plenty dirty, and covered in scratches and bruises.

Chikako didn't even feel bad for the feline when they handed it over to it's owner, where it promptly got squeezed half to death in a loving embrace. Instead she was seriously contemplating if Ibiki would help her hide Kakashi's body. The head of T&I was of the opinion that the other jonin was, at best, an unstable asshole and shouldn't be allowed near children under any circumstances. Usually Chikako defended her seinsei, but at this point she was inclined to agree. Kakashi was clearly a sadist that needed to be kept away from the general population.

. . .

Completed D-ranks weren't usually something the Hokage bothered with himself, but this one involved the daymio, which made it an exception. Chikako had never been particularly happy when she had to see the Sandaime and it had only gotten worse after learning about Naruto.

"We keep getting the crappiest possible missions old man! I want something better!" The blond complained the second they entered the mission office. He might be a disrespectful, annoying, little shit, but both Chikako and Sasuke agreed with him, if only in silence. They were shinobi, not babysitters, dog-walkers or mechanics.

Kakashi looked pretty resigned at the little outburst. He'd probably been waiting for something like this to happen. One of the desk chunin wasn't as calm. He jumped out of his seat to shout Naruto down. The Hokage, however, just chuckled. He explained how important these simple missions were, both for the village and so that new teams could learn how to work together. He had a point of course, but that didn't make D-ranks any less tedious or boring.

The Sandaime told them that missions were ranked from A to D - completely leaving out that there was at least one more rank - and that missions of a certain rank were only given to shinobi of a certain rank. Since they were fresh from the Academy that meant D-ranks were perfect for them. At least in his opinion. Naruto - very loudly - disagreed, and to everyone's surprise the Hokage decided that meant they could have a C-rank.

It took Chikako completely off guard. What kind of leader rewarded blatant disrespect like that? Kakashi was baffled as well, but he didn't seem like he would object. Now that she thought about it, he was probably bored out of his mind as well. Babysitting a bunch of genin for an indeterminate period of time couldn't exactly be normal for an ANBU. In fact it seemed like a waste of skill to her, especially because Kakashi hadn't actually taught them anything yet.

"It's an escort mission," the Hokage started and was immediately interrupted by Naruto.

"Finally!" The blond shouted. "Who're we escorting? A feudal lord? A princess? Is it-"

"Calm down," the Sandaime cut him off and then had their client brought in. Chikako might have laughed at the comically disappointed look on Naruto's face when the man entered, but of course it was another old drunk whose introduction consisted of insulting her blond teammate. So instead a wave of killing intent burst out of her and blanketed the room. She was two steps away from slamming their client into the nearest wall when Kakashi stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

His grip didn't hurt, but it was firm and she relented. The drunk man stared at her in shock and he wasn't the only one. Chikako didn't even particularly like Naruto. She shouldn't get this angry on his behalf. Still, the blond shouldn't have to deal with any more shit than he actually deserved.

The Hokage measured Chikako with a curious look after she took her place again, but didn't otherwise comment. Instead he explained that the client, Tazuna, was a bridge builder and that their job would be to get him back home to Wave and protect him until his work was completed.


	5. II - Welcome to the Land of Waves

**A/N:**

 _Cafrye_

Thank you, I always thought some of the more interesting secondary characters should have gotten a little more character development. There are too many to flesh all of them out, but I'm trying to little things in here and there.

By the way, is there a pretend cat that goes with the pretend mustache and if so, does it have a pretend mustache as well?

 _lilith-thetiny-monster_

I'm not sure yet if she'll actually manage to learn all of her team's secrets before they reveal themselves, but Naruto's is just so obvious in my opinion. As a reader/watcher we weren't given the necessary information until it became relevant, but I don't see how the canon characters didn't put things together. The resemblance between Naruto and Minato is striking, and that last name change didn't really hide anything either. I mean the symbol of Uzushiogakure is visible on every Konoha flak jacket because of the strong ties to the Uzumaki clan. So it seemed really weird to me that somehow every villager knew Naruto was the jinchuriki, but apparently almost no one had an idea who his parents were.

PS: Feel free to ignore this little impromptu rant. I might have gotten a little carried away.

. . .

 **II - Welcome to the Land of Waves**

Kakashi gave them an hour to pack, so Chikako headed home. It didn't take long to notice that Naruto was following her, but he stayed at a distance and so she ignored him. He would make himself known if he wanted to talk.

Her usual mission bag was ready and waiting next to her futon. According to Kakashi they would be out of the village for about a month, which meant she needed to add some extra rations and clothing, just in case. The whole thing barely took five minutes, yet Naruto was pacing in front of her door as if he'd been waiting for hours. Chikako shook her head, wondering why he didn't simply knock. She shrugged to herself, wrote Ibiki a quick note in their personal code, left it on her kitchen table and then headed out.

Naruto was so close to the door, it almost hit him in the head. He managed to jump back in the nick of time though.

"Uhm, hi Chikako-chan. I ... kinda followed you?" He said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. I sounded more like a question than a statement, as if he didn't know by now that she would have noticed. Instead of answering she gave him a small smile and motioned for him to continue.

"Could you like - I mean would you please help me pack?" He asked with a glance at her bag. She wondered why this made him so uncomfortable, but then she remembered all the jeers he usually got. Naruto avoided asking for help because not only would people refuse, they might actually spit him in the face while doing it. So instead Chikako gave him another smile. They might not be best friends, but they were teammates and he shouldn't be afraid to ask for help.

. . .

Naruto's flat looked almost as bad from the inside as it did from the outside. She'd already known it was tiny and old, but the myriad of ramen containers that littered the ground were a little bit of a surprise. The blond might be forced to live in one of the village's more disreputable parts, but there was really no reason to keep months worth of trash lying around. She told him as much, so while he cleaned she packed his bag and explained what he needed and why.

She actually had a coded notebook that contained all the little things she'd learned from Ibiki, Kakashi and Itachi over the years. They didn't entirely agree on what exactly was most important when preparing gear for a mission, but there was a lot of overlap. For example Ibiki was big on bringing extra tools that could double for field interrogations, whereas both Itachi and Kakashi liked to err on the side of carrying no more than was strictly necessary. That meant at maximum one set of extra clothing, rations for two days and one set of projectile weapons. However they both considered a ludicrous amount of soldier pills vital. She wondered if that had to do with their time as ANBU.

As a tokubetsu jonin and the head of T&I Ibiki didn't spent a lot of time in the field and even then only on highly specialized missions. Itachi and Kakashi on the other hand would have been sent out at a moments notice to do any number of things in any number of places and probably with little to no intelligence to work with.

Of course that was a lot more information than Naruto needed. Chikako kept things basic for him and even then he lacked some of the things she would have liked to pack, like a standard first aid kit. They didn't have time to do anything about that now, so she wrote him a list of things he should get before their next mission and some quick instructions on how to prepare his bag in case he forgot.

When they were done Naruto's flat looked halfway decent and Chikako handed over the bag.

"Thank you," Naruto said to the floor and then added a mumbled: "For this and ... and for what you did earlier."

"It's fine," Chikako told him, not wanting to talk about it. She wasn't sure she could explain, especially without bringing up what she'd learned about him.

. . .

Sasuke and Tazuna were already waiting at the gate when Chikako and Naruto arrived. The Uchiha looked especially cantankerous and was standing quite a ways away from the bridge builder. She wondered what the old drunk had said to him. Apparently Naruto did too, only his version of being supportive involved a lot of yelling and friendly insults. She had no idea how helpful that was, but if nothing else it distracted Sasuke.

Kakashi's chakra arrived precisely on time, but the man was nowhere in sight.

"Knock it off!" Chikako shouted to the stares of her confused teammates. She was still annoyed by their client and in no mood to play games with Kakashi. He was either late or he wasn't. Pretending was just petty.

"You're no fun," he told her grumpily. His sudden appearance scaring Naruto and the client half out of their skins. Sasuke fared a little better, but not by much. not that Kakashi cared, he just herded them out of the village, completely ignoring any and all protests.

At civilian speed the journey to the Land of Waves, and subsequently Tazuna's bridge, would take them the better part of a week. Maybe more if the weather turned. Wave had many rivers, with that much water in the area sudden mists were quite common and rains could easily result in flooding because of the waterlogged earth.

Naruto didn't care about any of that though. He was just excited to get out of the village for the first time and immediately took the lead. He didn't actually know where they were going though, so Kakashi frequently had to shout directions after him.

. . .

Their days on the road were completely unremarkable for the most part, boring really. Especially because their job was to stay alert, which meant no books, games or conversations. Well, except for Kakashi and Tazuna. Their sensei was skilled enough to not have to concentrate on being observant and, very predictably, spent the time with his nose in his favorite orange book. The client though was constantly drinking and got more twitchy the closer they got to Wave. He also liked to entertain himself by insulting the three genin tasked with his protection.

The asshole kept telling Naruto he looked like a punk, asking Sasuke if he was sure he wasn't adopted because he didn't seem impressive enough to be a real Uchiha, and making allusions to the fact that Chikako, as a little girl, was probably just there as a favor to her parents. Kakashi actually had to threaten to tie Naruto up and leave him by the wayside half a dozen times before the blond stopped trying to kill the client.

Sasuke didn't take the verbal abuse well either, but his anger was more simmering coals and less raging blaze. His teeth were grinding more often than not and he kept clenching his fists so tightly that the knuckles turned white. At one point his nails actually broke the skin of his palm and a few drops of blood hit the floor. Chikako might not have noticed for quite a while, if not for the way Kakashi's chakra had swelled up. Their formation was loose, but the jonin could probably smell blood at this distance. He didn't say anything, but after that Chikako made a point of accidentally bumping into Sasuke whenever the boy started clenching his fists again. It worked moderately well and the Uchiha didn't complain, which she chose to interpret as gratitude.

Chikako, for her part, had no problem ignoring the insults aimed at herself. She did however feel an almost instinctual anger at the pain they cause her teammates. She couldn't really explain it logically. After all, she was frequently annoyed with both boys and she didn't really care if they fought with each other, but in the end they were still a team. Tazuna was an outsider though and he had no right to talk to them the way he was. He wasn't just being a regular asshole either, the old drunk was going out of his way to make Naruto and Sasuke miserable. If Kakashi hadn't been there to lead by example Chikako probably would have strangled the client by the third day, at the latest.

. . .

They had just crossed over the border when Chikako noticed two chakra signatures following their little group. Had they entered almost any of Fire Countries other neighbors Chikako might have thought they were a simple patrol, but Wave didn't have a hidden village. There shouldn't be any other shinobi here and they most certainly shouldn't be tailing them.

'Two - signatures - low - mid - chunin - seven - o'clock,' Chikako tapped out, pretending to adjust the strap of her bag. Sasuke stiffened imperceptibly at her side, but kept walking. He clearly recognized the code, but likely didn't understand it. After what had happened during the bell test both Naruto and Sasuke had started to learn Konoha Standard, but there hadn't been opportunity to use it again so she didn't know how far they had gotten. Not that the blond had even noticed that something was going on. Kakashi hadn't reacted either, but he very casually put his book away after another minute or so and subtly changed his posture.

Chikako couldn't tell how far exactly behind them the other two shinobi were, but they never seemed to get any closer. She had no idea what they were waiting for, but periodically updated Kakashi on their position anyway. Sometimes she coughed or tapped her foot on the ground as if to dislodge a stone, other times she fidgeted with her bag. Constantly coming up with new ways to disguise the coded communication was a little annoying, but Ibiki had been very insistent about how the way a cipher was used was as important as the cipher itself, and that while secrecy wasn't the same as security it also didn't hurt.

It made her feel a little paranoid considering that there were no chakra signatures, other than her teammates', close enough that they would have seen her. In fact, she was reasonably certain that she could just have given her updates verbally without being overheard. Then again, if Kakashi didn't want her to sense him he could make it incredibly hard, to the point that she could only do it if she was actively looking and because of her familiarity with his chakra signature. So as long as they were moving she couldn't be sure that she would notice a shinobi with comparable skills in stealth, even if she was concentrating on it. And wasn't that a cheerful thought?

Sasuke got more unnerved every time she updated Kakashi, presumably because the jonin never reacted in any way. It got so bad that Chikako stepped on his foot at one point and then loudly apologized, which Tazuna used to launch into a spiel about how clumsy she was and that girls simply weren't meant to fight. He too was nervous, but in a completely different way. Sasuke had been alert and now that he knew - or suspected she supposed - that there would be trouble the wait was stressful for him.

Tazuna on the other hand had been waiting for something since they had left the village and every day it didn't come he seemed more anxious. He wasn't just afraid of some bandits on the road either. If that had been the case he would have calmed down the closer they got to Wave. Not that it mattered now, the enemy was already here and they were too far from Konoha to head back.

"Down!" Kakashi shouted suddenly, taking Chikako completely off guard. She dropped like a stone, and a second later a giant sword sailed over her head and lodged itself into a tree at the edge of a small lake on the other side of the road. On it's hilt stood a tall man with short, dark hair, the lower half of his face wrapped in bandages. He wore a sleeveless black shirt and loose trousers as well as striped, bluish gray arm and leg warmers. His hitai-ate proclaimed him as a shinobi of Kirigakure, but Chikako would have recognized him by the sword alone.

Kubikiribocho might look like an oversized cleaver, but it was a legendary weapon. One that the Demon of the Hidden Mist had stolen when he fled Kiri after a failed coup d'tat.

"Well, fuck," Chikako said, while Kakashi started to banter with Zabuza fucking Momochi as if they were old friends or something. She knew he was giving them time to get a grip. It might even have worked if Zabuza hadn't drenched the whole area in suffocating killing intent at the same time the two chunin that had followed them for the past two hours or so burst out of the trees.

Naruto was completely frozen in place and would have been cut to pieces by a wicked looking chain if Sasuke hadn't intervened at the last moment. Both chunin had wild hair, horned hitai-ate and each wore a massive, clawed gauntlet to which one end of the bladed chain was attached. Unlike Zabuza, they were clearly not in the mood for banter.

"Protect Naruto and the client," Chikako shouted in Sasuke's direction. She didn't wait for an answer, just leaped over the chain in a burst of chakra enhanced speed. That thing might be deadly, but it also restricted their freedom of movement. Chikako didn't hesitate, shifting her weight around the instant she landed and slamming her right hand into the back of the guy that wasn't wearing a cloak. The solid chakra claws barely managed to form before they impacted, shredding cloth, skin, muscle and then bone. Chikako pulled back immediately, unwilling to stay in their range any longer than she absolutely had to.

"Brother!" One screamed, as the other fell to his knees and started to cough up blood. "I will kill you for this!"

The cloaked one pressed something on his gauntlet, dislodging the chain and then ran straight at her. Chikako was too busy dodging him to pay attention to anything else that happened around her. They hadn't expected her first attack, but now the moment of surprise was over and she wouldn't get another chance like that. Cloak guy was stronger and even a little faster than her. Not quite fast enough to slice her into ribbons, but then he didn't have to be. His gauntlet was laced with poison and every little scratch he gave her injected a bit more of it into her bloodstream. Her chakra might naturally burn poisons out and she could even strengthen that effect somewhat if she concentrated on it, but whatever it was, it worked fast and went for the nervous system. The poison might not outright kill her, but in time it would slow her down enough for him to finish the job.

She didn't have the luxury to draw the fight out and wait for an opening, which meant she had to make one. The next time he swiped for her Chikako didn't move back and away from him. Instead she dodged sideways and took a step closer. That stupid gauntlet might be lethal, but it was also his only defense and he clearly wasn't used to fighting without his brother to cover him. He did have a second hand however, so while Chikako managed to rip out his throat and avoid being sliced open by his right, the left had drawn a kunai and rammed it into her lower back. A moment later they both went down in a grotesque embrace.

She watched the rest of the fight half-dazed from the ground, while both of her opponents drowned in their own blood, gurgling and choking. It wouldn't be a fast death.

A thick mist had descended over the area at one point. A jutsu judging by the amount of chakra it was laced with. Kakashi was locked in battle with Zabuza, both eyes exposed. He was copying the other man's jutsu, openly mocking him at every turn. Slowed down by poison and pain it took Chikako's hazy mind a while to work out why. She knew for a fact Kakashi could use all five of the Basic Nature Transformations, he even had an affinity for lightning and both that or earth would have been more effective against Zabuza's water jutsu. But then the other jonin might have decided to go for easier prey first.

Kakashi was keeping Zabuza's attention on himself because Naruto and Sasuke were barely holding their own against a water clone. One of the bridge builder's arms was bleeding profusely, seemingly cut off below the elbow, and Naruto's face was splattered in fresh blood. The clone wouldn't be as strong as Zabuza himself, but he was definitely more of a challenge than the two chunin she had fought. Especially because the boys had to protect Tazuna and thus couldn't move as freely as they wanted to.

Then there was suddenly a loud splash and she saw Kakashi struggling to get on top of the water. Zabuza had used Kakashi's attempt to protect the boys to lure him closer to the lake. For a moment Chikako thought it would be fine, but then the water rose to form a bubble around Kakashi. It looked wobbly at first and then quickly smoothed out into a perfect sphere when Zabuza called out: "Water Prison!" The nukenin stuck his hand into the water, stabilizing it with his own chakra.

While she was distracted the Water Clone had gotten the upper hand in his fight, but now that Zabuza thought he had won it wasn't trying to kill the bridge builder anymore. Instead it took it's time, beating Naruto and Sasuke around like sand sacks. All the while the original proclaimed that they weren't fir to call themselves real ninja unless they were listed in a Bingo Book.

"Take Tazuna and run!" Kakashi shouted, somehow managing to talk despite being completely submerged in water. "You can't beat him, but as long as he keeps me in this prison he won't be able to follow you! The clones can't go far on their own, so just run!"

'Great,' Chikako thought because this really wasn't how she had envisioned her death. She'd always thought she'd either die in that damp cellar under Konoha, chained to a wall or operating table, or she'd get out and live. Getting out just to die afterwards had somehow never even occurred to her. How stupid was that? But Kakashi was right of course. This fight was over. Zabuza would likely kill them even if the boys decided to hand over the fucking bridge builder.

The Water Clone was laughing, one foot grinding Naruto's hitai-ate into the dust and outright mocking him. And then the blond ran, not away though, but rather straight at his enemy, screaming like a maniac. He got beaten back with one brutal strike that had him skidding across the ground. Naruto was shaking when he got back up, blood dripping out of the corner of his mouth, but he was also grinning and holding his hitai-ate in his left hand.

"Put this in your Bingo Book," he declared while he fastened the forehead protector back in place. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and one day I'm going to be Hokage!"

Chikako's eyes widened at that and if she could have she would have shaken her head. What an idiot. But at least he wasn't frozen in shock anymore or had given up, in fact he seemed to actually have a plan. She hoped it was a good one. If the boys weren't willing to do the reasonable thing they could at least make the Demon of the Mist regret picking this fight. Maybe Chikako wasn't thinking clearly anymore - she'd cite poison and blood loss if questioned - but Naruto's sudden confidence actually gave her hope that they might get out of this. Somehow.

Kakashi didn't seem to agree, the old pessimist. He screamed at them to run and protect Tazuna like they were supposed to, but that was a load of crap and he damn well knew it. The stupid bridge builder had forfeited any right to protection the second he'd lied about the difficulty of the mission. Not to mention that he would just slow the boys down and probably get them killed anyway.

"No man left behind!" Chikako rasped out as forcefully as she could manage. It wasn't quite a shout, but a lot louder than she had expected and more than enough to wipe the doubt Kakashi's order had created from Naruto's face. Tazuna would just have to deal. He certainly didn't deserve any better.

"Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum," Sasuke quoted in agreement. Explaining this whole illogical shit show to Sai was going to be fun, at least if she managed to live that long. Chikako coughed a little bit of blood while she silently laughed to herself. And then Zabuza started in on a monologue about how he had killed a hundred children or so by the time he was their age.

She'd read about that at some point. Kiri used to be called the Bloody Mist because their graduation exam involved students killing each other, and then one day a kid that wasn't even a student had slaughtered the whole graduating class. She hadn't known that that was Zabuza, but the tone in his voice as he told the story left no doubt in her mind. 'Devil,' they'd called the kid if she remembered correctly. That man really had a knack for menacing nicknames.

Naruto looked completely horrified, but it only lasted until the Water Clone slammed Sasuke into the ground. Then the area was suddenly filled with two dozen determined Shadow Clones. They swarmed their opponent, but were easily dismantled. It did give Naruto enough time to pull a fuma shuriken out of his back and throw it at Sasuke though. A fuma shuriken that Chikako had definitely not packed for him and that was thrumming with chakra. And while Zabuza and his clone were still distracted by the noise the many Naruto copies made, Sasuke pulled his own fuma shuriken out of his bag, very carefully placing it exactly over the first.

He dramatically held them up, bladed side perpendicular to the ground so that it looked like he was only holding one and then threw in a low arc. They flew past the Water Clone and straight for the original. Zabuza caught the first easily, and even though the one flying in it's shadow visibly surprised him, he managed to jump over it anyway.

"Still not enough," the nukenin scoffed. Sasuke was smirking however and the second shuriken turned back into Naruto mid-air. The blond held a kunai in his hand, that he threw at Zabuza with a battle cry before he even hit the ground. The swordsman dodged that one too, albeit barely, readying the shuriken he had caught earlier, but Kakashi stopped him before he could let go of the weapon. The Water Prison had dissolved the second Zabuza was forced to move away from it, freeing their sensei.

There was murder in Kakashi's eyes and then two massive Water Dragons rose from the depth of the lake and slammed into each other. Chikako smiled when the water drenched her. Naruto was definitely her new favorite idiot and Sasuke made a surprisingly good sidekick.

'Seems like sensei is done playing around,' she thought. He wasn't just copying Zabuza's jutsus anymore. He was reading every single move and playing with his opponents mind, predicting his thoughts and voicing them out loud. He even worked a genjutsu in to complete the charade. The nukenin was so shaken that even though both jonin started the next justu at about the same time, Kakashi finished it first.

The Water Explosion slammed Zabuza into a tree, ripping up the shoreline as it went. And just as Kakashi was about to finish him off two senbon pierced his neck. A masked shinobi appeared in the clearing before Zabuza's body even hit the floor. Chikako blinked at the newcomer a few times. She hadn't felt him at all. Was he that stealthy or was she more out of it than she had thought? The question became superfluous a second later, as darkness pressed in on her vision and she lost consciousness.


	6. II - Plan B

**A/N:**

 _milkymou_

What can I say, the puddle trap is too obvious and I decided opponents that work for a renowned assassin should be smarter than that. Also this way Kakashi wasn't forewarned about who is after the bridge builder. In canon Tazuna tells him it's Gato and after the Demon Brother's Kakashi actually expects the next attack to be from a jonin, but he still for some reason decides to go on and doesn't even call for backup. It made him seem a lot more arrogant and/or incompetent than I want him to be.

. . .

 **II - Plan B**

Chikako was ripped out of her hazy dreams by a chakra signature that closed in on her fast. She didn't even think, just let instinct take over and jumped to her feet, claws at the ready.

"Huh," she breathed in confusion when she saw her surroundings and then noticed Sasuke sitting on his rear in front of her, an impressive glare on his face.

"Sorry?" She tried a little dubiously. The Uchiha clearly hadn't expected her to react violently, but she couldn't really fathom why. For one she was a shinobi and for another she'd fallen unconscious on a battle field. Granted, he didn't know about her less than pleasant past with Orochimaru, but those two reasons should have been more than enough warning.

Chikako's lower back hurt, but seeing as she was still alive and able to move it couldn't be that bad. It would likely take a while to completely heal though. At least the poison was out of her system and good thing Zabuza didn't use any. Naruto generally healed faster than her, so it was probably safe to assume that he could handle poison better as well. Kakashi and Sasuke on the other hand had no such advantage.

Orochimaru had once told her that she would never be able to use medical ninjutsu because her chakra would do at least as much damage as it healed. Even worse the same was true the other way around as well, albeit not to the same degree. Medical ninjutsu that was used on her worked, but it also caused sever chakra burns because her own chakra reacted badly to the intrusion of foreign chakra. She could lessen the effect somewhat if she was conscious, but there was no way to completely eliminate it. Burning poisons away, however, was a natural effect of her chakra and not a jutsu. Using it on someone else would certainly be unpleasant, but it would likely also be less harmful than the actual poison. She should probably look into that at some point.

For now though she had to concentrate on making it back to Konoha alive. The room she was in wasn't very large and sparsely furnished. On the other side of it, under one of the windows, Kakashi's prone form rested on a futon. He looked fine from were she stood, a little banged up, but not like he might die at any second. His chakra was incredibly weak though and she was pretty sure he wasn't deliberately hiding it, seeing as he was unconscious and all.

"He fell over right after the masked guy left," Sasuke told her, having noticed her gaze. "Actually, I don't know how much of that you got. When we picked you up you were out like a light as well."

"The last thing I saw was Zabuza hitting the ground and I remember wondering were the boy had come from. Fill me in?" She asked, and he did. Apparently the boy belonged to Kiri's Hunter-nin division, a part of Mist's ANBU that specialized in killing and disposing of nukenin. He'd taken Zabuza away after Kakashi had confirmed the kill and then their sensei had collapsed, after which Sasuke and a small army of Naruto's clones had carried them to Tazuna's house.

"What do you mean he took Zabuza's body away?" Chikako frowned. "These guys are practically legendary for erasing every last trace of their target to keep the village's secrets. If he needed confirmation he could have just taken the head or sealed the corpse in a storage scroll. Zabuza and that sword of his have to be pretty heavy, there's really no reason to go through the trouble of carrying him around only to dispose of him later."

"What are you saying?" Sasuke asked. He'd clearly already guessed, but she confirmed his suspicions anyway.

"I'm saying, how certain are we that Zabuza is actually dead and that that was a real Hunter-nin?"

"But Kakashi confirmed the kill," her teammate protested. It was half-hearted at best. He knew the truth and was merely trying to cling to a fantasy. Chikako ignored him and started to slowly walk out of the room. Sure Kakashi had confirmed the kill, but he was also on the brink of chakra exhaustion by that point. It wasn't hard to believe that he might have missed something.

Sasuke followed her, asking where she thought she was going. She was about to tell him that she wanted to find a mirror in order to take a closer look at her back, but then stopped short when she saw Tazuna. Right. She'd almost forgotten about that asshole. Chikako steadied herself, took a deep breath and then moved forward in a burst of chakra enhanced speed. She grabbed the bridge builder by the collar, slamming him back first into a wall.

"Who wants you dead?" She snarled at him. He didn't answer, merely eyeing her in shock, and so she pulled him closer and then slammed him into the wall again. Surprising a target wasn't the best interrogation tactic, but right now there was no way she could make the old drunk believe that she wouldn't throw him to the wolves for a chance to get her team home safe.

"Who - Wants - You - Dead?" Chikako asked again. This time emphasizing every single word and letting her killing intent wash over the frightened man.

"I - d - d - don't know w - what you're talking about," Tazuna stuttered out in the same moment Naruto and a woman with long black hair stormed into the hallway.

"Chikako-chan!" The blond exclaimed. "What are you doing? Let him go! He needs our protection or that evil Gato guy is gonna take over the Land of Waves!"

"Protection?" Chikako scoffed without turning around. "This little piece of shit lost every right to our protection the second he lied at the mission office because he was too cheap to pay for more than a C-rank! He's been an asshole from the start and almost got all of us killed by keeping the truth to himself."

Naruto wasn't having it though. He didn't see a liar that had endangered their team unnecessarily, he saw a shaking old man who had lost part of his arm and was in need of help. Not that it mattered anymore. Her blond teammate had already given Chikako the information she wanted, and so she let got and left the building. She didn't go far, there was no way she would leave Kakashi undefended, but she needed to get some distance from Naruto before she threw something at him.

"Fucking goody two-shoes," she was complaining under her breath when Sasuke joined her outside.

"That man, Gato," he started, "he's one of the wealthiest people in the world. Someone like that isn't just going to send one team and then quit."

"No, he isn't," Chikako agreed. "It probably doesn't even matter whether Zabuza is still alive, he could just send someone else to do the dirty work. A-ranked nukenin are expensive, but he certainly has the money. We'll have a few days at best before someone comes to claim Tazuna's head and Kakashi won't be up by then."

"So what? You want to hand the bridge builder over don't you?" Sasuke seemed uncomfortable with that suggestion, but he'd go along with it if she told him to. Chikako didn't know whether she liked that. On one hand he was willing to trust her decision, but on the other his chakra screamed with fear. He was afraid to die out here, in some backwater town, on his first out-of-village mission. How much was he willing to give up to survive?

Chikako had seen children try to chew their limbs off just to escape chains. Of course they'd never gotten very far because of the blood loss and pain, but that didn't stop them from trying. Fear could make people do very stupid things. So instead of telling Sasuke that she would give Tazuna up in a heartbeat if she thought Gato was trustworthy, she attacked him.

An open palmed strike to the chest, that caught him completely off guard. She contemplated lying, telling him that an Uchiha would be worth more, but she didn't want to risk being called out on it. There was only one chance for this. Not to mention that, if left to it's own devices, the mind could spin the most terrifying monsters out of uncertainty, and she needed Sasuke even more afraid. He couldn't just be vaguely aware that dying was a possibility. He needed to think death was imminent, inescapable.

Chikako took great care to get Sasuke away from the house as fast and quietly as she could. It wouldn't do if Naruto interfered again. She also didn't give her teammate time to breathe and think. He'd tried asking her what was going on at first, but instinct took over soon enough.

There was no plan behind Sasuke's actions, as evidenced by the fact that he didn't use anything but taijutsu. He was just reacting to her attacks, but it wasn't enough. Something still held him back.

Not something, her, Chikako realized.

Because even when he thought she would kill him, he didn't want her dead, he just wanted her to stop. Well, at least that answered one question. She'd have to feel bad about doubting him later though, right now she needed to push him further.

Chikako stopped for a second, giving Sasuke just enough time to take a breath and hope. Then she poured as much chakra as she could draw on at once over him, together with the strongest killing intent she could muster, and followed the whole thing up with the Hell Viewing genjutsu. That last one did the trick. She barely managed to get out of the way when Sasuke launched himself at her, eyes blazing red and a kunai in hand.

"I'm done," she said, as calmly as she could, backing away with her hands up. He snarled at her like a wounded animal might, but didn't advance any further. Something clenched in Chikako's chest when she saw the silent tears streaming down his face.

"Shit, I'm sorry Sasuke. That's the only way I know to activate the Sharingan and we're going to need any advantage we can get if we want to make it back home," she explained. It wasn't enough and she hadn't expected it to be. After all, she wasn't sorry that she had forced him to activate the Sharingan, she was sorry that she had caused him pain. When it came down to it Chikako would do just about anything to keep her pack safe.

"That last technique," Sasuke rasped after a long silence. "Never do that again."

She agreed easily. The Hell Viewing Technique wasn't pleasant and it was unlikely to ever work on him again anyway. The Sharingan saw through illusions like glass, so it wasn't a hard promise to make.

"Handing Tazuna over would be my first choice if I thought Gato was trustworthy, but I really don't," Chikako started a little hesitantly, but Sasuke took to the abrupt change in topic well. He probably needed the distraction. "We can't just leave either. Naruto would protest and any nukenin or even just foreign shinobi in the area might decide we're easy prey, and that is if Gato doesn't send someone after us himself. Kakashi's head is worth quite a bit of money and nobody would scoff at a chance to take an Uchiha hostage either."

"We can't just sit here and do nothing though. Whoever comes next will be as strong as Zabuza or stronger. So what does that leave?" Sasuke asked with a somber look on his face. She couldn't quite tell if it was because of her or the situation, they certainly both deserved it. Chikako was actually a little unnerved by the fact that Sasuke wasn't glaring at her and seemed so willing to ignore what she'd done. She couldn't get a read on his chakra either, it was torn this way and that by a myriad of different emotions.

"We have nothing to safely bargain with, running, hiding and defending aren't options," she thought out loud, frowning. "That leaves attacking. Zabuza didn't want Tazuna dead because of personal or ideological reasons, he tried to kill him because of money. So ... take away the money and people will have no reason to care about some drunk bridge builder."

"Kill Gato? You don't even know where he is. Not to mention that someone that rich has to have guards."

"Well, if he's trying to take over Wave like Naruto said he is probably close by. Otherwise getting updates on the situation and issuing new orders would take too long. Do you think you could go get some information out of the villagers in the morning? I'll ask Naruto to use his clones to scout the area. Actually he should make a few to guard a perimeter around the house anyway."

. . .

The atmosphere in the house was tense all throughout the evening and the following days. Sasuke pretended he was fine, but never left Chikako out of his sight for too long. Naruto made a point of staying close to the bridge builder, and Tazuna's daughter tried to make sure Chikako was never in the same room as her son.

It didn't really matter to Chikako. She spent most of her day sitting right next to Kakashi and stretching her sense of chakra as far as it would go. It was exhausting and she had to take a break every hour or so to avoid getting a headache. Waiting wasn't one of her favorite pastimes, but she needed to rest her back to get back into fighting shape as fast as possible.

The townspeople didn't know a lot about Gato, they were mostly just afraid and wanted him gone. However, all of them were in agreement that the man hated ninja and that his regular guards were samurai. Ronin, more likely, but civilians probably didn't care about these kinds of distinctions.

Gato posed as a shipping magnate, but apparently that was only a small part of his business. His main operation involved drugs and other black market items. Nobody had any specifics on that, not that it mattered. Officially Gato was a foreign business man, so killing him without a contract would get Chikako in trouble, no matter his other activities.

What was more interesting to her was the no shinobi thing. He'd hired a known nukenin assassin to kill Tazuna, but his guards weren't ninja. It seemed a little weird at first, but nukenin were almost as likely to do a job as they were to kill and rob their employer. Konoha wouldn't take the kinds of missions Gato's business involved, at least not officially, but other nations might. Kiri for one hadn't been called the Bloody Mist because they were a bunch of friendly do gooders. Then again, Kiri might just decide they wanted Wave themselves, and regular shinobi were always more expensive than nukenin, especially if they had to travel far to complete the job. As a criminal and businessman the most important things to Gato were probably money and power and paying Hidden Village shinobi was more expensive and would put him in the weaker position.

It fit with what Naruto had discovered on the third day. One of his clones came across a group of conical houses, suspended in the trees several miles away from the town. He couldn't confirm that Gato was there for certain, as he had no idea how the man looked, but there were at least three dozen men that looked like thugs and an older guy in a suit that was guarded by two men in samurai gear.

"There's something else," The blond said when he was done relaying the information his clone had gathered. "I don't know how important it is, but you said everything, so ... I met a boy in the woods. He was really nice and gathering medical herbs, and he also kinda looked like a girl. Like, a lot."

The Uchiha scoffed at him, but didn't comment otherwise. Chikako gave both of them an exasperated look, but neither seemed to get what her problem was.

"So, let me get this straight. You find what is probably Gato's outpost in this area. Not far away from that you run into a boy gathering medical herbs. This happens only days after we fight a nukenin who was in all likelihood saved by a fake Hunter-nin. A boy whose face you have never seen."

"You can't be serious," Sasuke said. Naruto still didn't get it though.

"What? What does it mean?"

"It means there is a good chance that boy was the Hunter-nin you idiot!" Sasuke nearly shouted at him.

"No way! Haku was way too nice to work with that bastard nukenin!"

Sometimes Chikako wondered if Naruto even knew what being a ninja entailed. People like Haku might not be the norm, but they weren't a rarity either. Itachi was perfectly nice, polite and hated violence. He was also an elite assassin and mass murderer. Humans were complex creatures that could be driven to do just about anything under the right circumstances. Being nice wasn't the same as not-a-killer and the greatest asshole in the world might have a soft spot for fuzzy, little kittens and give his life to protect them.

"Just keep the perimeter up Naruto and if Haku does happen to show up again make sure not to let him anywhere near the house," Chikako sighed.

The blond agreed before he left to talk to Inari, the bridge builders grandson. He wasn't happy with the order, but apparently not unhappy enough to risk being wrong about his new friend. It would have to be good enough.

"You're going tonight?" Sasuke asked when Naruto was out of the room.

"Yeah, we're probably not going to get a better opportunity. I know where Gato's outpost is and if the fake Hunter-nin is gathering herbs that means Zabuza isn't ready to fight yet."

"There could be other shinobi."

"If there were they would have already attacked, it's been three days. Gato is likely too cheap to pay more than one nukenin unless he absolutely has to."

. . .

Chikako waited until after dinner and checked the surroundings one last time before she left. Sasuke took a guard position on the roof and Naruto assured her that his clones would notice any attackers and give him enough time to warn everyone in the house. It wasn't nearly as secure as she'd like it to be, but she hadn't lied when she'd told Sasuke that they were unlikely to get a better opportunity. They couldn't risk waiting for Kakashi to wake up because even after he did he would still need more time to recover and by then Zabuza would either be back on his feet as well, or Gato would have decided that it was time to send someone else.

Well, unless all of her assumptions were wrong, which was entirely possible. Not that it mattered much at this point. They weren't in a position to twiddle their thumbs and hope for the best, so instead she'd trust her instincts, her training, and Naruto's luck.

. . .

It took Chikako almost four hours to reach the outpost. She could have gotten there faster, but she didn't want to risk being noticed and keeping her chakra imperceptible got more difficult the more of it she used. Stealth was her only advantage at the moment, one she could absolutely not afford to lose.

She slowly crept up one of the tree trunks, well out of range of the patrolling thugs, and only using chakra when absolutely necessary. It took her the better part of an hour to move from tree to tree and onto the roof of the main building, silently and without being seen.

Chikako almost cursed out loud when she finally reached it. There were two trained and one civilian chakra signatures in a room at the top. Gato and his two guards in his office she'd judged, and of course they had decided that it was time to go to bed just as she got into position. Following them into one of the lower levels was too risky. There was no way she could kill Gato without having to fight his two guards. In his office she might have been able to get away with it before anyone decided to investigate the noise, but not in the sleeping quarters. There were too many people on that floor.

One civilian didn't stand a chance against a shinobi in a fight, even one fresh from the Academy. But the game changed once there were several civilians, especially the kind that knew how to wield a weapon. At some point they would simply be able to overwhelm Chikako, ninja techniques or not.

Time for plan B. Or in other words: improvise and hope for the best. Her original plan hadn't been all that solid to begin with, born out of desperation as it was, so whatever she came up with on the fly couldn't be that much worse.

Chikako crawled along the building's outer wall until she reached the window to Gato's office and then used her claws to cut a hole into it. Afterwards she gathered chakra to her palm, gently nudging the glass to avoid shattering it. It worked surprisingly well. There would be no way to hide that someone had been in the office, but then her goal was merely not to be discovered while she was still here so that didn't really matter.

Gato's office didn't look bad. Expensive, wooden floor, decorative plants, two very comfortable leather couches, massive desk and behind that a safe. There was some artwork too, but Chikako didn't have an eye for that kind of thing. Especially the cage with a teakettle in it that stood on a small side table confused her quite a bit. Was that art as well?

She didn't spent too much time perusing the office, more focused on the desk and safe. Picking the locks on the desk's drawers was very easy, but also not particularly useful. The papers within would probably be interesting to someone, but they didn't do her any good at the moment. The safe seemed like it wouldn't be much use to her either. Chikako wasn't sure if she could have exerted enough force on it to break the thing at all, but she definitely couldn't do it quietly. With the help of chakra enhanced hearing she might have been able to get around a mechanical combination lock, but of course the stupid thing just had to have a key lock.

"I could help you with that," a tiny voice said from the other side of the office. It surprised Chikako so much, she jumped away from the safe, rolled to the side and had two kunai drawn before she was even on her feet again. Besides her own she couldn't feel any chakra signatures nearby, but in the cage that had held the teakettle before now sat a tanuki with a straw hat hanging around his neck.

"Who the fuck are you and why can't I sense you?" She hissed, suspicious and embarrassed that she'd been caught off guard in such a situation.

"My name is Jiro and I'm a mighty summon!" The little creature declared. Chikako raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, so mighty that you serve as piece of weird room decor."

"I'll open that safe for you if you free me," he offered in a huff.

"If you're so good at opening things, how come you can't unlock the cage?" Chikako asked skeptically, but went over anyway. Apparently there was some kind of seal on the cage that dispersed chakra as soon as it passed the bars, which explained why she couldn't sense him. It also meant that he couldn't transform himself into something smaller and escape on his own or simply go back to his summoning realm.

The cage's lock, however, was as simple as those on the desk drawers, so Chikako had no trouble at all simply picking it. Jiro looked completely delighted when he jumped out. He bowed to her and then promptly transformed into a complicated looking key. She blinked at him for a moment before picking the key up and opening the safe with it. Chikako knew that Tanuki were supposed to be incredible shapeshifters, but this was still impressive. Whatever he had done didn't just make him look like a key, he actually was one.

"I believe this concludes our business," Jiro said in a strangely formal tone, having transformed back the second the safe was open. He waited for her to nod in acknowledgment and then disappeared in a small cloud of chakra smoke. Chikako didn't waste any time wondering about the strange little creature, instead riffling through the safe. She stuffed all the money that would fit into her bag as well as a few papers that mentioned Konoha, and then headed back out through the window.

Zabuza's chakra signature was in one of the smaller houses, that was so far out of the way that the guards excluded it from their patrols. Still, Chikako didn't hurry, sneaking up another tree trunk and then carefully over to the other house. Compared to the one Gato's office was in this one was more of a shabby hut. It also was completely empty except for Zabuza himself and a second chakra signature she assumed belonged to the fake Hunter-nin, Haku.

Chikako let herself in through the front door this time. She kept her chakra imperceptible, but didn't bother being overly quiet. She wouldn't win a fight and didn't want to give the impression that she was trying to sneak up on them. When she reached Zabuza's room a boy was waiting in the door. He looked calm, three senbon in one hand, but his chakra was skittish, more uncomfortable than afraid.

"I'd like to talk," Chikako told him. He looked at her blankly, seemingly unsure what to do with that, and then there was laughter from inside the room.

"Step aside boy," Zabuza said. Haku immediately obeyed.

The room was completely empty, except for two cots and a small table. Chikako made sure to keep her back to the door, and both Zabuza and the boy in her line of sight.

"Well?" The nukenin asked her after a few seconds of silence. His chakra was almost as weak as Kakashi's and his body clearly hadn't taken it's introduction to a tree trunk very well, but he'd be able to come after them again in a few more days.

"I just cleared out Gato's safe," she started, voice as firm as she could make it. "Which means you're not getting any money from him any time soon. I'm sure he has more elsewhere, but who knows if he'd still be willing to pay you after this."

"So you came to gloat then?" Zabuza interrupted her with a disbelieving laugh. Chikako frowned at him, shaking her head.

"No. I'm going to give the money to you and in return you will come back with me and protect the bridge builder and my team. Or you could kill Gato and his men, I really don't care."

"And what makes you think I'm not just going to kill you little girl?"

"You could, but it would cost you. You saw what I did to your minions. I might not get out of here in one piece, but neither will you." It was a bluff of course. Chikako couldn't fight Zabuza on her best day and even now, injured as he was, there was still the fake hutner-nin to take into account. Haku's accuracy with senbon had to be incredible to be able to put someone in a near death state. She wasn't sure if the nukenin saw through her bluff, but he didn't call her on it.

"Well, seems we have a new mission Haku," he grinned, showing decidedly too many sharp teeth. Did he file those or was that some kind of natural mutation?

. . .

Zabuza decided to head back with Chikako instead of taking Gato out. She was a little confused about that at first, but then the reason he had agreed to work with her in the first place became clear. Physically the nukenin was a lot worse of than she had first thought and Haku was apparently rather averse to killing. The way back to Tazuna's house took them almost as long as Chikako had needed initially and they weren't even trying to be stealthy.

Chikako could sense one of Naruto's clones long before it burst out of the trees when they got close to the town.

"Chikako-chan!" It shouted, dramatically pointing at Zabuza, as if she could have somehow missed the nukenin's presence.

"Tell the others I've made new friends," she interrupted the clone, completely ignoring his hysterical babbling and arm waving. She had to tell him five times that, yes, she was sure and no, this wasn't some convoluted hostage situation, before he finally did as told.

A few minutes later the house came into view, with both the original Naruto and Sasuke waiting on the porch. Haku smiled at the blond and, after receiving a nod from Zabuza, the two moved inside. Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow at her.

"How did leaving to kill Gato turn into bringing the guys that want our client dead back here?"

"What can I say, Gato has really shitty timing and I didn't want to risk having to fight fifty thugs and him," she told her teammate with a nod in Zabuza's direction. Sasuke gave her a long look, as if to ask whether she was sure about this, but she didn't budge. After a while he shrugged and went inside as well.

"I think there's still some dinner left," Chikako told Zabuza. She wasn't about to just trust him blindly and would make sure that one of her teammates or herself were awake to keep and eye on him at all times, but he really didn't have a reason to betray them right now.

. . .

 **A/N:**

Well, that didn't work out quite as I had planned. Initially I just wanted Chikako to go kill Gato like she did in the first version, but the whole timing of how that went down, especially with the fight on the bridge seemed too convenient. So instead you get this.


	7. II - Making Friends

**A/N:**

 _meow333333_

Ah, poor Kakashi is missing all the fun and games.

 _Scarease_

Wow, I think you're tanking it a little far with the world domination xD  
Also I'm afraid none of the currently conscious ninja have the necessary genjutsu skills. Actually I don't think Kakashi does either. I don't think the Narutoverse would work very well if everyone could just hypnotize everyone else into doing their bidding.

 _lilith-thetiny-monster_

I can't promise you any less blood. There are a lot of scary people in canon and even if Chikako isn't actively seeking them out. Team 7 is kind of a trouble magnet.

I agree with you on Zabuza's and Haku's deaths though. They were really good characters and while killing them off worked to show the team that shinobi life isn't all fun and games I always thought it was a waste.

 _milkymou_

I haven't fully fleshed Jiro's character out yet, but I kind of have the need to make sure he isn't nearly as cute as he looks. You know, just because I can.

. . .

 **II - Making Friends**

Tazuna wasn't at all happy having Zabuza and Haku in the house, but he quickly shut up when Chikako reiterated why her team was under no legal obligation to protect him. She didn't know why he made such a fuss anyway. The two nukenin were incredibly well behaved all things considered, Haku even helped making food and cleaning the house. Zabuza, for his part, mostly just stayed out of the way, keeping watch on the porch or roof.

"How come you're just okay with this?" he asked Chikako after breakfast the next day. She gave him a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

"This whole were suddenly on the same side business. Your teammates look as if they expect me to turn around and bite their heads of any minute, but you don't even watch to make sure I'm not up to something." He explained, real curiosity in his voice and only a hint of mockery. At that Chikako laughed, she wasn't half as unconcerned as he seemed to think.

"I don't have to watch," she told him with a smirk. "I can sense chakra a lot better than the average shinobi. Not to mention that you have precisely no reason to turn on any of us. You already have your money, Gato isn't going to pay you anything even if you do bring him Tazuna's head and Haku would be very cross with you if you so much as thought about going after my team."

"Haku is my tool, he'll do as I say," Zabuza declared, completely ignoring everything else Chikako had said.

"Sure, but you care too much to give an order like that. If you didn't you wouldn't have allowed him to stay back during our first fight."

He didn't say anything to that, but the silence told her all she needed to know. As long as Naruto and Haku were friends Zabuza wouldn't turn against them. Naruto might be annoyingly soft hearted, but that didn't mean Chikako couldn't use that to her advantage.

"Why was someone like you working for Gato anyway?"

"What do you mean 'someone like me'? I'm a fucking assassin you know?" Zabuza's tone was so indignant that Chikako had to laugh again.

"You don't even want to guess how many kind assassins I know," she smiled. "You might be an arrogant asshole Demon, but you're not a bad man. You saved an orphan from the street, made him strong and still protect him, even though doing so heavily limits his uses as a tool. Call him whatever you want, but in the end actions will always speak louder than words."

"Don't be naive," he scoffed. "Saving one boy doesn't make me good and it doesn't erase everything else I've done and will do."

"It's good enough for me. Also, you're honest so I know you won't stab me in the back without warning me first. That's really more than anyone can expect in a world that trains children to kill each other without anyone even batting an eye."

"I thought Konoha was the nice village."

"We probably just have better liars."

. . .

A few hours later Chikako and a still unconscious Kakashi were the only shinobi in the house. Naruto had decided he would keep watch over the bridge builder, which meant Haku was going as well and of course neither Sasuke nor Zabuza were willing to leave their respective teammates alone with someone they didn't trust. Chikako thought it was kind of funny, but they might actually need the numbers. By now Gato would have noticed that both his money and the nukenin were gone. He'd probably assume Zabuza had robbed him and fled, which meant he would want to take care of his little Tazuna problem before anyone noticed that he couldn't pay them.

If Kakashi had been awake she would have been at the bridge as well. Zabuza was good, but he wasn't really back in fighting shape just yet and Haku's aversion to hurt anyone, much less kill them, could prove to be a problem. Gato could send at least fifty men after the bridge builder if he wanted to and when being outnumbered more than ten to one it was imperative to eliminate enemies as fast and permanently as possible. Not to mention that neither Sasuke nor Naruto had ever killed anyone before and only been in one real fight. By rights Naruto should have left a bunch of clones at the house and Chikako should have gone to the bridge with her team that morning, but if she had to chose she would chose Kakashi and that was precisely the reason she sat next to him instead.

Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, looked in on her several times, but never said anything. She was still making sure Inari stayed as far away from Chikako as possible too. despite that the morning was kind of peaceful, right up until it wasn't.

"Tsunami!" Chikako shouted the second she felt the chakra signatures of Gato's two bodyguards. "Take your brat and go upstairs, stay out of sight no matter what you hear." The woman reacted immediately, not asking a single question. Chikako thought she saw her take a frying pan with her, but couldn't be sure, too distracted by the sound of splintering wood.

The idiot ronin had smashed through one of the thin walls to enter the house. They were shouting something about taking Tsunami to Gato, presumably as leverage to get the bridge builder's cooperation. They both carried a katana, and while one seemed to prefer a tanto as a secondary weapon the other had a wakizashi. Not that either of them drew the weapons when they saw her. Apparently little girls and unconscious men weren't worth the trouble. Their mistake.

Chikako wanted to tell them that using the front door would have been a perfectly acceptable way to enter. Instead she played the frightened child. She needed to take both of them out at the same time if possible because they were positioned between her and the stairs. Chikako might not particularly care about Tazuna or his family, but she wouldn't risk their lives for no reason either.

"A kid?" The ronin whose upper body and right arm were tattooed with swirling lines asked. "Should we take her too?"

"We only need one hostage," the other one told him. Chikako used their distraction to rush them. Her back still hurt, so she wasn't quite as fast or agile as she'd have liked to be though. The small one managed to draw his sword by the time she'd ripped the big ones throat out. It didn't save him from the same fate, but he did manage to swipe at her before he went down. A nasty cut parted Chikako's shirt and had pain blooming across the ribs on her left side only moments later.

"Fuck," she cursed. She'd survive, but that wound would definitely scar and right now she really didn't need anything else impacting her ability to fight. Also, two scars for one mission was excessive, at that rate she wouldn't have any good skin left by the time she was eighteen. Her healing was fast enough that small wounds didn't leave marks, but something as deep as that cut or the kunai she'd taken to the back during her fight with Zabuza's minions were a different matter.

"Tsunami?" She called, after making sure there was nobody else around. The woman shrieked the second she saw the two bodies and hastily shoved Inari behind her, telling him to go back to his room.

"He is a child!" She screamed at a completely unimpressed Chikako.

"So am I, so are my teammates. All of us have bleed in order to keep you and your family alive. Get over it woman and help me get the bodies out of the house."

Tsunami's disgust reached new heights, when Chikako started taking the weapons off of her kills and then went through their pockets to see if they had anything else that might be of use. They didn't, but the woman still was under the impression that it was some kind of violation.

Chikako had no idea what her problem was. Both men were too dead to care anymore, not to mention that they had been ready to kidnap Tsunami and kill Chikako only minutes earlier. Why did they suddenly deserve respect now that they were dead? Especially considering that Tsunami would have likely done anything to keep them away from her son, had it come to that.

They'd have to burn or bury the bodies later, at that moment Chikako didn't have the energy left and she needed to take care of her side. In fact that should and would have been the first thing she did, if Tsunami hadn't started screeching like a harpy. Chikako gingerly held her side and very slowly walked back into the house. There were no more enemies to fight off at the moment and Tazuna's daughter seemed unhappy, but pacified.

At least that was what Chikako thought until she managed to actually get inside and rooted around in her first aid kit for thread and needle. Apparently Tsunami hadn't noticed she got hurt during the altercation with the ronin, but now that she did know the women suddenly started to fuss. It was awkward and made Chikako really uncomfortable. Not even Ibiki, who could be quite overprotective, was this much of a mother hen. The woman was alternately scolding Chikako for getting hurt, taking care of the wound, thanking her for saving them and complaining about how she'd saved them.

It was so distracting that Chikako didn't even notice they had woken Kakashi until he let out a very melodramatic groan and insinuated that he was in dire need of a nursemaid. Chikako's breath caught in her throat for a moment and then she was up and in Kakashi's arms, her own wound completely forgotten. With her sensei awake again she wouldn't have to call the shots anymore. He could solve this stupid mess of a mission and then they could all go back home and never even think about lying old drunks ever again.

"Hey, don't cry pup," Kakashi said softly, patting her back. It was an awkward attempt to comfort her, but Chikako didn't care as long as he was okay. Enduring pain and horror while she had been one of Orochimaru's experiments hadn't been this hard. Back then there wasn't really anything for her to loose. Life had been a patchwork of terrible days, one bleeding into the next in a never ending monotony. At some point she had simply distanced herself from everything that had happened to and around her, been numb to it. Now though, she had things and people to lose and suddenly life wasn't just something to escape from and death her path to freedom. Instead living was at least as beautiful as it was terrible and death now had the power to rip loved ones away from her. Now understanding why Orochimaru might be willing to do just about anything to gain the secret to immortality didn't seem quite as hard to understand.

Chikako's tears were silent, but calming down again took a long time, now that the dam had broken. When she finally did she roughly cleaned her face, using her shirt as a makeshift towel and grinned up at Kakashi.

"You're really bad at this," she told him and he huffed in mock annoyance.

"See if I pat your back again you little runt."

He sprang up only moments later, kunai drawn and stepping in front of her. Chikako almost broke down laughing when she saw Zabuza peering through the hole in the wall. His chakra was tense, but he gave a very good impression of someone that didn't give a single fuck and was merely curious about the odd design choice.

"I take it you ran into trouble as well?" She asked, peering around Kakashi's legs from her position on the floor.

"You could say that," he told her still wary of the other jonin, but not making a move to attack. "Gato sent a bunch of his thugs, half of them fled when they saw me and we took care of the rest. Oh, and apparently he thought it necessary to show up himself and announce that he never intended to pay me in the first place so I explained the error of that business practice to him as well."

Kakashi stared between the two of them, while Zabuza updated Chikako on what exactly had happened. They boys were all a little bloody, but no one sustained serious injuries. Apparently both Naruto and Haku had managed not to kill anyone. The former by mobbing his opponent with clones and pummeling them until they were unconscious or ran away and the latter by paralyzing them with his senbon. Sasuke on the other hand had been a little more deadly, but Zabuza had taken care of most of the killing. The way the nukenin told the story it sounded a little like pandemonium had broken lose on the bridge, and it involved a lot more orange than he was comfortable with.

"Okay, I clearly missed something," Kakashi said afterwards. He sounded as if he wasn't sure he hadn't just stumbled into a really weird dream and was giving it the benefit of the doubt for now. "Anyone care to fill me in?"

. . .

Kakashi wasn't exactly happy that Zabuza and Haku were sticking around until Team 7 left for Konoha, but he tolerated them. The two jonin were a little like two very dominant dogs that tried to keep the peace by staying out of each others way. It worked well enough for the most part, even if things sometimes got a little tense during the meals.

Haku, Naruto and Sasuke regularly spent their days with little competitions like seeing who could run faster, throw projectiles with more accuracy or carry the most material to the bridge. Sasuke generally won everything that involved speed, Haku easily beat the other two when it came to accuracy and Naruto tended to liberally use his clones when it came to transporting things. It wasn't quite the same as actual training, but they seemed to have lots of fun and Kakashi was happy that he didn't have to babysit anyone.

Chikako, for her part, had annoyed Zabuza for three days straight about getting kenjutsu lessons. The first thing the swordsman did after relenting was mock her pilfered weapons. Apparently the ronin had had no eye for quality, at all. So Zabuza taught her everything there was to know about good swords before he even let her pick one up again. Most of it went completely over Chikako's head, but she dutifully took coded notes.

It rather unsurprisingly turned out that the katanas were much too big for her to handle, but she did quite well with both the wakizashi and tanto. Zabuza showed her a few different ways to fight with one or both at the same time, but cautioned her that she would need years of practice before she could call herself a swordsman. He actually was a surprisingly good teacher. Rough, a little mean and he expected her to give her best at all times and fully concentrate on the task at hand, yes, but he was also very patient, never demanded more than she could do and would explain something as often as she needed him to to understand it, no matter how simple.

She had a lot of fun teasing Kakashi about how the infamous Demon of the Mist was a better sensei than him. He ignored her for the most part, pretending she didn't exist, but once in a while he would throw a pillow with surprising accuracy and speed.

With Gato as well as most of his men dead nobody interfered with the completion of the bridge, but they took turns guarding it anyway. Kakashi insisted that since he, as team leader, hadn't declared the mission invalid it simply wasn't. Tazuna wasn't particularly happy with that because it meant he owed Konoha pay for an A-rank mission, but he had the common sense not to complain too much.

At least not about that. The bridge builder was convinced that someone was stealing his sake and would tell anyone who was willing to listen all about it. It took Chikako exactly twenty seconds after the first time to figure out that Jiro had invited himself to stay in the house with them, not that she told anyone. The little tanuki had been quite helpful and less sake wouldn't hurt Tazuna.

Both Kakashi and Zabuza discovered the teakettle Jiro liked to disguise himself as - apparently no matter how out of place - as well. They made some odd game out of picking it up and putting it down again in increasingly unlikely places. Chikako had no idea what the rules were or if they just made them up as they went, but both Sasuke and Haku insisted that Zabuza was winning.

When Naruto finally noticed he shouted at the teakettle until it turned back into a crying Jiro and then profusely apologized. The little tanuki was quite the actor. He actually offered Naruto a wad of cash for the sake he had stolen. They argued about whether or not the blond should take it until the money turned back into leaves and then Naruto was yelling again and chasing the summon around the house for being a liar. It would have been a lot more funny if Jiro hadn't suddenly decided that Chikako was the perfect place to hide. He just turned himself into a woven leather bracelet on her wrist, which of course resulted in Naruto following her around and trying to talk him back into his actual form. It unsurprisingly didn't work and since she couldn't take the bracelet off and wasn't quite willing to see what would happen if she cut it, Chikako spent the last four days of their time in Wave hiding from her blond teammate.

When they left for Konoha Naruto and Haku had an embarrassingly sentimental goodbye, while everyone else pretended they didn't exist. The way back was utterly boring, but at least it didn't take them as long as getting to Wave had. In fact, Chikako had decided she quite liked boring, at least for a while.

Because of the upgrade in mission rank they had to report directly to the Hokage almost as soon as they got back. Since Kakashi had been unconscious for most of the important things the three genin had to fill in the gaps. Chikako explained in great detail how and why she had decided that killing Gato would be a good idea and how it had ended with hiring a nukenin instead. At the same time she completely left out Jiro's existence, how Sasuke had gotten his Sharingan or anything to do with Zabuza and Haku after that fight on the bridge. The boys followed her lead without batting an eye. Kakashi seemed quite proud of them, presumably because they were working as a team and not because they were lying to their village leader. Not that she would bet on that. He hadn't gotten along with Zabuza in the beginning, but by the end the two had some weird friendship going that involved a lot of creative and sometimes backhanded insults. It was entirely possible that Kakashi had decided to protect the nukenin by obscuring his whereabouts. After all, he was one of the Seven Swordsman and Kiri would give quite a bit to see him dead and get that sword back.

. . .

Kakashi gave the Team a week off after the Wave mission and Chikako used the time to look through the papers she had liberated from Gato's safe. They were all ridiculously vague. The only thing she got from them was that someone inside of the village had used Gato to get access to some very illegal black market drugs. There was a single reference to something called the Foundation, but that was it. Chikako made coded copies of the papers and placed them in a storage scroll and hid that behind a lose panel in her ceiling and then she burned the originals. They might never be important again, but Ibiki's insistence that any and all information was valuable and needed to be protected had rubbed off on her.

Sai found her on the third morning after Team 7 had gotten back.

"You said you would take a break," he accused. Chikako stared at him for a heartbeat or two. That was just about the most emotional she had ever seen him.

"I didn't exactly get a choice in the matter you know?"

"He wants to see you," Sai said without any inflection. It was as if the very thought had wiped every trace of emotion he might have had away. Chikako didn't ask who 'he' was. There was really only one option. She'd bee meeting Sai's monster today.

"Lead the way."


	8. II - Papers

**A/N:**

 _Scarease_

I'm not saying someone like Itachi for example couldn't have done it. Of the people that were in Wave though only Kakashi would have been qualified and he was unconscious until after Gato was dead. But even if he hadn't been most of Gato's business wasn't legal so he couldn't just have signed it over and Gato's men (also criminals) probably wouldn't just have shrugged it off if someone they had never seen before declared they were the new boss.

 _milkymou_

He does seem a little like Shippo, well a drunk version of Shippo I guess. Yes, Kakashi is a very mature and emotionally stable person. But I guess you can't really expect anything else from someone with his background. After all he lost his family and most of his team, fought in a war, and became ANBU by the time he was 12.

. . .

 **II - Papers**

Sai led Chikako into the evacuation tunnels below Hokage Rock. He was moving slower than usual, delaying as much as he possibly could without being too obvious. It wouldn't change anything in the end though and the anticipation was killing her.

"It's going to be okay," Chikako told his back.

Sai might as well not have heard her for all the reaction she got at first, but then, after a dozen more silent steps, he fell into his normal walking speed. Chikako for her part assumed the facade she had used in Wave before Kakashi had woken up, and not a second too late. She barely managed not to falter in her steps when she sensed the chakra signature, or rather signatures. There were so many, but all intertwined like some sick tapestry. It felt disgusting, wrong, as if someone had cut pieces of off people and stitched them onto someone else.

With Kakashi's Sharingan Chikako could clearly tell that it belonged to someone else, but it was part of his body now. It belonged, even if it didn't fit perfectly. This though, this was a thousand times worse. The chakra signatures were repelling each other and only held together by force.

Sai held open a metal door at the end of the tunnel. The room behind it looked as if it used to be a storage area at some point, but had long since been forgotten. A layer of dust clung to every surface, even the old spiderwebs in the corners of the ceiling, and in the middle of the room stood a single man. His forehead and right eye were bandaged, an x-shaped scar sat prominently on his chin and he held a wooden cane in his left hand.

"Councilman," Chikako greeted him, purposefully keeping emotions out of her voice and mimic. It was hard though. She had never thought that Sai's monster would be some unimportant nobody, but she hadn't expected it to be someone this high up in the government either. Once she had learned just who Orochimaru's sensei was she had looked into the third Hokage. It seemed all paths led back to him in the end, for this man right in front of her, Danzo Shimura, used to be his teammate and now had a seat on his council.

"You know who I am then, good," he said, affecting a cough and putting a little more weight on his cane. "As you probably also know, it is the Council's job to ensure that the Hokage's decisions are made with the best interest of Konoha in mind."

She knew that, she also knew that he was leaving out Konoha's inhabitants. Deliberately she assumed, considering what he had done to Sai and who knew how many other children. Chikako didn't say anything though, merely nodded and hoped he couldn't see how terrified she was of letting something slip. Even just knowing how many chakra signatures that weren't his had been forced to become part of his body was probably enough to get her killed.

Danzo didn't frown at her nonverbal response, but she still somehow got the impression that he was displeased.

"Rewarding disloyal shinobi seems like an unwise decision, wouldn't you agree?" He asked and then continued without waiting for an answer. "Gathering intelligence from a crime lord and then not handing it over during or even after an official debriefing with the Hokage does seem like a rather disloyal act."

Chikako's eyes went wide for a moment. How did he even know that? She'd copied those papers and burned the originals right after getting back. If someone had seen her doing that ... But how would they know what was written on them? She had been in her own flat, blinds drawn and back to the wall. And why wait three days to confront her about it? Unless ...

"They were documents implying that Konoha had had dealings with Gato in the past. Nothing specific, but I thought it better to destroy them nonetheless," she said, hoping very much he couldn't tell she was leaving something out. Danzo smiled. It was small and not exactly friendly, but at least he wasn't signing her death warrant.

"You may go," he told her, never even glancing at Sai.

Chikako could have sworn the boy's steps were lighter when he led her out of the tunnels again, but that was probably just her imagination. Sai never made a sound while moving anyway, not unless he chose to.

He didn't leave once they reached the surface again. Didn't say anything either, merely standing straight and looking ahead, like a soldier waiting for orders. She eyed him for a moment and then left for their usual space on the Shodaime's stone head. Sai followed, two steps behind and to the right. Usually he tailed her from further away or ran right beside her, but this was a guarding position. That little meeting in the tunnels must have shaken him up more than she'd realized.

"How are you?" Chikako asked the second they stopped. Sai blinked at her, confusion clear on his face.

"Fine?"

She sighed. He probably didn't even know. Sai seemingly had the emotional range of a potato and likely wouldn't be able to recognize his own feelings even if they hit him over the head. What did a person have to endure to get to that point?

Chikako had a moment of hysterical laughter, when she thought about what Zabuza had said about shinobi needing to be tools. Sai likely wasn't what the nukenin had had in mind, but she had no doubt that the boy was almost the perfect tool. A shinobi without emotions, bound to a single master, blindly following orders with no sense for right and wrong. Sai wasn't quite like that. He had opinions sometimes, a very vague sense of self and emotions - even if it was mostly confusion - weren't an entirely foreign concept to him, but he came very close.

Her laughter clearly didn't soothe Sai's nerves, so Chikako tried to calm herself down. He looked a little as if he wasn't sure if she would hug or attack him and couldn't decide which one would be worse. She did neither, of course, instead offering him a sad smile.

"Is this place safe to talk?" She asked, and then continued when he gave a short nod: "How many people does Danzo command?" Sai just looked at her blankly, not saying a word, but she could feel a curious flickering of chakra, in his mouth of all places.

"You can't tell me can you?" Chikako ventured, when he continued to stare at her for several long seconds. She tried a few more things, figuring out that he couldn't write, sign or pantomime an answer either. He couldn't even nod or shake his head. The only reason she knew that he even tried was that flicker of chakra. Curiously enough he could confirm that it was a seal by showing her his tongue.

"Okay, let's try something else. Am I a member of Danzo's little group?"

"No. How does that help?"

"It proves that you can answer questions related to the subject as long as you don't divulge Danzo's secrets. If you can answer that means my guess is wrong or irrelevant and if you can't that means I'm on to something, or at least that's my working theory."

Chikako frowned. Danzo had known about the papers, but it couldn't have been from someone who had watched her destroy them in Konoha or that person would have also known that she had made copies. Unless of course they had kept that detail to themselves. To exclude at least one possibility she had Sai confirm that he wasn't the one who had reported to Danzo. He didn't seem affronted in the least, not even before she explained why she had asked.

If nobody had seen Chikako with the papers in Konoha that left two other possibilities. Someone could have spied on her during the Wave mission and watched her take the documents, or someone had come looking for them afterwards and made an educated guess as to who had taken them when they weren't were they were supposed to be. The second option seemed more likely, considering that Danzo had not only known there were papers, but also what they contained.

"Is your group called Foundation?" Chikako asked on a whim. That had been the only concrete name, besides Konoha, the documents had mentioned. She was a little disappointed when Sai shook his head, but then tried again.

"Is it or has it ever been referred to as Foundation?" Secret organizations probably wouldn't give out their real names to foreign crime lords. Danzo seemed like the kind of man that would use code names for everything. This time Sai didn't answer. Chikako felt triumph bubbling up in her chest, but then a terrible thought hit her.

"Root," she breathed because what were roots if not the foundation of a tree? Sai stared at her, wide eyed, chakra roiling.

"How do you -" He started, but then stopped himself. "No, don't tell me. You need to stop digging Chikako, it's too dangerous." It almost sounded like a plea, desperate and helpless. Of course they both knew that she wouldn't stop, but it was enough for one day. Chikako needed time to think.

"Sai, if you need to get out, now or ever, come find me," she told him and then made him promise that he would before she left to start researching seals in the public library.

It only went moderately well. Her thoughts kept straying back to what Ibiki had signed to her.

'white - tree - had - deep - roots'

Did that mean Kakashi was no longer part of Root, or was Ibiki simply not aware that Root still existed? Was it official at one point and had then been closed down? Had it been an illegal organization that had been shut down and then reformed? Danzo was so close to the Hokage. Could he really hide something like that right under the Sandaime's nose? Or was their leader turning a blind eye so someone could create shinobi that were almost literally tools?

. . .

Chikako spent hours in the library for the better part of the following two days, not leaving for anything other than food or sleep. Even that only because Jiro kept turning back into his annoying, furry self to remind her. The little tanuki spent most of his time pretending to be some inanimate object or other, mainly that leather bracelet he'd turned into to escape Naruto. Apparently staying in the human realm cost summons chakra and once it ran out they just poofed back into their own dimension, whether they wanted to or not. And Jiro really didn't want to go back. He didn't explain why, but he did beg her for some chakra every few days. Chikako relented on the condition that he make himself useful while he was using her as a personal battery.

Jiro didn't know anything about seals himself, but he was a very sneaky little thing, so she had him break into Orochimaru's old lab to look for any research that might have been left behind. She was not prepared for the mountains of papers she found when she got back to her flat.

According to Jiro the lab had been sealed shut, but looked almost untouched otherwise. He spent hours trying to get the stench of decomposing bodies out of his fur after getting everything that might be useful.

Chikako read a book about human decomposition the next day and learned that it could take years, especially in a cool cellar environment. She did not learn why someone would leave the corpses of children to rot and valuable research behind. Orochimaru was a sick bastard. His experiments were completely inhuman, but the way he had conducted his research didn't make the knowledge he'd gained any less valuable. Not to mention that leaving the lab like that was a gigantic security risk.

Had ANBU just gotten her out that first day and simply never come back? And what about the other children? Chikako didn't remember how many there should have been, she'd cared too little and her mind had been too hazy at the time, but from what Jiro said it sounded as if she was the only one that didn't die down there.

The rest of her week off was spent looking through and creating coded copies of Orochimaru's research, then have Jiro put the originals back where he'd found them. It turned out that the snake had had at least one more lab somewhere in Konoha. He also used to be a jonin sensei and had branded one of his students, Anko Mitarashi, with something called Cursed Seal of Heaven. The thing was supposed to grant greater physical capabilities and an increase in chakra levels through the use of senjutsu. Of course since it had been created by Orochimaru it wasn't just named cursed seal, it was actual juinjutsu.

Regular sealing techniques, fuinjutsu, were used to create storage scrolls or explosive tags and the like. Juinjutsu was a special form of sealing though, with the express purpose of gaining some form of control or influence over a living creature. At least that was the way Chikako had understood it. Cursed seals were generally forbidden, accordingly the books on fuinjutsu she'd read so far only vaguely mentioned their existence.

The possibility of powering seals with natural chakra seemed incredibly useful, but Orochimaru's seals had a high mortality rate. His research notes were also incredibly vague, more like absentminded observations he'd had while working on something else. If she ever wanted to create a fuinjutsu version of the seal she'd probably have to start from scratch, but it was an idea to keep in mind. Being able to use an outside source of chakra without the drawbacks of a cursed seal could be incredibly useful.

The rest of the documents were exclusively about the failed experiments Orochimaru had conducted on the other children in that lab. Not a single one even mentioned Chikako, neither by name nor subject number. It was as if he'd expected to be found out and took everything important with him. If she hadn't met Danzo earlier she might have thought someone from Konoha had taken the useful papers, but they had no reason to leave everything else behind and Danzo clearly didn't even know how well she could sense chakra, let alone what else Orochimaru's modifications had done to her. It wasn't a secret that she had better than average sensing abilities, but only very few knew just how much she could sense. If Danzo had been aware he would have avoided meeting her, for she had no doubt that whatever he had done to his right eye and arm was anything but legal and he wouldn't have trusted her with even that much.

. . .

When the week was up Team 7 met in front of the mission office. The genin did anyway. Kakashi, to no ones surprise, took his sweet time showing up. While they waited Chikako finished her latest sealing book. The things were almost useless. The theory was easy enough to understand. Seals were combined out of a set of symbols that represented instructions. A completed seal could be compressed into a few or even a single symbol, and in essence all any seal did was manipulate chakra. The only problem was that none of the books explained how that whole process worked, why a symbol meant what it did and which symbols existed. It read as if the authors had written about a language they didn't actually understand. They could explain who spoke it, what it sounded like and which concepts it could express, maybe even a few grammatical quirks, but they had no idea how to use it themselves.

While Chikako frowned over her book the boys were busy ignoring each other very pointedly. They usually had some weird rivalry going, in which Sasuke pretended to be better than anyone, but was secretly thinking of Naruto as serious competition, and Naruto pretended he couldn't stand Sasuke while secretly admiring his skill. She had no idea if something had happened during the last week to destroy the sense of camaraderie they had had in Wave or if it was simply being back in Konoha, but she'd stay out of it as long as it didn't fuck up their teamwork when it counted.

Kakashi finally showed up three hours after the appointed meeting time, claiming he'd gotten lost. Sasuke only glared at him in response and even Naruto's complaints were half-hearted. That changed however when Kakashi looked up mere minutes later, declared he'd forgotten to hand a report in and then vanished. Chikako had seen the bird, and even if she didn't know what exactly it meant, she knew Kakashi hadn't simply abandoned them for no reason. The same couldn't be said for her two teammates though. She had no idea if that kind of information was classified, so to distract them without giving anything away she suggested they go get some food and then train on their own.

They didn't get very far before a box that was painted like a rock started to follow them. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Chikako and then glanced at Naruto who was shouting at the thing. They both decided it was probably safer to watch the spectacle unfold from a distance and retreated into a nearby tree.

"What kind of rock is square and has two holes?" Naruto bellowed. The box shivered in response and then three children came crawling out. All of them were wearing goggles and Sasuke started to snicker when they declared they were copying Naruto's old look.

They were pestering Naruto about playing ninja with them when Sakura showed up asking why a ninja would play ninja. She seemed pretty disheartened when she arrived. That quickly turned into annoyance though when Naruto insinuated she was his girlfriend.

"Not a chance!" She shouted and hit him so hard he rolled across the floor and smashed into a nearby wooden fence.

"Is she serious?" Chikako asked. Sai was of the opinion that Sakura was practically useless as a ninja, but that had been quite the punch. Sasuke didn't get the chance to answer, too distracted by the pandemonium that broke lose when one of the kids called the pink haired girl an ugly bitch.

Both Naruto and the kid took quite the beating and when it was all over they just had to make a parting comment that had Sakura chasing after them again. In his panic to get away the kid, who was apparently the Hokage's grandson Konohamaru, ran straight into a foreign shinobi.

"One would think someone like him would be able to take care of himself or at least have a bodyguard," Chikako commented. "Should we interfere?"

"Let's watch for now. I'd like to know why two Suna shinobi are in our village," Sasuke told her.

"They look like genin, so chunin exams I'd wager. It's Konoha's turn."

"That hurt," one of the Suna nin said, as if he'd actually been injured by the collision with an eight year old. He wore a full body suit that was loose to the point of being baggy and completely black, with a circle on the front that was half red, half yellow and rimmed in white. He also carried a bandaged, lumpy shape on his back and wore a hood with cat ears - for some reason. His face was painted with purple marks that reminded Chikako of kabuki and emphasized the grim expression his features were set in.

"I bet Cat Boy is a puppeteer," she said to Sasuke, who pointed at the other Suna nin, a kunoichi with sandy blond hair gathered into four pigtails, and replied: "Long range wind user judging by that massive fan on her back."

He was likely right, Suna was known well for it's wind nature users and puppeteers, so these two were like a walking stereotype. The kunoichi's light purple, off-the-shoulder dress posed quite the contrast to her teammate's choice in garment, but their expressions matched well.

"That hurt you little piece of shit," the boy insisted and lifted Konohamaru to eye level, by grabbing the overly long scarf around the kid's neck. The kunoichi didn't seem too happy with his action and Naruto certainly wasn't. The blond yelled at him to let his friend go, but Cat Boy didn't listen. So of course Naruto's next course of action was an all out attack.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked when the blond landed flat on his face only seconds later, to the amusement of the Suna shinobi. "Not even that idiot is clumsy enough to fall over his own feet."

"He didn't. The puppeteer used a chakra string like a tripwire," Chikako explained. She hadn't even known that was possible. The string would have to be solid in order to do that. She could form her solid chakra claws, but holding chakra in that state got more difficult the further away from her body it was.

Naruto wasn't deterred by his little fall, even if he didn't know what had caused it. He just kept yelling at Cat Boy. Chikako and Sasuke watched them squabble for a while, but the Uchiha had apparently had enough when Cat Boy prepared to strike Konohamaru. He used a small stone - where had he even gotten that? - like a shuriken. It flew true, hitting the back of Cat Boy's hand and effectively stopping his attack.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed in delight and then glared at Chikako. Sasuke completely ignored the pink haired girl and told the Suna nin to get lost. Sakura was apparently immune to the treatment., she practically had hearts in her eyes. Naruto on the other hand looked like someone had just ruined his day.

"Newcomer at our six," Chikako whispered when she sensed someone approaching. His chakra was massive, like Naruto's but somehow twisted. It made her skin crawl.

Cat Boy had just taken the lumpy, bandaged thing from his back and demanded Sasuke come down to fight him when the newcomer spoke up.

"Kankuro, stop it," he said with no inflection whatsoever. It was like she'd imagine the voice of a corpse might sound like. Both of his, probably, teammates froze up instantly. The boy himself was standing upside down on a tree branch, arms crossed and looking like there was absolutely nothing he could possible care less about than the current situation. His pale green eyes were rimmed in black, both contrasting with his flaming red hair and the kanji for love on his forehead.

"Listen, they started it and -" Cat Boy, no Kankuro, tried to apologize, suddenly very nervous. He got interrupted by the newcomer though, who stared at him with dead eyes.

"Shut up or I'll kill you," he intoned. No threat in his voice at all, he was merely stating a fact, and then without even batting an eye he apologized to Sasuke and told his teammates that they were leaving. Sasuke moved down from his tree only a second after the redhead did.

"Hey you, what's your name?" He asked. The blond girl was suddenly blushing, asking if he meant her. Chikako started to laugh.

"What's with the fangirls?" She raised an eyebrow at Sasuke and then turned to the Suna team. "Not you, Panda Eyes."

Sasuke glared at her for a second, and so did Panda Eyes.

"My name is Gaara of the Desert. And yours?"

"Sasuke Uchiha."

They actually had a little stare down before Naruto butted in, shouting his name and declaring he'd be Hokage one day. He was very exited right up until Gaara told him he wasn't interested and then left without another word.

. . .

Kakashi found them on their usual training ground a few hours later. He handed each of them a form for the chunin exams, explaining that they had to fill it out and turn it in by four in the afternoon of the next day if they wanted to compete. Naruto didn't even let him finish the sentence before he jumped at Kakashi, declaring his undying love and admiration. Or at least that was what he tried to do. In reality Kakashi vanished into thin air before the blond even reached him and Naruto landed face first in the dirt.


	9. III - Meet the Competition

**III - Meet the Competition**

Naruto didn't waste any time after he got back up, happily walking home with a spring in his step. He was actually singing a little song about becoming chunin and then Hokage as he went. Sasuke on the other hand was surrounded by an air of grave anticipation that wavered a little between determination and fear.

"Worried about Panda Eyes?" Chikako asked him. "You should be, in fact, stay as far away from him for as long as you can." She hadn't connected the dots at the time, but it was obvious in hindsight. Gaara's chakra felt like Naruto's in the same way that Sasuke's and Itachi's chakra felt the same. Only, of course the former two weren't relatives, which left one other possibility she could think of: they were both jinchuriki. Whatever seal kept the Tailed Beast locked away inside of her teammate was a lot stronger though. The weird malevolence in Gaara's chakra was some kind of bleed through from his seal, she was sure.

"Bah, as if that guy scares me," Sasuke scoffed. "And what is up with those nicknames?"

"They're cute."

"You think the puppeteer and the guy with the dead eyes are cute?"

"No, you idiot. The nicknames are cute. Cat Boy seems like a moron and Panda Eyes scares the shit out of me." Chikako scrunched up her nose. "I kind of regret not giving Zabuza a nickname though, you know to balance the Demon and Devil stuff out. And I meant it about the redhead. Stay away from him Sasuke, that guy can and will kill you if he gets the chance."

"Whatever," he mumbled, not looking at her and then stalked off. Chikako watched him for a few seconds.

"Why are both of my teammates idiots?" She sighed. "And stop fucking hiding Sai."

"Apologies," he said, appearing at Chikako's side with a Body Flicker. The deferent tone he used when speaking to her ever since that meeting with Danzo was a little unnerving. He was generally behaving more like a personal guard under her command than like a friend. They'd had a really awkward conversation about it.

Sai had looked a little like a kicked puppy when she'd first mentioned the change, asking if she wanted him to stop. She'd almost told him yes, but then thought better of it because that would have been an order. So instead Chikako had stood around in silence for several minutes to come up with a way to tell him that he was under no obligation to take orders from her without making it seem like she was rejecting him. Sometimes talking to Sai was incredibly difficult. He didn't really know how to properly interact with people outside of missions and a chain of command. Before she'd been a mission objective, someone to get information from, then they'd been acquaintances and now they were friends. It was good to know that Sai equated 'friend' with 'person that should be protected', but he applied that concept too literally in her opinion.

"You stay away from Panda Eyes as well," Chikako told him. He nodded, never even asking for an explanation.

They spent the rest of the day on Team 7's regular training ground. Sai taught her how to use Body Flicker and Chikako shared some of her kenjutsu knowledge. It was a good trade. She was primarily a close combat fighter and needed a way to eliminate the distance between herself and her opponents fast. Sai on the other hand was a mid- to long-range fighter, with some very basic kenjutsu knowledge. The latter was something, Chikako managed to ferret out, that was apparently common for Root members. He could easily adapt his style to incorporate the tips she'd gotten from Zabuza. Of course Chikako didn't mention where that knowledge came from and Sai made sure not to ask any questions that might reveal the source.

. . .

Chikako and Sasuke had already been waiting in front of the exam building for a few minutes by the time Naruto showed up the next day. The blond was ridiculously exited and stormed through the door after hastily throwing a greeting their way. Sasuke glared after him and Chikako shook her head in exasperation, but they both followed.

The inside of the building was mostly empty, gray walls and old wooden floors. No decoration anywhere in sight. The corridors were also really wide, which was good because they were packed with people. It wasn't that bad on the ground and first floor, but there was a veritable crowd on the second. Several dozen genin had grouped up in front of a door with a sign that proclaimed it as the entrance to room '301'.

A boy in a tight, green full body suit, with bandaged forearms and orange leg warmers sat on the ground, wiping blood from his mouth. Two guys that were under a Transformation jutsu and definitely not genin, were blocking the door. One of them had knocked Green Guy down and they were both mocking all of the genin, telling them to just go home and quit.

A girl with a pink, qipao-style top and two buns walked up next. Her tactic was to ask nicely, but all that got her was a blow to the face. She landed on the ground beside Green Guy and got mocked some more for her trouble. Afterwards the two door guards spouted some story about having failed the exams three times themselves and that they were merely weeding out the weak.

"Wow, that's pathetic," Chikako said, walking towards the stairs.

Thanks to her heightened sense of chakra the genjutsu surrounding the sign was obvious to her, but even without that advantage no shinobi worth their salt should have fallen for it. Rooms on the ground floor started with the number 1 and rooms on the first floor with the number 101, accordingly room 301 had to be on the third floor, not the second.

"You're going to let me pass," Sasuke told the crowd, and then - because he just had to prove he was smarter than everyone else - turned to the guards, adding: "And remove that False Surroundings genjutsu."

Chikako was about to call him an arrogant idiot for helping their competition, but Sakura was faster. Of course she also had a different goal in mind, proclaiming that she too had noticed the genjutsu a while ago, to impress Sasuke. It didn't quite work as intended. The Uchiha, as always, ignored her. Green Guy on the other hand seemed completely enraptured by her skill.

"Not bad," one of the door guards said. "But, not quite good enough." He aimed a kick straight at Sasuke's face. The Uchiha, who had apparently decided offense was the best defense, tried to block the attack with a kick of his own. Then Green Guy was suddenly between them, catching both of their legs long before they made contact. It was an incredibly fast move, especially considering he hadn't used a Body Flicker to enhance his speed.

His two teammates, Qipao-Top and a Hyuga boy, weren't particularly happy with that decision. Apparently they had agreed to avoid drawing attention by pretending to be weak. Not that Green Guy cared, he was too busy walking up to Sakura.

"My name is Rock Lee," he proclaimed, and told her he'd protect her until the day he died, then asked her to go out with him. Of course Sakura, who only had eyes for Sasuke, shot him down immediately. She was also being a bitch about it, declaring that Lee was lame. Chikako wondered how that girl defined lame. Sure, the guy looked weird, but he was clearly incredibly fast and strong.

Next came the obligatory exchange of names between Sasuke and the Hyuga, Neji, while Naruto fumed in the corner. The Uchiha had a real talent for acquiring fangirls, making enemies too it seemed. Not that Chikako cared, she was already halfway up the stairs. Then again, her team had already drawn attention, so it probably didn't matter anymore and those two assholes needed to learn how to behave.

"Hey, Izumo, Kotetsu," she called, turning back towards the door guards with a smile. "What do you think Ibiki is gonna say when I tell him about this?" Both men blanched at that. She hadn't been entirely certain, that they had acted without orders, but this definitely confirmed it.

"Please don't?" Kotetsu tried, nervously scratching the back of his head.

"Fine, but you owe me," Chikako told them and then moved on before they could protest. The two chunin were usually manning the gate or a desk at the mission office, but the reason she knew them by name was because they were part of T&I and Ibiki's favorite gophers. They also got reprimanded frequently for stunts like this one, which was what made it such good leverage.

Sasuke gave her a curious look, but Naruto was too excited to finally get to the right floor to pay the exchange any mind. The Uchiha was just about to ask her something, presumably how she knew the door guards or why she hadn't said anything before, when he got interrupted by Lee.

"Hey, you with the dark eyes," he shouted. "Lets fight to see what is stronger, talent or hard work."

Sasuke agreed easily, but Naruto had apparently had enough of being ignored.

"I'll take care of Bushy Brows, just give me five minutes," he declared with angry determination. Lee told him that he was only interested in fighting Sasuke, but Naruto attacked him anyway.

Lee hardly even moved. He hooked his right hand over Naruto's arm as the blond tried to hit him, completely diverting his momentum. Naruto barely managed to catch himself before his head hit the ground and tried to aim a kick at Lee. The other boy was faster though. He used a taijutsu technique called Leaf Hurricane that had Naruto rolling across the ground until he impacted with the opposite wall.

"Ouch," Chikako commented with a wince, that had to hurt. Of course instead of backing out like a sensible person - who wanted to get beaten up before the exams even started? - Sasuke stepped forward and then sprinted at the other boy. He managed to block Lee's first kick, but the second hit him square in the face. Chikako hadn't even seen the move until after it had connected. Apparently Sasuke had had the same problem because he got up, spitting blood and Sharingan activated.

Lee looked quite pleased with himself, and with good reason it turned out. His next kick connected with Sasuke's jaw so hard that it lifted him off the ground. While he fell Lee suddenly appeared beneath him, unwinding the bandages on his arms and explaining that seeing an attack with the Sharingan was useless as long as Sasuke wasn't fast enough to react in time. He also spouted something about hard work surpassing genius, but didn't get to finish because a giant turtle summon appeared and interrupted him.

It pinned one of the bandages to the wall with a paper windmill, which in turn caused Lee to abandon his attack, flipping over and landing in a crouch. Sasuke, for his part, would have impacted with the floor back first, but Chikako decided he'd taken enough of a beating and used a Body Flicker to get into position to break his fall. She also berated him for being a moron while the turtle did the same with Lee, albeit for different reasons.

And then Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey appeared, in a pose so undignified it made Chikako doubt his identity for a moment. He looked exactly like Lee, only older and wearing a jonin vest to denote his rank.

"Maito Gai?" She asked, just to be sure. He looked delighted at that and Naruto and Lee stopped their shouting match - apparently the blond had insulted Gai or something - to gawk at her.

"Ah, and you must be Kakashi's little pup," Gai said fondly. She'd never actually met her sensei's self-proclaimed eternal rival before, because Kakashi tended to avoid him like the plague. The man already seemed like being around him for more than ten minutes at a time would be incredibly exhausting, but from what she'd heard he was also a loyal friend that had always stood by Kakashi. In her book that gave him so many plus points that she was more than willing to ignore how strange he looked and behaved.

"Pleasure to finally meet you sir," she said with a deep bow that baffled her teammates. Gai assured her that the pleasure was all his and that there was no need for formalities. He also invited her to train with his team whenever she wanted to. Then, to reprimand Lee, Gai hit him square in the face calling him a fool. They immediately made up, crying and hugging. Chikako used to moment of inattention to make her escape, Naruto and Sasuke hot on her heels.

. . .

Kakashi waited for them in front of the real room 301. He looked more bored than usual, slumped against the wall as he was. He also had the audacity to tell them they were late, at which point Naruto practically exploded. The blond recounted everything that had happened since they had entered the building, wildly gesticulating between Sasuke and Chikako, and almost hitting them in the process. Kakashi politely waited until Naruto was halfway through his tale before he interrupted, telling them not to embarrass him and then vanishing in his usual manner.

Naruto was completely outraged by that point, and ripped the doors to the room open with a loud bang. Inside were several dozen shinobi from a few different villages, all staring at them. Chikako wasn't surprised, she'd felt the mass of chakra signatures a while ago, but her teammates seemed stunned by all the hostile glares. They didn't get a chance to decide what to do about it because a girl with a long blond ponytail, Ino if she remembered correctly, jumped Sasuke from behind. The girl said something about having missed him terribly, and Chikako used her chance to get away while she still could, already anticipating the drama that started the second Sakura saw them.

While the two girls were fighting the rest of Ino's team joined her. Shikamaru Nara, who had perfected his clan's slouch and Choji Akimichi, who was munching on a bag of chips as if he hadn't eaten in ages. Sai arrived a moment later, taking his customary position slightly behind and to Chikako's right. The Nara noted it with an interested glance, but didn't say anything.

"Found you!" Another voice bellowed as the tracker team comprised of Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata Hyuga joined them. "Well well, seems like everyone's here."

He was right too. Four genin teams had passed their respective jonin's test and all four were there, mere months after graduating. It seemed very unusual and made Chikako wonder if their senseis actually expected any of them to pass or if this was just a way to give them more experience.

After a while a guy with bluish gray hair and round glasses walked up to their little group. He wore a Konoha hitai-ate and looked pretty pissed, apparently all the shouting that had been going on between Sakura and Ino, and Naruto's and Kiba's declarations of skill had annoyed some of the other genin. The guy introduced himself as Kabuto and reprimanded them for their behavior, saying that the exams weren't a picnic and that they should take them more seriously. Chikako thought he might be in his late teens or early twenties, which he indirectly confirmed by telling them that this was his seventh time participating in the chunin exams.

He also offered to share some information with them since they were new and all. It immediately made alarm bells ring in her mind. There was no reason for anyone to help their competition through the exam, especially not someone who had failed that often. Not to mention that he shouldn't have the kind of knowledge he was offering to share. And then there were the cards he used. Ninja Info Cards appeared blank unless the person who originally burned the information into them activated them with their own chakra. They were really useful for people that wanted to keep information safe and easily accessible. They were also really expensive, certainly out of the price range a genin could afford with nothing but D and C-ranks.

Most of the genin in their little group looked really interested in Kabuto's knowledge, but only Chikako, Shikamaru and Sai seemed to realize that he wasn't trustworthy. Either his information was false or had been gained illegally. Knowing how many teams each village had sent and having basic knowledge about the participant's names and skill sets was one thing. Those were things printed on brochures for the tournament stage so the audience had some facts to go on when betting on the outcomes of matches. Getting that stuff a little early wouldn't be easy, but was certainly doable and at worst worth a reprimand. But Kabuto had a lot more than that. He had lists on the number of completed missions, sorted by rank even, for both foreign and domestic shinobi. He also knew that Lee had greatly improved his taijutsu skills over the past year and that Gaara had never even received a scratch on any of his missions. Unless Kabuto and Lee were friends, that kind of detail was suspicious and in Gaara's case it practically screamed 'spy'.

But why share and risk being found out? He couldn't possibly think that all twelve of them were so naive that nobody would even raise an eyebrow, could he? Having those cards was risky even should the information on them be completely fabricated. With the hidden villages constantly vying for recognition, clients and power one incident was all it took to start a war. If anyone was looking for a reason to start something, a Konoha genin sharing illegal knowledge on other villages with several clan heirs, during the chunin exams no less, would be the perfect excuse. So maybe he was hoping someone would call him out? Or was he not thinking that far ahead and just trying to ingratiate himself with the people that would hold sway over the village in the future?

"My Name is Naruto Uzumaki and I won't lose to you bastards!" Naruto suddenly shouted, ripping Chikako out of her thoughts. He looked a little embarrassed right afterwards. The Oto nin that attacked a moment later didn't have it out for his head though. Apparently the sole team Sound had sent wasn't happy that Kabuto had dismissed them as a minor village.

The guy that rushed forward had bandages covering his whole head, except for the left eye. He wore a straw raincoat and gray clothes, the scarf and trousers patterned with dark purple blotches. The sound shinobi pulled up the sleeve covering his right arm with his left hand, revealing a metal brace with several holes in it, as he ran. With him was another boy that jumped over the crowd, and wore the same clothes, minus the raincoat, braces and bandages.

The second boy threw two kunai at Kabuto, who just managed to step back in time to avoid his foot being skewered. Afterwards he barely dodged a vicious blow from the first guy. Chikako gasped at the wave of chakra that followed the hit, and then Kabuto's glasses suddenly splintered and he started to vomit a second later. The guy with the straw raincoat mocked him while Naruto and Sakura ran to see if he was okay.

It didn't get any further than that though because Ibiki and a little army of T&I personnel arrived in a giant cloud of chakra smoke. Izumo and Kotetsu among them, untransformed this time. They made quite the entrance, all in their gray Intelligence uniforms and with glares on their faces. None of them could quite compete with Ibiki's scowl, but they certainly gave it their best shot. There were some audible gulps from the audience when the Head of T&I introduced himself, a smile that wasn't even remotely friendly stretching the scars on his face and black coat billowing behind him. He reprimanded the Sound team for their behavior and explained that fighting without express permission wasn't permitted, and would end in exclusion from the exam and possibly a cell.

Naruto looked terrified by the show and he wasn't the only one. Chikako thought a few of the genin might piss themselves if Ibiki so much as glared at them. Their expressions didn't lighten up any when the proctor changed their seating arrangements to separate teams, and explained that the first test would be a written exam. Naruto seemed stumped for a moment and then actually screamed. It was so loud and shrill that Chikako considered hitting him over the head to make it stop, but Sakura was faster.

There were some odd rules to this test. Everyone started with ten points and would lose one for each question that was answered wrongly. The test scores would not be evaluated individually but for the whole team. Anyone who was caught cheating would lose two points. Those that lost all their points, either by answering questions incorrectly or being caught cheating, were disqualified together with their teammates. Ibiki also made a little speech about how they should be proud shinobi, and that pathetic ninja who got caught cheating weren't worth the rank of chunin.

If the rules hadn't given it away before, that last part certainly did. He hadn't sad 'ninja that cheated', but 'ninja that got caught cheating'. This test wasn't about what they knew, it was about how well they could gather information. The questions themselves were another confirmation of that fact. The first one was a cryptogram that required chunin level knowledge of ciphers, something the Academy most definitely did not teach. The only reason Chikako could solve it on her own was the training she'd gotten from Ibiki on the subject. She didn't have nearly as much luck with the other questions though. There were a few she could guess at, but nothing she felt very confident about. And then there was the tenth question that wouldn't even be revealed until fifteen minutes before their time was up.

Everyone could get caught cheating a total of four times without failing. In theory that meant they could just get up and copy the answers from someone who had them all. Judging by their chakra levels there seemed to be some chunin plants among the participants, so that would actually be a viable option. Of course it would also cost two points, which was to be avoided because they would be ranked in the end. Since Ibiki hadn't told them how many points they needed Chikako assumed that there was a cutoff after a certain number of teams had passed. In fact, knowing him there might actually be a cutoff and a point requirement, so even losing just two point could be too much depending on how well the others cheated.

She saw and sensed many of the genin panicking as they read the questions, but it didn't take long for the first to figure out what the test was really about. Soon enough Sasuke started to copy the pen movements of one of the chunin plants using his Sharingan. Gaara did something involving sand, the Inuzuka dog barked in a way that was obviously code and the kunoichi from Lee's team was manipulating the reflective parts of one of the light fixtures using ninja wire. If Chikako could detect them doing that, that meant so could the T&I members that lined the walls. They scratched away on their notepads, presumably recording all the cheaters. She wondered how strict they were. Was Sasuke's Sharingan subtle enough that they wouldn't take points? And what about Naruto? Her blond teammate was still panicking, either unable to figure out the test's purpose or not knowing how to gather the information.

"Jiro," Chikako whispered as quietly as she could, while hiding her face in her hands. "Can you transform into a fly or something and get the answers from the guy in the second row, third seat from the right?"

The little tanuki didn't respond, but a second later her leather bracelet was gone. It took him a little eternity to get back, but Chikako wasn't worried. He'd have to wait until the guy had solved all the questions and then he had to memorize the answers to each. When he was finally done Jiro transformed into a pen, hidden behind her outstretched arm. She let the original pen vanish into her sleeve before picking up the transformed one. Jiro would very subtly move in her hand to indicate the direction she was to move the pen in. It took ages to answer every question that way, and she resolved to teach the tanuki a simple code. Naruto still hadn't calmed down by the time she was done, but they only had a little over twenty minutes left, so she couldn't help him. Ibiki would announce the final question long before Naruto was done copying out the answers, provided he even understood why the pen was moving and didn't make a fuss about it.

Chikako was seriously contemplating just having Jiro transform into his actual form on Naruto's desk and answer the questions for him, when a kunai flew past the blond's head, piercing the desk behind him. Kotetsu was the one who had thrown it and was now telling the genin that he had messed up five times and failed. The guy looked utterly surprised for some reason and both of his teammates seemed pretty pissed when they were thrown out as well. The next guy that was disqualified tried to claim they couldn't prove he had cheated. He got pinned to the wall for his trouble. Chikako had no idea who the chunin was, but he had T&I's intimidation tactics down pat. Afterwards everyone who got called out left the room without protest.

And then it was time for the tenth question. Ibiki gave all of them the option not to answer. Doing so would result in disqualification, but answering incorrectly would mean losing the right to participate in future chunin exams. There was a lot of protest at that announcement, especially from the people that weren't taking the exam for the first time, but Ibiki shot them down, saying that they were free to leave and try again in six months. It seemed like the logical choice. There was no rush to advance in rank and a six months wait wasn't worth the risk of potentially never being allowed to take the exams again.

It was also a bullshit rule. None of the other nations would adhere to it. In fact, Chikako was pretty sure not even Konoha would. Ibiki was giving them a lot of time to back out as well. The whole thing was fishy and most likely had another layer to it just like the rest of this test. While Chikako thought about it one of the chunin plants raised his hand, making a show of giving up. After that the dam broke and a lot of other people left the room, some of their own volition and some that were thrown out because only full teams could pass the first stage. That only cemented her belief that the decision itself was somehow important, otherwise Ibiki wouldn't have bothered with all these mind games.

What did it represent though? Not taking the tenth question meant failing, but getting another chance later, answering wrongly meant never getting a chance again. That last part didn't make a lot of sense for these exams, but it would fit very well as a metaphor for death. They also failed or passed as a team, which fit with missions. Take a dangerous mission and risk dying or refuse and live another day. Shinobi couldn't just refuse missions though. There might be exceptions under some circumstances, but in general when your kage gave you a mission the only option was to accept. So this decision wasn't really a decision at all, was it?

Chikako smiled, happy with her theory, and content to wait and see if she was right. Neither Sasuke nor Naruto would leave, they were both much too competitive, and arrogant in the Uchiha's case. The room was half empty by the time Naruto suddenly raised his hand. It shivered and the gesture had Chikako frowning because while his chakra was agitated, he didn't seem afraid anymore. And then the blond suddenly sprang up, slamming his palm on the table.

"Don't underestimate me!" He shouted. "I won't run!" He went on to declare that he didn't care if he failed because even if he was a genin forever he would still become Hokage anyway. A stunned silence reigned over the room when Ibiki asked again if anyone wanted to leave, telling them it was their last chance, but after Naruto's outburst nobody even considered it. Everyone, no matter how unsure they had been before, was suddenly filled with the determination to see this test through, and, even after seeing it herself, Chikako had no idea how the blond idiot had done it.

It only lasted until Ibiki let a slow smile stretch over his face, but the fear that gesture caused was washed away by a wave of relief and confusion when he announced that all of them passed.


	10. III - Snake in the Grass

**A/N:**

 _Scarease_

Not sure what you are referring to. If it's Izumo and Kotetsu: Transformation is just the translation for Henge, so that's all they did. Jiro is the only one who can truly transform himself into something else. I decided to give him that ability because tanuki are known as some of the best shapeshifters.

 **III - Snake in the Grass**

"Wait .. what do you mean we already passed?" Sakura asked, with a look of shock on her face. "What about the tenth question?"

At that Ibiki outright grinned, telling them there never was one to begin with, or rather that the decision to leave or stay had been the tenth question. The kunoichi from Gaara's team piped in with an angry shout then, wanting to know what the point of the other nine questions was. Chikako shook her at at her, while Ibiki explained that they had already served their purpose by weeding out those that couldn't gather information without getting caught.

"Is he scaring them on purpose with those personality changes?" Chikako asked the T&I chunin to her right. The guy just shrugged helplessly, apparently having no clue, which made her chuckle. It was just like Ibiki to make people uneasy by being friendly.

Naruto excitedly nodded along while the head of T&I explained what exactly the test had been about. The blond loudly proclaimed, that of course he'd known and that one would have to be a moron not to figure it out. The Hyuga girl that sat to his right looked a little embarrassed, but stuttered her agreement when prompted. Ibiki didn't reprimand anyone who yelled questions at him, but cut the spectacle short after a while by removing his hitai-ate and displaying his scarred head to the room.

"Sometimes knowledge is worth more than your life, and during missions and on the battlefield people will risk their lives to get their hands on information," he proclaimed. Chikako knew he was proud of the nasty scars, even if he usually kept them hidden. After all the mess of burned and badly healed flesh was a testament to what he was willing to endure for the sake his village. There were more and worse marks on the rest of his body, but that little display got the point across well enough, so he put his hitai-ate back on.

Moments later a kunoichi burst through the window in a spray of glass. Some of the genin and Intelligence guys were on their feet before she even landed, but Ibiki only looked mildly annoyed, so Chikako stayed put. It was a hard decision though because the purple haired woman in nothing more than a mesh suit, short skirt and tan overcoat, had a trace of Orochimaru's chakra on her left shoulder. It was barely there, but Chikako would have recognized it anywhere. She didn't quite relax when the woman introduced herself as Anko Mitarashi, the examiner of the second test. It meant Orochimaru wasn't really here and the chakra was only in the cursed seal, still who knew what that thing could do.

"Follow me!" Anko shouted, and then started to complain to Ibiki that there were still twenty six teams left. Chikako wrote a quick note in her and Ibiki's personal code on her test paper when she saw him collecting the exams. It mentioned Kabuto by name, gave a short description of him and then listed the kind of information the boy had.

. . .

Anko let them to the Fourty-Fourth Training Ground, otherwise known as the Forest of Death. It was enclosed by a massive chain-link fence, that was easily ten meters high, and still dwarfed by the gigantic trees behind it.

While Anko explained just how dangerous the forest was Naruto made an ass out of himself by aping her and declaring that she couldn't scare him. The examiner just grinned at him, and then she was suddenly behind him and the blond had a fresh cut on his cheek.

"Kids like you always die first," Anko chuckled, licking the blood from his face. Chikako almost freaked out a second later when one of the shinobi from Grass handed her kunai back to Anko with an overly long tongue. For a second she would have sworn the oddly feminine looking guy was Orochimaru. Was that the cursed seal? It had seemed to come from the guy, not the proctor, but the two had been very close.

'Problem,' someone tapped out next to her.

When she turned to look for the source Chikako found Sai standing at her side, a mildly concerned look on his face. She held his gaze for a moment before shaking her head once. There might be, but she couldn't be sure and she certainly wasn't about to drag Sai into anything that involved Orochimaru. The boy had his own monster, he didn't need to deal with hers as well. Still, it was good to know that he was there if she needed him.

Anko handed out papers for everyone to sign, stating that they were aware they might die during this stage and that they were willing to accept that risk. For all Chikako knew it might be a real document, or it might just be another intimidation tactic. Not that it mattered. Only those who signed got to continue.

The second part of the exam would be a survival test. Chikako nudged Sasuke to activate his Sharingan when Anko held up a map of the training ground. It wasn't particularly detailed, but memorizing it wouldn't hurt. Apparently the training ground was circular and had a diameter of twenty kilometers. The fence that surrounded it had fourty-four gates, evenly spread apart and in it's center was a tower. Most of the area inside was forest, inhabited by a variety of nasty animals, except for the river that split the training ground into two even halves.

Every team would be given a Heaven or Earth Scroll before the test started. During the exam their task would be to get the other scroll and reach the tower within five days. Teams that lost a member, opened the scrolls early, didn't get both scrolls or didn't manage to reach the tower within the time limit were disqualified. They would also not be able to give up after entering the forest and while inside fighting and killing were allowed.

Since there were twenty-six teams left after the first stage half that number of each scroll type would be handed out. Accordingly a maximum of thirteen teams would be able to pass this test. Anko cautioned them against the dangers of the forest a second time and then told them that any team that still wanted to participate could exchange their signed forms against a scroll in the booth behind her.

Jiro transformed into a fly and made his way into the booth before Chikako could even say anything. While her little spy was busy learning which team got which scroll Chikako memorized the order in which they entered and their chakra signatures.

. . .

Team 7's Heaven Scroll was in Naruto's possession, since his Shadow Clones could easily confuse pursuers. They were waiting in front of gate number twelve, when Jiro joined up with Chikako again, moments before the test officially started. Naruto immediately made a loud, happy noise and sprinted into the forest. Chikako and Sasuke followed him with a little less enthusiasm, and then stopped him after about half a kilometer.

"Hey, idiot lets talk strategy," the Uchiha called. Naruto shot back with an insult of his own, but Chikako stepped between them before a brawl could break out. Jiro chose that moment to transform back into himself and the two of them shared their information with the boys.

"Woah!" Naruto exclaimed. "So we basically know where all the scrolls are! That is so awesome Chikako-chan!" Jiro huffed in indignation for not getting any recognition, so Chikako took a moment to praise his quick thinking before she explained that it wasn't quite as straight forward. They knew which teams had which scrolls, but they didn't know where the teams were or which member was keeping the scroll safe. The latter was something Jiro would have seen, but Team 7 had only given Naruto their scroll after reaching their gate and it was likely at least some of the other teams would have switched as well. Naruto nodded along very earnestly, and then flinched when a scream echoed through the forest.

"Kiba's team," Chikako informed him. "They're west of here. No idea what they did, the other team is still alive, but just barely. They went down all at once so I'm guessing outright ambush or trap. In any case Team 8 now has both scrolls."

"So lets get one," Sasuke said to Naruto's indignation.

"No way! We're not attacking another Konoha team!"

"You realize that means we can't go after half of the teams right?" Chikako raised an eyebrow at him. "Not to mention that of the other half not all have the scroll we need and we are going nowhere near Panda Eyes. That only leaves us with six possible targets."

While she explained how slim the chances were of actually getting the scroll they needed without fighting a Konoha team Chikako also very slowly signed a code in Sasuke's direction, making sure to keep her back to the chakra signatures she felt in the trees. She had to repeat it two more times before both of her teammates gave a subtle nod. Sasuke had understood her on the first try, but Naruto still needed more practice. It would do for now though. The blond created two dozen Shadow Clones the second Sasuke gave the signal, and then all of them sprinted into the trees, surrounding their would be ambushers.

The maneuver looked incredibly chaotic, but was actually something they had practiced a lot. Some of the clones would transform into Chikakos and Sasukes, distracting their opponents, while the originals got into position. Then all of them would throw kunai, or chakra laced senbon in Chikako's case, at their enemies, effectively creating a kill zone. At first glance the whole thing was identical to the tactic they'd used against Kakashi during the bell test. Only in this version they didn't get in each others way, and they made sure to throw the projectiles not just from different sides, but also different angles. It wasn't perfect because someone could still dodge underground or use the Replacement Technique to get out, but in this case the Ame shinobi were too surprised to react in time.

Blood sprayed everywhere, and Naruto looked horrified when it hit his face. Sasuke didn't seem nearly as concerned by what had happened, but his Sharingan was still spinning madly and his muscles were tense.

"It's over," Chikako told her teammates. She didn't remember the first time she'd actively tried to kill someone or felt another person's blood cool on her skin. Had it been this hard for her too? She didn't dwell on it, instead pulling a kunai across the throats of their downed opponents.

"What are you doing?" Naruto suddenly shouted. His voice a mixture of shock, disbelief and disgust.

"They'll bleed out regardless," she sighed in response. "This is kinder." The blond stuttered out something about saving them, fixing them up and calling for help. Chikako ignored him, instead taking the other team's Heaven Scroll. They didn't need it, but it would mean one less team could pass this test.

Naruto's protests had turned into an incoherent mess by the time Sasuke interrupted him with a punch to the face. It wasn't hard, but more than enough to get the blond to shut his mouth.

"What the fuck did you think would happen if that attack succeeded? We've been practicing for weeks to make sure that there was no way to dodge without the use of jutsu," the Uchiha snarled at him. "Didn't you learn your lesson in Wave? In real fights people will die and this time there is no nukenin to make sure you can keep your hands clean!"

She hadn't known Sasuke was this bitter Naruto had managed not to kill anyone during that mission. It would certainly explain why they had suddenly become distant again afterwards. Naruto could be quite naive at times, especially when it came to the profession of shinobi. He'd probably never even thought about the fact that most, if not all, of the people he interacted with on a daily basis had blood on their hands.

Chikako had thrown herself into Kakashi's arms to cry after the worst was over back in Wave. It might not have been the killing that had bothered her, but she'd still needed someone who understood her and would protect her while she fell apart and put herself back together. Sasuke hadn't had that though, and he didn't have anyone waiting for him in Konoha either.

"You should have said something," Chikako told him, and then pulled him into a hug. He went completely stiff at first, but then relaxed after a few seconds. Sasuke didn't hug her back, and he pushed her away soon enough, but he did seem more relaxed, calmer. Naruto didn't say word when they moved on, but he too understood what their teammates problem was. The fact that he wasn't the only one who thought killing was hard seemed to relax him as well, but there was a lingering sadness in his eyes whenever he glanced in Chikako's direction.

. . .

Not long afterwards Chikako sensed more shinobi nearby. It was the Kusa team with that creepy tongue guy. She'd rather have avoided him, but his team did have one of the earth scrolls. She was just about to inform the boys when a gust of wind, so strong that it ripped the foliage to shreds, hit all of them. In it's wake stood Tongue Guy, who had apparently sent his two comrades away.

Sasuke was right next to Chikako, but Naruto had somehow gotten separated from them. She eyed the Kusa nin for a moment, making sure that he was distracted taunting Sasuke with his Earth Scroll, and then told Jiro to go find Naruto, keep his scroll safe and stay out of the fight. That Tongue Guy was willing to take them on alone could just mean that he was very arrogant, but the power of that wind jutsu made her think otherwise.

Her suspicion was proven right a second later when a genjutsu washed over them. Thanks to the odd properties of her chakra she immediately knew that the pain she felt wasn't real, that Sasuke wasn't actually lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, bones broken and limbs twisted at unnatural angles. And even with that almost instinctive knowledge, it still took a lot of effort and far longer than was save in a fight to break the genjutsu. She slapped Sasuke across the face the instant she managed, the sudden pain freeing him form the illusion as well. He went to his knees, bending over and vomiting. When he sat up again his Sharingan was active.

It didn't help any. The next thing the Kusa nin hit them with was a massive wave of killing intent. It had Sasuke shaking and Chikako joined him on the ground, pupils blown wide with terror and tears streaming down her face. She should have trusted her senses earlier.

"I'm disappointed in you Chikako-chan," Orochimaru said, genuinely sounding it. Next to her Sasuke tightened his grip on a kunai, standing up on shaky legs, but Chikako couldn't move. She just sat there, shaking like a leave in the wind, and stared at the monster that still sometimes haunted her dreams. She sat and stared, even as two kunai flew straight at her, and then Sasuke was suddenly in front of her.

"Cut it out! We need to run!" He yelled. He'd caught one of the projectiles, but the other had hit his leg, leaving a deep cut behind.

"You don't understand," she whispered. "He's just toying with us. He wont-"

She cut herself of, when she noticed the giant snake summon above their heads. Sasuke saw her looking up and pulled both of them out of the way. The snake hit the ground with a crash that didn't even slow it down. As it moved to strike at them again the fear coursing through Chikako's veins like ice finally tipped the scale between fight and flight. While Sasuke jumped backwards and threw a barrage of shuriken and kunai at the summon she stayed behind, waiting until the projectiles passed her and then following with a Body Flicker. She pulled the wakizashi she'd pilfered from that one ronin in Wave and drove it into the summon's brain the moment she landed on it's head. It's muscles slackened almost immediately and she leaped away again.

Sasuke's shoulders sagged in relief at the sight, but it didn't last long. The snake's corpse burst open close to it's neck, and out of the gore rose Orochimaru.

"You shouldn't relax this easily," he chuckled. "After all, you are prey, and prey should never stop trying to get away when in the presence of a predator." The Sannin elongated his body unnaturally, and then winding around the trunk of a tree like a snake, made his way upwards. He was mere meters away from Sasuke's position when three shuriken impacted the bark right in front of his head, making him pause. Naruto stood on a tree a little ways off, looking rather pleased with his aim, but Orochimaru wasn't at all bothered by his arrival.

"Run!" Chikako shouted at him, but of course he didn't listen. Instead he yelled some nonsense about defending the weak. Apparently the blond was under the impression that they actually had a chance in this fight.

"Don't be a fucking idiot! We're dead the moment he decides playing with us isn't fun anymore!"

The blond looked a little taken aback by that last declaration, but he stood his ground. Sasuke though seemed to have realized the danger they were in, even if his attempt to get them out of it was doomed to fail from the start. The Uchiha deactivated his Sharingan and offered to hand over their scroll without a fight if the Kusa shinobi let them go. Naruto screamed at him in outrage for even thinking about giving up, but the only thing Orochimaru did was chuckle and praise Sasuke's decision.

The blond wasn't in agreement at all. He jumped at the Uchiha, hitting him square in the face and growling that he had to be an imposter because there was no way the real Sasuke would be such a coward. It was an idiotic move, but then he actually followed it up with decent logic.

"I don't know how strong that guy is, but what guarantee is there that he'll actually let us go if we give him the scroll? You wanted to know what I learned in Wave? That people like Gato can't be trusted to keep their word, and this asshole is just like that!" Naruto followed that little speech up by telling Sasuke that he was the stupid one for being too afraid to understand the situation.

Chikako didn't know if she agreed with the last part. Sasuke's tactic wouldn't have worked, but at least he'd realized that they stood no chance in a fight Not that Naruto cared what either of them thought. He pulled out a kunai and sprinted towards Orochimaru, completely ignoring Sasuke's shouted warning. The Sannin didn't even try to doge, instead biting his thumb and smearing the blood over a tattoo on his arm. The jutsu used so much chakra that the air around him started to spin and shimmer. And then he suddenly stood on the head of the biggest snake Chikako had ever seen. The beast had four horns, it's scales purple with thin black stripes and it's very appearance had ripped the tree Orochimaru had been standing on to pieces. The flying shreds of wood and bark hit Naruto, hard, knocking him out of his jump. While he fell his opponent told the snake to eat him as an appetizer.

"Eat shit!" The blond screamed in answer to that command. His features were more feral, pupils turned to slits, and Chikako could feel a more malevolent chakra seep out of his seal and mix with his own. Orochimaru looked stunned, but he didn't waste any time, clearly having recognized the new danger. He took a breath and then released it, forming another wind jutsu that slammed Naruto into a tree. She heard wood splinter, there wasn't any time to check if the blond was okay though. Orochimaru had decided Sasuke was his next target and Chikako had finally accepted that her teammates were too stupid to run.

She jumped in front of the Uchiha as the massive snake struck, concentrating all of her chakra in front of them to form a spiked barrier. The impact shoved her back several centimeters, even though she'd glued herself to the tree branch with chakra. Splintering wood flew everywhere, but then the snake halted, snout bloody and torn. Naruto jumped back into the fight a moment later, launching a volley of kunai at the snakes head. Orochimaru snatched him out of the hair with his tongue though.

"How interesting, I didn't know the Nine-Tails brat was still alive," he chuckled. He pulled Naruto's jacket up at the hem, exposing the seal on his stomach, and then slammed his other hand into it, somehow interrupting the chakra flow. Naruto's eyes went glassy, his body limp. Orochimaru threw him over his shoulder like a piece of trash, not sparing him a second glance. "If I'd known I could have had the real thing I wouldn't have bothered with you Chikako-chan. Ah, no matter you're not what I came back for anyway."

Chikako went after Naruto the second she felt Sasuke activate his Sharingan again. She had to use the Body Flicker several times, but managed to catch her teammate before he impacted with yet another tree. He was unconscious though and she couldn't just put him down somewhere. So instead she slung him over her shoulder and stayed out of Orochimaru's line of sight.

"Jiro," she called. The little tanuki had done as instructed, staying close, but not drawing attention to himself. "Go find someone from Konoha, anyone above genin level. Tell them Orochimaru is in the forest and then show them how to find us." Jiro nodded once and then leap into the trees, moving away at an impressive speed. She really hoped he'd reach someone before they were all dead.

Her had snapped back towards Sasuke when the smell of burning flesh hit her nose. She'd heard him use a fire jutsu earlier, but didn't think he'd hit. Whatever he'd done wasn't enough to stop Orochimaru though. The Sannin was laughing like a maniac, even as his head was smoking and melted skin dripped from his face. He formed a seal Chikako had never seen before and then his neck elongated, head speeding towards Sasuke and biting his shoulder. The Uchiha grabbed at the wound, gasping and shaking in pain.

"Seek me out if you want the power to kill your brother Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said, then he sunk into a tree and a moment later his chakra was gone. Chikako hurried over immediately, only somewhat hampered by Naruto's weight over her shoulder. Sasuke started to scream even before she reached him, eyes open wide, but unseeing. Under his skin a small trace of Orochimaru's chakra swirled and swirled, and then reformed itself into a seal. Sasuke collapsed the second it settled down, but Chikako swore out loud. She knew exactly what that thing was and now she had to protect two unconscious teammates.

Her chakra reserves were almost completely drained from all those Body Flickers and the barrier she had used to stop the snake earlier. They'd be easy pickings if anyone found them now, and the fact that she still had one of the Heaven Scrolls likely wouldn't save them either. Her best bet would be to hide and wait for the summon to bring help. She could deal with what that meant for the exam later.

Chikako pulled both Sasuke and Naruto into a little cave formed by one of the massive trees' roots. It wasn't too far from the place they had fought and would provide decent cover in case a team passed by. There was blood all over Naruto, but his scratches and bruises were already healing, even his cracked ribs would probably be fine in a few days. Sasuke wasn't nearly as wounded, but he had quite the fever and Chikako had no way to bring it down. So instead she concentrated on lining their surroundings with wire, explosive and projectile traps. She'd need all the help she could get if she actually did need to fight.

. . .

Night was falling by the time she felt chakra signatures approaching. The three Sound shinobi. They weren't just coincidentally in the area either. Their movements suggested they were actively looking for something. Chikako didn't curse out loud, but she really, really wanted to. Her chakra reserves had recovered somewhat over the past two hours, but it wasn't enough.

She slowly left her hiding spot under the roots, picking up two small stones as she went. No point staying out of sight if the Oto nin already knew where to look, and she wouldn't risk letting them near her defenseless teammates. She pulled her wakizashi and tanto free of their sheaths, taking a fighting stance. After her training with Zabuza, Chikako was under no illusions that her skill with blades was anything but that of an amateur, but she'd used almost all of her team's projectiles on the traps and couldn't risk solely relying on chakra for this fight.

"Stop playing around little girl and wake up Sasuke. We want to fight him," the guy with the bandaged face and straw raincoat said. Chikako ignored him, instead throwing one of her stones at a wire to his right. A moment later a barrage of shuriken flew out of the trees and straight at them. The Oto shinobi looked surprised, but jumped up and out of the way. Straight into the path of the second barrage, Chikako released with the other stone a moment later. They couldn't dodge mid-air, but the boy without the bandages managed to blow a few of the projectiles away with wind jutsu before they hit, while the other boy used his straw coat to block some of the others. The girl of their team got cut up pretty badly though. They could have protected her, if they'd so chosen, but apparently they were a team in name only. All going after the same goal, yet moving completely independently of each other.

Raincoat Guy snarled something at the other two and then came running at her while they stayed back. _Idiot_ , she thought. Chikako wasn't about to complain though, it would be hard enough to dodge the guy's weird chakra punches and keep him away from her unconscious teammates even if she didn't have to deal with the other two.

She jumped over the first punch, staying well clear of the chakra wave that followed it and landed behind her opponent in a crouch. Turning as she straightened and drawing her wakizashi across his back from shoulder to hip. Her steel bit deep, but he moved out of the way before her tanto could pierce his lungs. Still, the wound would slow him down significantly.

Chikako jumped and rolled to the right the instant she felt someone use a jutsu behind her. Not a second too soon it turned out. Apparently the Oto team wasn't all that concerned about fair play after all. The second guy had both arms outstretched in front of him and two streams of wind ripped through the place she'd stood in a moment earlier. Chikako felt three more chakra signatures closing in, but couldn't concentrate enough to find out who they belonged to.

The next few minutes were spent desperately rolling and dodging as the Oto kunoichi threw senbon after senbon, luckily her accuracy was a lot worse than Haku's, and the guy without the bandages threw the occasional wind jutsu into the mix. Chikako managed well enough, even got to set off a few more of the traps, but it wasn't something she could keep up forever.

"Death Knell!" Raincoat Guy suddenly shouted and she was hit by a wave of sound and chakra. _Fuck_ , she'd forgotten about him. She almost fell, suddenly nauseous and desperately trying to keep her balance. Her arms and legs were shaking with the effort, but she managed to keep the contents of her stomach where they belonged.

The three Sound shinobi were laughing while one of them explained that the technique worked by attacking the ear drum and inner ear. The voice was weirdly muffled and very hard to hear. Chikako didn't even understand why until she noticed the blood dripping out of her ears. If she didn't move soon that would be the least of her injuries though.

"Shadow Possession complete," another voice said, and then there was an uproar. Shikamaru Nara forced the Oto nin to stand still, while they tried to struggle against his jutsu, but all they really managed to do was shout profanities and insults. His teammates, Ino and the Akimichi boy, used their chance to bind the other team's hands and feet with ninja wire. They finished only seconds before Shikamaru lost control of the shadow, but Chikako was incredibly grateful for the help. At least right up until Ino pointed a kunai in her direction.

"I know I look bad," Chikako told the other girl. "But I promise I can kill you before that thing leaves your hand." Ino flinched back at that, but didn't lower the weapon.

"We came to help," Shikamaru said with a look at his blond teammate. "We'll just take their scroll and be on our way." Chikako eyed him for a moment and then pulled out her Heaven Scroll.

"Theirs is Earth, just like yours. Also, I know perfectly well that your initial plan was to wait out the fight hoping that the winner would be weak enough for you to steal the scroll you need."

Shikamaru gave her a sheepish smile at that, asking if she'd be willing to part with the scroll, since they had helped her in the end. She told him she might because it was merely a spare and then stopped mid word when she felt another chakra signature approaching at high speed.

Kakashi landed in front of the little group only moments later, looking incredibly pissed. He gave her a quick once over, checking for injuries and then inquired about the boys without sparing so much as a glance for anyone else. Chikako explained what had happened to them and that Sasuke's fever had broken shortly before the Oto nin had attacked. Kakashi in turn informed her that the people Jiro had found had been so concerned with the threat Orochimaru's presence posed that they hadn't thought it important enough to sent someone for Team 7. Jiro, who was perched on the jonin's shoulder, supplied that he'd gone to find Kakashi then.

"Come on, I'll get you back to the tower," the latter said, but Chikako shook her head.

"We'll be disqualified if you do that, won't we?" She asked and then continued when he nodded. "The boys would be so pissed. I think I'll enlist Team 10 as an escort instead." Shikamaru groaned at that and mumbled something about troublesome women, but agreed, knowing it would be the easiest way to get the scroll they needed.

Chikako almost collapsed to the floor in laughter when Kakashi signed: 'Confirm - decision,' at her. But she dutifully signed back, that yes she was sure, no this wasn't a hostage situation and thank you for worrying. That last one had him disappearing in a cloud of chakra smoke, as she knew it would.

Afterwards she relieved the Sound shinobi of their Earth Scroll and threw Naruto over her shoulder, while Choji carried Sasuke. Ino almost had a panic attack when she saw the Uchiha, but Shikamaru took care of that and they made their way towards the tower.


	11. III - Safety

**A/N:**

 _milkymou_

Yeah, Jiro definitely wins the 'most useful little fur monster' award. I'm not sure listening to Chikako would have helped in this situation though. I mean we are talking about Orochiamru and there is no way they could have actually escaped him. That was kind of a lose-lose situation.

 **III - Safety**

Making their way to the tower was surprisingly easy. They came across Gai's team only minutes after starting their journey. The Hyuga wanted to leave them to their fate, but Lee insisted that it was their duty to help their fellow Konoha shinobi. Chikako wasn't quite sure if he was just that kind of guy or if he felt he had to help them because of her quasi instant friendship with Gai, but she didn't really care. While having Team 10 around was nice, they weren't specialized for combat. So even if Lee was a little annoying and Neji was a grade A asshole, she was more than grateful for their help.

Between Chikako's sensing abilities and the Hyuga's Byakugan they managed to completely avoid combat. The wildlife was a little trickier, or would have been if it hadn't been for Tenten, Team Gai's weapons mistress. She skewered just about anything that so much as looked their way, including a grotesque plant with a penchant for meat.

The tower itself was old, the interior as battered and worn down as its exterior. All that greeted them was an empty foyer, balconies on either side and and inscription prominently featured on the wall across from the door.

"Well, let's open the scrolls," Shikamaru said after glancing at it for a second and then proceeded to do just that. Chikako immediately sprung into a defensive stance in front of her teammates, when chakra smoke wafted up from the scrolls. It looked and felt exactly like Orochimaru summoning that giant snake had, only with far less chakra involved.

The other genin gave her weird looks at the reaction, but after a moments delay they too drew their weapons and took defensive stances. The chunin that rose out of the chakra smoke apparently hadn't expected that kind of greeting. He'd seemed smug at first, arms crossed and a lazy smirk on his face. that quickly change however when he took in their appearance.

"Naruto!" He exclaimed, rushing forward, only to be stopped by a snarling Chikako. She body flickered straight into his path, slamming an open palm into his sternum. The man stumbled back several steps, gasping for air. He wore a Konoha hitai-ate, so she wouldn't try anything more lethal for now, but she also wouldn't let him near her teammates until she was certain that he didn't mean them any harm. In Naruto's case that was never a sure thing, especially not with people old enough to remember Kyubi's attack.

"What are you doing?" Ino screeched from behind her. Chikako was about to snap something nasty at the blond when Shikamaru put a hand on her shoulder. She could feel his shadow connecting with hers, but he didn't actually try to restrain her movement - yet.

"That's Iruka-sensei, one of our Academy teachers. He's one of the few people that actually like Naruto," he said. She eyed the chunin a moment longer. He'd been the one that had tested her and announced the team assignments. She recognized his appearance. She'd even seen him at Ichiraku's with Naruto once, but she didn't remember what his chakra signature was supposed to feel like. He wasn't under a Transformation jutsu as far as she could tell, but then neither had Orochimaru been in the forest and the snake hadn't felt like himself either.

"Why's he here? He's not with Intelligence and all of the proctors and their helpers so far have been," Chikako asked, still staring at the chunin. The man looked baffled, but answered anyway.

"I put in a special request to surprise Naruto. I know as an Academy teacher I shouldn't have favorites, but ..." and there he trailed off, with an embarrassed and slightly guilty look on his face. The expression matched the emotions she could sense from him, and Chikako slightly relaxed. Shikamaru didn't release her shoulder or shadow for several more seconds, but the touch was light.

"There a problem here?" A new voice suddenly asked from one of the balconies. At that the tension completely left Chikako's muscles. If Kakashi didn't have a problem with the chunin she didn't either.

"Team 7 requires medical attention and I need to make a report sir," she said with a salute. They weren't usually this formal, but if she didn't hide behind rules of conduct Chikako might just jump into Kakashi's arms and turn into a crying mess. Logically she knew that they were safe, at least for now. Orochimaru had left them be because he'd already gotten what he wanted and had no reason to come for them again so soon, but that didn't stop her instincts from screaming at her that she should just grab anyone she cared about and run. Had Kakashi shown up in the forest at any other time after the snake had left them she'd have accepted his offer to escort them to the tower. The only reason she hadn't right after that fight against the Sound nin was the adrenaline that had still been coursing through her veins.

Kakashi easily picked up on her distress. He called on two ANBU to escort her teammates to medics and stand guard until further notice and then told her to follow him. She could practically taste the curiosity and worry in the air behind her, but ignored it. The other two teams and the teacher would just have to deal for now. Iruka apparently disagreed though.

"They're children!" He shouted at their retreating backs. "I warned you they weren't ready for this! I warned you! And now look at them. Naruto could have died!"

Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks, but didn't turn around. His chakra was tightly leashed, yet Chikako still felt the anger radiating off of him in waves. She didn't think anyone else could though.

"I already told you once: they're not your students anymore, they're my soldiers," he said, voice deceptively calm. For a moment she thought he might actually lash out, but then she felt the guilt in his chakra and the tension in his shoulders suddenly took on an entirely new meaning.

"You couldn't have known," Chikako whispered only loud enough for Kakashi to hear and then grabbed his hand, pulling him down the corridor. She proceeded to talk about silly things, like the colors of all the flowers she'd seen in the forest, in an effort to distract him. It didn't work very well and so she tried a different tactic the moment they reached an empty room and Kakashi activated the privacy seals within to make sure her report wasn't overheard. Chikako let go of his hand and rounded on him.

"How the fuck could you have possibly known?" She snarled. "I'm the sensor, remember? I stood right fucking next to him before we went into the forest. And do you want to know what? I actually felt his chakra and didn't say anything. The proctor, Anko, has one of his Cursed Seals on her neck that holds part of his chakra and so I fooled myself that I had to be wrong, that he couldn't possibly be there because I didn't want him to be. If you want to blame anyone for this shit blame me!"

She rattled all of this down without stopping to breathe, and when she was done Chikako greedily sucked in air. Kakashi only stared at her in equal parts bewilderment, fondness and shock at her outburst.

"Pup," he sighed, patting her head. He didn't say anything else until her breathing had evened out and even then merely asked for her report. So report she did. She told him how Orochimaru had looked and felt like a completely different person without actively holding a jutsu. How the snake had marked Sasuke with what she assumed to be juinjutsu and did something to Naruto's jinchuriki seal to stop the chakra flow. She didn't know much about the latter, but was more than willing to share everything she had found out about the Cursed Seal of Heaven and it's high chance to cause death. Kakashi was visibly surprised by just how much she knew, but he didn't interrupted her at any point. He also didn't ask how she had come by the information, instead just telling her to go see a medic with a pointed look at the blood that had dripped from her ears to her shoulders and stained the clothing.

"I've got one question while we're here," she said before he could open the door and thus deactivate the privacy seals. "I know you were ROOT at one point. Are you still?"

Kakashi turned back around so fast she didn't even see him do it. He had both hands on her shoulders, Sharingan eye exposed and stared right at her. Chikako waited him out, making sure to keep her posture relaxed and any kind of fear or judgment out of her face. She trusted Kakashi with her life and he needed to see that, needed to know that she would keep his secrets and follow his orders no matter what.

He stood there, just staring at her intently for a long time. Then she felt the tell-tale flicker of chakra on the back of his tongue and his expression suddenly changed to one of utter surprise. Chikako smiled at him.

"I'm not with ROOT and I'm not planning to change that anytime soon. Danzo isn't aware I know of the organization's existence, but I believe he will either try to recruit or kill me at some point. I also know about the seal that keeps you from talking and that it isn't perfect. Just say yes or no please.

"Have you seen councilman Danzo in the past three months?"

"Yes."

"Have you communicated with him in any way during that time?"

"Yes."

"Was it to exchange anything other than social formalities?"

"No."

Chikako went on in that manner for a while, never actually asking about ROOT and whether Kakashi had reported to or been given orders by Danzo. Instead she only asked about meetings with the councilman or people that acted on his behalf as well as any kind of nonverbal communication. Her sensei couldn't always answer, and he was incredibly tense by the time they were done, but Chikako was satisfied with what she had learned. Unless she had missed something, and she didn't think she had, Kakashi had only been an active ROOT member for a short time and left the organization over a decade ago. She still wasn't entirely sure what exactly the Hokage had to do with all of it, but that wasn't her priority at the moment. She already didn't trust the man and learning about the degree of his involvement with ROOT wouldn't change that.

"Thank you sensei," Chikako said with a deep bow. She knew this had been unpleasant for him. He was good at hiding his emotions, even from her, most of the time, but he hadn't tried while answering the questions. Regret and guilt were the most prevalent ones, but there was also the occasional spike of fear. She didn't quite understand that last one until she straightened up again and found herself in a bone crushing hug.

It lasted only a few seconds and Kakashi vanished right after. Still, the eccentric jonin wasn't a touchy-feely kind of person. He usually tolerated her hugs when she needed reassurance, but he didn't initiate them. Had he actually been afraid she'd think any less of him?

"Stupid dog," she muttered under her breath when she left the room.

. . .

Naruto woke up a few hours later. He was a little groggy, but otherwise perfectly fine. Iruka still fussed over the blond and didn't even leave the room until the next morning. Chikako only looked in on her teammate for a moment to make sure he was okay. At the time the blond had told some story about exploding a snake that had eaten him by making multiple Shadow Clones. She wondered if that was what had happened to him while he was separated from her and Sasuke during the fight with Orochimaru and stayed to listened for a while, making sure the ANBU was the only occupant of the room that noticed her presence. It wasn't one of the ones she knew, but she signed to him anyway. Worst case scenario he'd ignore her.

'He - say - anything - about - o - ro - chi - ma - ru'

The ANBU merely stared at her for a moment, but then gave a shake of his head. Chikako signed a thank you back and then asked him to make sure it stayed that way, which he acknowledge with a nod. She didn't know how much Naruto trusted the teacher, but Iruka was clearly biased and blinded by concern when it came to the blond. Apparently the ANBU was of the same opinion or had already been given orders to that respect, otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to her request.

After that Chikako left as silently as she had come. Naruto seemed happy enough with the company and she'd rather avoid the teacher for now. She didn't like the way he'd tried to blame Kakashi without even knowing what had happened and she wasn't entirely certain she wouldn't hit the man again given a chance.

Instead she spent her time next to Sasuke's bed until the Uchiha woke up. Kakashi had put a containment seal around the mark Orochimaru had left on his shoulder. Nobody really knew if it would hold though, so Sasuke had been cautioned not to draw on the Cursed Seal in any way. Apparently Konoha's seal master would be called in at some point, but until then that was all that could be done. For now Chikako was just happy the stupid Uchiha hadn't died. He'd called her a fangirl and thrown a pillow at her when she'd told him as much, but there had been a smile on his face.

She didn't thank him for protecting her from the kunai back in the forest and he didn't thank her for stopping the snake summon. There were a lot of things neither of them said, but their silences weren't wary or filled with suspicion anymore.

The next few days were mostly spent recovering and waiting for the second stage to be over. Gaara's and Kiba's teams had apparently arrived at the tower on the first day, a few hours apart. Rumor was the Suna shinobi had broken some kind of record, but nobody really wanted to talk about them. In fact, the Inuzuka made a point to stay away from them as far as possible and so did his teammates. Chikako wondered what they had seen in the forest, but didn't ask.

Sai's team, as well as one other team from Konoha she didn't know and one from Ame arrived on the third day. Sai immediately sought Chikako out, abandoning his teammates, and didn't leave her side afterwards. Apparently Michio had almost gotten them disqualified by trying to open their scroll prematurely and Sakura, while smart, was a liability in combat.

Neither Naruto nor Sasuke were particularly happy with her shadow, but Chikako didn't care. Sai was pack at this point and she wouldn't abandon him just because he made a few people uncomfortable. She did however acquiesce when Naruto asked for a private conversation with her and Sasuke.

The blond very clumsily tried to bring up what had happened to him in the forest, but he was mostly stuttering incoherently. Chikako waited for a while to see if he would manage himself. When it seemed like that wouldn't be anytime soon though she cut him off.

"I've known what you are for a while," she told him with a friendly smile. "And I don't care. Unlike Panda Eyes it's clearly not affecting your mental state, so as long as you promise not to eat me we're good."

"You - you know? But - how? And what does that redhead have to do with anything?" Naruto stared at her wide eyed, as did Sasuke. Chikako gave the blond a significant look and then nodded at their other teammate. It wasn't her secret to share and she wouldn't unless asked to. Naruto's gaze followed hers. Sasuke clearly felt left out. He was a little angry, but mostly hurt and that finally gave Naruto the motivation to string a full sentence together.

He explained what a jinchuriki was and that he hadn't known he was one until graduation. Sasuke was wary at first, but when Naruto told them of the Academy teacher that had tried to use him to steal a scroll, that quickly changed into anger.

"You're not a monster idiot," the Uchiha declared and that was that.

No team arrived on the fourth day, but on the fifth both the one from Sound as well as Kabuto's made it to the tower. The latter seemed surprised and somewhat angry when he saw Team 7, but quickly hid it. Chikako wondered at that for a moment, but then dismissed it when her turn came up. Playing shogi with Shikamaru was odd. She never even stood a chance of winning, but the Nara liked to draw the games out instead of ending them as fast as possible. She learned that he was very observant behind his lazy and disinterested facade, and that he would do anything to protect his team. They didn't exactly become friends, never even had an actual conversation, but they weren't just acquaintances either.

. . .

On the morning of the sixth day things finally changed. The Hokage called everyone into what looked like an arena. A third of the stone floor, at the far wall, was slightly raised. Behind that section was a statue of two hands forming the Ram seal, and to either side of the room was a balcony.

The Hokage stood on the raised section, behind him the jonin sensei, to his sides the proctors and a few of their helpers and in front of him all the genin teams that had passed the second stage. There were a few happy murmurs while the Sandaime congratulated them, but those quickly turned into groans when he announced that there would be preliminary fights because more teams than expected had passed. He also said that the matches would be chosen at random, but Chikako didn't believe that for a second. The third stage tournament would be public and served as advertisement. They wouldn't risk loosing strong genin during the preliminaries because of bad luck. Not when the kind of impression Konoha made would impact how many and what kind of contracts the village got. She felt rather vindicated in her assumption when the Hokage began to explain that the exams were a stand in for war.

Naruto seemed a little miffed by that explanation, having once again forgotten - or maybe willfully ignored - that shinobi were tools. Kiba was furious though, apparently not able to understand why they had to put their lives on the line for what amounted to entertainment for some rich civilians. It, again, made Chikako wonder at what he'd encountered in the forest. Whatever it was had somehow disillusioned him because he hadn't been nearly this grim after the first stage.

The referee for the preliminaries, an ill looking tokubetsu jonin by the name of Hayate Gekko, explained that the reason they had to have the preliminaries was to cut down the number of fights during the third stage so the audience wouldn't get bored. The genin weren't particularly happy with that reasoning, but most of the protests had already been made and shut down. There was however some more outrage when Hayate told them that the preliminary fights would start immediately because most people were still wounded. The only person that actually gave up though was Kabuto.

He made some weak excuse about being all beat up and exhausted, and not wanting to risk his life again. It was ridiculous. This guy had been to multiple exams, he'd known what they entailed from the get go and while preliminaries certainly weren't common the fighting and danger weren't something he hadn't expected. Not to mention that he didn't seem all that hurt. A few scratches and bruises here and there, but nothing major and his chakra levels weren't even low. Chikako didn't like him and everything he did just made him seem more suspicious because it didn't make any sense, and that meant she was missing important information.

Then the chakra in Sasuke's seal twitched and she spun around to face her teammate. He had his teeth clenched and was gripping his shoulder.

"You sure you want to keep going?" She asked him in a whisper and received a glare for her concern. Of course he wouldn't give up, stupid Uchiha pride. Chikako sighed, shaking her head, but didn't say anything else. Instead she listened while the referee explained the rules for the preliminaries.

Since ten teams had passed there would have been exactly thirty fighters, but because Kabuto had given up one of them would advance to the third stage without having to fight. For everyone else it would be one on one matches. The only rule was that they had to stay in the arena. Fights would continue until one of the combatants died, got knocked out or gave up. Hayate himself could also declare a match over at any point. Other than that they were to fight as if in a real battle with enemy shinobi.

An electronic score board was revealed on one side of the room and after a few seconds delay the names of the genin that would fight the first match appeared on it: Sasuke Uchiha vs. Yoroi Akado.

While the two of them took their places inside of the arena everyone else left for the balconies on either side of the room. Chikako chose to stand with Shikamaru's team and Sai followed her as he'd done since arriving at the tower. Kakashi said something to Sasuke before he too made his way to the upper level. She was too far away to hear him, but she could guess easily enough. According to Orochimaru's notes the curse seal reacted to chakra. It could be controlled by the user after it was fully formed and integrated into the charka pathways, but before that point it would latch onto any stream of chakra. The containment seal Kakashi had put around the curse seal was supposed to avoid this effect and ensure that it couldn't fuse with Sasuke's chakra system, but there was no guarantee that it would work. It was rather likely that their sensei had forbidden the Uchiha from using any chakra if he could at all avoid it.

Sasuke didn't seem to mind overly much. He'd wanted to fight some of the stronger genin since meeting Gaara. They hadn't seen this Yoroi guy in action before, but at this point Sasuke would probably be happy with any opponent that wasn't Orochimaru.

Both opponents sprang backwards and into a half crouch the second the match started. Yoroi immediately threw three shuriken, but Sasuke countered by pulling a kunai and deflecting them in such a way, that they flew back towards the other shinobi. Then he stumbled and fell as another wave of pain pulsed through the curse seal. He barely managed to doge the fist Yoroi aimed at him. Instead of Sasuke's head a part of the stone floor got pulverized by the chakra fueled punch, and the Uchiha kicked his opponents feet out from under him.

It looked good for a while. With both of them on the ground Sasuke had the advantage because he managed to get Yoroi into a choke hold, but then Yoroi suddenly griped Sasuke's arm and the Uchiha gasped. Chikako cursed. That bastard was pulling on Sasuke's chakra and if he kept it up it wouldn't matter whether or not Sasuke himself use any.

"Remember Wave!" She shouted at him, hoping that he got her meaning. Wave had been about eliminating the cause of a threat, instead of just avoiding it's symptoms. Granted, she had abandoned plan A at the time, but without a helpful tanuki and reasonably friendly nukenin around Sasuke wouldn't have much of a choice. It certainly beat getting drained dry or the curse seal being forcefully activated against his will.

Sasuke apparently agreed because he quickly disengaged, putting distance between himself and his opponent. When Yoroi ran at him the next time the Uchiha copied the move Lee had used on him before the first exam, kicking his opponent's yaw from below and sending him flying. He didn't follow it up in the same manner though. Instead he kept his distance and threw two kunai that were trailed by paper tags at Yoroi's back. There was no way for the other shinobi to dodge mid air, and Sasuke didn't take any chances. The second the kunai struck he used the Snake seal, detonating the explosive tags.

Chikako quickly formed a chakra barrier in front of her little group to shield them from the resulting spray of blood and gore. She could hear the Inuzuka's dog whimpering from somewhere to her right, but was too busy concentrating on the way Sasuke's seal felt to care. Naruto as well as a few other people looked disgusted at the way the Uchiha had won his fight, the referee however merely declared him the victor without further comment. Kakashi appeared down in the arena a moment later and took Sasuke away, presumably to see a medic. Before their sensei left he glanced at Chikako and she signed a confirmation that the seal hadn't activated.

"I didn't know you used explosives in Wave," Sai suddenly said from her side. He was apparently completely unconcerned by all the blood and simply confused because he hadn't understood the reference. Chikako burst out laughing.

"We didn't, I just meant for him to end the fight as fast as possible by whatever means necessary," she explained. She hadn't quite expected Sasuke to outright kill his opponent, but it had probably been the right call. The Uchiha wasn't a ranged fighter, even when he could use his chakra, and he couldn't have risked close combat against an opponent like Yoroi.

"How can you laugh right now?" Ino demanded with wide horrified eyes. "Sasuke-kun he ... he-"

"Won, and he was smart about it too," Chikako cut her off. "You are a shinobi Yamanaka, so get used to the blood. What exactly do you think someone like Panda Eyes over there is going to do to you if you land in the arena with him?" Said redhead gave her a curious look at that. It wasn't much different from his usual dead stare, but it seemed pleased somehow. As if she'd praised him instead of warning someone away, but then maybe he was like Naruto in more than one respect. Considering the fact that he was a jinchuriki and the way his teammates reacted to him he might have grown up as an unwanted outcast as well, and desperately wanted to be acknowledged. Unlike the blond, who was hoping for love and friendship, though Gaara seemed to be perfectly happy if he could strike fear into the hearts of others.

Shikamaru moved slightly, to get between her and Ino, but Chikako didn't pay him any mind. She wasn't about to attack the other girl, so he posed no danger to her.

"Not all of us are as numb to death as you are," he said softly. There was a note of concern in his voice, but no reprimand.

"I'm not numb, I'm just not afraid to kill when necessary," she answered just as quietly. "Besides a situation like this, when you're surrounded by enemies, is not the time to fall apart. Predators always go for the weak first."

The Nara didn't say anything else afterwards, but he did take Ino aside to calm her down. It was too late now, but it would bee a good lesson if she did survive. She was a clan heir, so it was unlikely that the referee wouldn't call the fight if it looked too bad for her. An invisible safety net she didn't even know existed. Also one that clearly not all of them had, considering that Hayate could have called Sasuke's match before the tags had exploded.


	12. III - Preliminaries

**A/N:**

I'm afraid this one is only a short chapter to conclude the preliminary matches.

. . .

 _Scarease_ **  
**I understood what you were saying I just didn't know why you brought it up.

 _hisoka93_

I'm glad you enjoy it and thanks for letting me know.

 _milkymou_

That's what she has Kakashi for, so they can both be emotionally stunted weirdos. Then there is Sai, who has lived through a completely different kind of horror, and Sasuke like you said. Fixed the typo, thanks for pointing it out.

. . .

 **III - Preliminaries**

The following fights, with a few exceptions, were mostly unremarkable and didn't take all that long. Zaku Abumi fought against a Konoha genin by the name of Minoji. The Sound nin didn't waste any time, blasting his opponent into a wall almost as soon as the fight began. The other boy was apparently so terrified, that he didn't even try to escape and simply gave up.

It was much the same for the other two Leaf genin from his team. One admitted defeat after Naruto filled the arena with Shadow Clones and the other when Sai created two big lion-dogs out of ink. Chikako seriously wondered how they had even gotten through the forest with that attitude.

The other unknown team that had passed the second stage was the one from Ame. All three of the genin looked and fought pretty much the same. They wore yellow jumpsuits, that were stitched up the middle, as well as rebreathers and a white piece of cloth over their eyes. The only visual difference between them was their hair and the number of eyes that were uncovered, namely zero, one and two. As for their abilities, they all seemed to specialize in genjutsu, poisonous gas and clone techniques, which would have probably worked a lot better against opponents other than Chikako, Kiba and Shino.

The Aburame had simply drained his opponents chakra using his kikaichu, while staying out of range to avoid being poisoned. The bugs were neither affected by genjutsu nor could they be fooled by simple clones.

Kiba had taken the opposite approach. Instead of waiting the Ame genin out he and the dog, Akamaru, had used some kind of combination attack called Fang Over Fang. It basically turned both of them into spinning projectiles that moved at high speeds, could change direction mid air and resulted in a lot of destruction when they hit. The wind caused by the technique had easily dissipated the cloud of poison, while the speed and flexibility allowed them to strike at every clone until they found the original in mere seconds. As scent trackers they could also break regular visual genjutsu without trouble because the differences between what they saw and smelled were immediately obvious.

Chikako had the easiest time with her opponent though. She'd used a Body Flicker to get behind him, presses a kunai to his throat and then given him to the count of ten to give up or die. He'd waited until she reached nine before he admitted defeat, desperately waiting for either the poison or his genjutsu to take effect. She hadn't explained why that was a futile hope, no reason to give her future opponents any free information. Of course Shikamaru guessed that she was practically immune to both anyway, but at least he did it quietly. It was better if people thought she was using some kind of jutsu to protect herself and wasted their time trying to figure it out.

The Nara's own fight was against Kin Tsuchi, the Sound team's kunoichi. She was still angry about Team 10's interference in the forest and she also had the added advantage of already having seen Shikamaru's signature technique. Kin on the other hand had been so cut up by Chikako's traps that she hadn't done much of anything during that fight so the Nara had no idea what she could do.

He still tried to open the fight with a Shadow Binding, but she easily dodged and threw a handful of senbon at him. They didn't get anywhere close to hitting their target though. While senbon were generally hard to see the little bells attached to the ends of these made avoiding them easy enough. Shikamaru also guessed that the next attack would include senbon with and without bells to distract him, but Kin wasn't quite that obvious. Instead she had strings attached to the needles already stuck in the wall behind him and used it to ring the bells. While he turned around she peppered him with regular senbon.

As Chikako had already notice though, her accuracy wasn't nearly as good as Haku's. The girl had to have some other trick because killing someone like that or even incapacitating them would take ages. But then the Sound nin had bigger problems. While she had been busy gloating, Shikamaru had stretched his shadow to capture hers. She hadn't even noticed that the thin, barely visible strings in her hand shouldn't have had a shadow at the height she was holding them. Then it was Shikamaru's turn to mock her, but he didn't waste too much time on it. Instead he threw a shuriken at her head. She of course was forced to copy the move, so when the Nara dodged the projectile by bowing backwards so did she. Of course she also stood a lot closer to the wall than him and ended up knocking herself out.

Choji and Ino were in high spirits when Shikamaru made his way back onto the balcony. It was a little unexpected, seeing as Ino had been devastated after loosing her match earlier. The Yamanaka had to go up against Sakura, who had apparently been her childhood friend until both of them started to fancy Sasuke.

Their fight hadn't been particularly interesting to watch. Both kunoichi were smart, but they also spent more time on their appearance than on their fighting skills. Sakura's advantage was incredible chakra control and Ino had her clan training to fall back on, but physically they were both weak and had little stamina. According to Shikamaru they had resolved their personal rivalry during the fight. However, all Chikako saw were two below average genin knocking each other out.

A kunoichi that was a lot more interesting was Temari from the Suna team. Her fight had been against Sai's other teammate, Michio. The boy relied on explosives to a ridiculous degree, and Temari's tendency to simply blow projectiles away with her giant fan had caused some interesting situations. The fight itself hadn't lasted all that long because Michio was idiot enough not to have a way to disable some of his own explosives and had given up after one had blown his right leg of. The problematic part had been protecting the audience from stray projectiles without influencing the fight. Chikako had seen some of the jonin snatch a few out of the air and throw them out of various windows, while she herself had once again formed a chakra barrier in front of her group. Panda Eyes had caught the ones that flew in his general direction with sand, but keeping anyone else safe by doing so had purely been coincidence as far as she could tell.

Kankuro's match against Misumi Tsurugi had also been on the shorter side. The puppeteer had hidden himself in the bandages he usually wore on his back, and had let the puppet fight for him. That turned out to be a really good decision moments after the fight started. Misumi could apparently use his arms and legs like ropes. He'd slithered them around his opponent's body and broken the fake Kankuro's neck easily enough. Of course the puppet still worked perfectly fine and the real Kankuro had used the distraction to finish the match.

Though by far the scariest of the Sand team was Panda Eyes. For the first few minutes of his fight against Lee he didn't even move. His sand surrounded him like a living thing, blocking each and every attack. Lee was undoubtedly strong and fast, even more so without the weights that were hidden under his leg warmers, but all he really managed to do was amuse Gaara.

The redhead could apparently protect himself with an additional layer of sand that acted like a second skin, so the two hits Lee managed to land didn't do any actual damage. Chikako did note, however, that this sand armor, unlike the sand shield, didn't seem to act on it's own and actively used up chakra.

Lee attacked Gaara with the same Lotus combination he had used against Sasuke, only this time there was no turtle to stop him and he destroyed a good chunk of the floor. The problem was that all he achieved was to shatter a hollow sand clone, while the real Gaara rose from the sand behind him. Lee should have given up then because the Lotus technique damaged not only the one it was used against, but also it's user, which meant he was no longer fast enough to dodge the sand.

Instead he started opening five of the Eight Celestial Gates and uselessly batted Panda Eyes around the room. It looked impressive because the sand shield was far too slow to keep up with Lee's new speed, but the sand armor still surrounded Gaara, which meant none of the attacks actually did any significant amount of damage.

When the sand armor finally started to come undone the redhead decided he was done playing games. He turned the gourd on his back into sand as well, and used that to crush Lee's left arm and leg, making them completely useless. If Gai hadn't interfered a second later he'd have killed his opponent using the same method to crush the rest of his body. Gaara stopped when Hayate called the match, but he seemed incredibly disappointed, as if a fight wasn't worth fighting unless someone died.

Neji Hyuga was apparently operating with a similar mindset during his fight against his cousin Hinata. He was a lot stronger than her, but because their fathers were twins and Hinata's had been born first, she was part of the main house and heir to the clan, whereas Neji was a branded member of the branch house.

The Hyuga had some very old fashioned rules that seemed barbaric to Chikako, especially the seals they placed on their branch members. The things essentially allowed any member of the main house to inflict torture or even death whenever they chose, making the branch house nothing more than glorified slaves. Chikako very much understood Neji's resentment against the practice and the main family as a whole, but the hate he harbored for his cousin was ridiculous in her opinion. Hinata was a kind girl. She hadn't created the seal, hadn't even branded anyone with it, and judging by what Chikako had seen of her character so far, she certainly hadn't used the foul thing on anyone.

Neji was more proficient at the Hyuga's taijutsu style than Hinata, and even though she put up a good fight, he almost killed her. In fact several jonin had to stop him after Hayate called the fight because he didn't abort his final attack. The boy was strong, but he was also blinded by hate and bound himself in the chains of fate and destiny, believing that no one could escape from their set path in life. It made Chikako think of her Uchiha teammate, who thought that there was nothing for him, not path to take other than the one that lead to vengeance.

The way Lee had thrown away his potential for one fight, and the Hyuga's personal tragedy were kind of sad in an abstract sort of way. Naruto had even sworn to take down Neji for what he had done to his cousin, but the only fight that actually made Chikako feel like she should do something about it was the one between Choji and Dosu, the third member of the Sound team.

All the people she personally cared about had gotten through their fights without a problem, except for the Akimichi. Just like with Shikamaru, she and Choji had developed a weird kind of friendship that mostly just consisted of silently being in each others company. While she lost round after round of shogi against the Nara, Choji would usually sit nearby and munch on chips, occasionally offering them one. He didn't look it, but the boy was incredibly kind and sensitive at heart. He hated conflict, but would protect his friends at all costs. He also implicitly trusted Shikamaru, which meant the moment the Nara had decided that Chikako was okay, so had Choji.

In an effort to avoid Dosu's sound attacks the Akimichi had used one of his clan techniques and turned himself into an oversized human cannon ball, effectively protecting his ears from sound waves. Or so he thought. The Oto shinobi smashed him into a wall and then, instead of using the air as a medium, had the sound waves travel through the very water in Choji's body.

He also did a lot more damage than was necessary to just win the fight, presumably to take revenge for Team 10's interference in the forest. Choji would live, but both his eardrums had burst, there was blood streaming out of his nose, and according to the medics his bones and organs were littered with tiny fractures and rips. It had been excessive force plain and simple. There was no doubt in Chikako's mind that Dosu had tried to kill Choji, even thought he hadn't needed to by any stretch of the imagination.

"I should have just slit their throats when I had the chance," she hissed as Hayate called the fight and declared the preliminaries over.

"Why didn't you?" Sai asked and she sighed.

"A friend once told me that all life is precious, even that of an enemy, and that I should never be afraid to show mercy for fear of future pain. Of course that same friend also has more blood on his hands than almost anyone else I know, so maybe the real lesson is that one needs to decide which lives to protect no matter the cost." She still hadn't figured out who Itachi had been protecting when he had killed his clan though. The active shinobi were one thing, but who did old people and infants pose a threat to?

Judging by the looks they shot her Sai knew exactly who she was talking about, but Shikamaru seemed to be considering just what kind of friends Chikako had and how to avoid meeting them.

The arena was mostly destroyed by the time all fights were over, but the Hokage looked happy enough. Hayate again congratulated those that had won, and then the Sandaime explained the rules for the third stage of the exam. They would have one month to prepare and rest before the tournament began. They would also be drawing pieces of paper from a box to see who they would be fighting against, but of course these matchups weren't any more random than the preliminary's had been.

Since there were still more combatants than there ideally should have been, the tournament would have four rounds instead of the usual three. To compensate two matches would be fought at the same time during the first round, and there would be a time limit of ten minutes after which the referee would call the match no matter what.

Due to Ino's and Sakura's double knock out both Gaara and Sasuke would advance to the second round of the tournament without having to fight anyone, which left six actual matches for the first round:

Sasuke Uchiha vs. -

Zaku Abumi vs. Shino Aburame

Gaara vs. -

Sai vs. Kankuro

Kiba Inuzuka vs. Naruto Uzumaki

Temari vs. Shikamaru Nara

Chikako vs. Dosu Kinuta

Tenten vs. Neji Hyuga


	13. III - Know thy Enemy

**A/N:**

 _milkymou_ & _lilith-thetiny-monster_

Thank you both, you'll have to wait until the next chapter for the third stage to begin though.

. . .

 **III - Know thy Enemy**

With the preliminaries over everyone was allowed to leave the tower and the Fourty-Fourth Training Ground. All foreign teams had permission to stay inside of the village until after the tournament though, which meant the likes of Dosu and Gaara freely roamed the streets. Under normal circumstances they would most likely have been assigned an ANBU tail, but with Orochimaru around it was more important to guard Konoha's secrets as well as the foreign dignitaries that arrived early.

Chikako decided that in the unlikely case she ever got to be the head of a village, she wouldn't allow civilians inside of it's walls. Ninja might be used like tools, but they were still people, and shouldn't be expected to risk their lives for anything and anyone. After all if a good shinobi died to keep one unimportant civilian safe, wasn't that a net loss? Training a ninja took time and money, and not everyone had what it took to become a good shinobi. Didn't that make their lives worth more than those of some random farmer, baker or librarian?

"Hey Chikako-chan?" Naruto interrupted her musings. "You said you were fine with what I am, but you've been warning us away from that Gaara guy because he's like me ..." The blond trailed off, looking at her with wide, unsure eyes. She shook her head at him.

"He is the same thing you are, but he is nothing like you Naruto. You've seen his fight against Lee. He kills for fun, not because it's the only or even just the easiest option. You on the other hand have sworn to avenge Hinata, but you didn't mean you would kill Neji, did you?"

"What? No! Of course not!" He hastily answered. "I just like ... wanted to hit him a few times? Like you know ... so he listens and sees that even someone like me can beat him?"

"Well, you'll still have to do the talking, but I promise to hit him for you," she grinned and the blond answered with a tentative smile. He sometimes had a hard time understanding why she acted the way she did, but he tried and so in turn Chikako did the same. She held no grudge against Neji, even if she didn't agree with the way he blamed Hinata for all of his problems, but she'd try to help because it meant something to Naruto.

"Hey is Kakashi-sensei training you too? I know he's training Sasuke, but I just got this super pervy guy as a teacher," the blond complained.

"No, he didn't even find a teacher for me so you're actually lucky," Chikako mused. Naruto gaped at her, and then exploded a second later.

"What? What a lazy bastard! You can totally come train with me, even if the teacher is stupid."

"Don't worry," she told him. "I made my own arrangements. Also, you need to find yourself a Bingo Book and look Kakashi up."

"What's that?"

"Ask your teacher," Chikako said with a smile and then body flickered away in typical Kakashi manner. Unlike her sensei she couldn't risk being late.

. . .

Hinata was already waiting at the gate of the Hyuga compound when she arrived. Chikako immediately bowed and apologized. She actually still had a minute before she was late, but she wasn't about to risk offending anyone when she was asking for help.

What she achieved instead was only marginally better though. Hinata was terribly embarrassed by having given the wrong impression and assured Chikako at length that there was no need to apologize. They got a few curious looks from some of the clan members when the Hyuga heiress led her to a private training ground, but nobody stopped them.

The whole compound looked incredibly boring. Every house was very traditional, black roof, walls made of wood and paper. The lawns were perfectly even and trimmed to perfection, the walkways nothing but straight lines and right angles.

The training ground itself was in an inner courtyard and consisted of nothing but white sand and a single willow tree. It looked isolated, but that didn't mean much with the Hyuga's kekkai genkai. Hinata had assured her that it was considered terribly impolite to use the Byakugan within the compound for anything other than training, Chikako highly doubted that the heiress would be left completely alone with an outsider though.

"I don't know how helpful training with me will be against Neji-nii-san Chikako-san," the girl said. There was no hint of a stutter, but she still sounded very unsure.

"From what I could tell you don't have his mastery of your clan's style, but you also moved a lot more fluidly. I think you'd actually be stronger than him if you had the same amount of speed and weren't afraid of hurting anyone," Chikako reasoned and before Hinata made to reply she added: "And you held back didn't you?" She didn't think Hinata would have won, even had the girl given it her all, but she would have been able to deal a lot more damage.

"How?" The heiress breathed, eyes wide. "Not even Neji-nii-san noticed." Chikako smiled at her.

"Well, he was kind of distracted, and my sensing abilities are a little better than average. You also spread your chakra wide when you hit him, whereas he concentrated his only on a tiny area. At first I thought your control just wasn't very good, but then you kept your chakra perfectly even after the fight was over to avoid further damage to your organs and pathways and that would have required a lot more control."

And so Hinata began to teach Chikako what she could about the Gentle Fist style without giving away clan secrets. She wasn't actually in any condition to spar yet, but they had a month and there was a lot of theory that needed to be covered first.

Chikako had learned a lot about the human body from Orochimaru and later Ibiki. She knew where the important organs and arteries were. She knew just how deep a wound needed to be to kill or cause suffering for hours or even days. How best to break a bone, dislocate a shoulder, or where to cut a sinew. But for all her chakra sensing ability her theoretical knowledge of the chakra system was embarrassingly basic when compared to Hinata's.

The timid girl had her learn the Hyuga katas as well as the locations of all three-hundred-sixty-one tenketsu and how they were connected to each other. That alone would give Hinata more than enough time to heal, and hopefully provide Chikako with the necessary knowledge to avoid major injuries in close combat with Neji. Initially her plan had been to defeat him by relying on long and mid ranged combat, but Hinata quickly shot that idea down by explaining that techniques such as the Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation existed to make exactly that impossible. As far as she was aware her cousin hadn't mastered it yet, but he too had a month to train.

. . .

Two days later Chikako found Kakashi and Sasuke on a nearby mountain plateau.

"What exactly is he doing?" She asked, one eyebrow raised. The Uchiha was sprinting from side to side, weaving in and out of stone pillars as he went.

"Getting faster," Kakashi told her. "I hope."

"Maybe you should have asked Gai for some training weights."

"But then he'd know what I'm planning and could warn Neji," Kakashi told her, visible eye wide.

"Oh fuck you," Chikako grumbled. "As if I'd lose to the Hyuga."

Kakashi just patted her head, affected a baby voice and told her that of course she would win.

"Fine, I see I'm not wanted here," she said, batting his hand away. Chikako placed a food container next to her sensei before she left, miso soup with eggplant, one of Kakashi's favorites.

It took a few hours for her to discover that he'd slipped her a piece of paper, presumably when patting her head. Breaking the code he'd used took even longer, but it was well worth it in the end. The note contained instructions on how to use a technique called Chakra Flow, that allowed it's user to enhance weapons by channeling chakra through them. It also contained the address of a smith.

She'd already known the basics of the technique because the books she'd read to learn more about general chakra manipulation had mentioned it several times, but Kakashi's notes paid a lot more attention to detail. They explained what kinds of extra effects using chakra of different natures could have. Wind for example made for nearly unstoppable blades, that would allow even a simple kunai to cut stone. Lightning on the other hand could be used to stimulate the nervous system to induce numbness or even cause paralysis.

Her chakra didn't actually allow for any kind of nature transformation except for yin and yang. The former was what made forming solid chakra claws and barriers possible and the latter was the cause of her accelerated healing and ability to deal with poisons. Unlike the Nara clan's shadow jutsu, what Chikako did was mere chakra manipulation and not an actual technique though.

While Chakra Flow was a powerful technique it also tended to greatly weaken the integrity of regular metals, to the point that they simply broke after a while - which was why Chikako rarely used her chakra laced senbon. Zabuza had warned her about that effect and recommended she get blades made out of a special conductive metal that could not only withstand the strain the technique put on it, but would also increase it's potency. It had sounded incredibly interesting, so Chikako had looked into it right after Wave, but weapons like that were so far out of her price range that she'd quickly given up on the idea.

Of course Kakashi was well aware of her interest and financial situation, so she decided to go see the smith regardless. Her jaw almost hit the floor when she entered the shop and was greeted by a big, smiling man that handed her two incredibly beautiful swords and then told her not to come back unless something broke. She'd just stared at him in response until he'd picked her up with two massive hands and deposited her outside.

The wakizashi and tanto were created with the same design. The scabbards looked like white marble with smokey, gray veins. Both mouth and end were rimmed in black metal and a wide, blood red cord hung from it. The hilt's pommel and collar were of the same dark steel, but the cloth it was wrapped in was bone white. The most beautiful thing were the actual blades though. The metal they were made from was so dark that it seemed to absorb light, except for the hamon that looked like rising mist. They were also wickedly sharp and surprisingly light.

The things must be worth a small fortune, and while Chikako knew Kakashi had more than enough high rank missions under his belt to be able to easily afford them, she was still torn between feeling grateful and guilty. There was no way she would be able to pay him back any time soon, not to mention that he more than likely wouldn't even let her try.

She found a second note on her kitchen table that said not to embarrass him during the tournament because he expected to make a fine sum by betting the Hyuga prodigy would suffer a humiliating loss during the second round. Chikako laughed at that, but she also cursed him a little. The ass could have totally written that on the first note instead of making her feel bad all the way from the smith's shop to her flat.

. . .

Chikako spent just about every other day at the Hyuga compound, and when she wasn't training with Hinata she played shogi with Shikamaru, practiced Chakra Flow, or improved her ability to fight with swords by sparing with Sai.

With the way the tournament was set up the only way they'd actually fight against each other would be if both of them made it to the final round, which seemed rather unlikely. Still, Chikako left her new blades at her flat, and Sai only used techniques she already knew about. He also warned her to be careful, but the seal on his tongue prevented him from explaining that vague statement in any more detail.

She kept an eye out for trouble anyway, which caused her to notice that Gaara apparently never slept, and frequently spent his nights just sitting on random rooftops.

Chikako generally just gave him a glance and moved on because he never actually did anything more interesting than watch the people below him, but he was also usually alone. That night she could feel Dosu's chakra signature nearby. She might have decided that it was none of her business had it been anyone else, but she still had and ax to grind with the Sound nin, and the fact that he was trying to sneak up on Gaara just made the whole situation more suspicious.

"Evening Panda Eyes," she said after using a Body Flicker to join the redhead on the roof. She'd made sure he'd seen her before moving closer, and kept several meters between them. For one so he wouldn't think she was trying to attack him and for another so she had enough time to dodge if he reacted in a hostile manner anyway.

"What do you want?" He gave her an odd look, that wasn't exactly cold, but certainly not friendly either. It made her incredibly uncomfortable, especially with the way he never seemed to use any kind of inflection. Chikako almost laughed when the thought of whether he'd understand sarcasm flashed through her mind, but she quickly clamped down on the impulse. As far as she could tell Gaara was volatile at the best of times, but so far he'd also listened to orders and obeyed rules, which meant there was a good chance he wouldn't attack her as long as she didn't give him an excuse.

'Enemy - at - your - six," She signed in a code she hoped was still current. Ibiki had taught her the non-classified standard ciphers of all of the five great nations. Nobody actually expected them to be safe, so her knowing it wouldn't cause trouble, but that didn't mean they were never changed.

"I know," Gaara told her, continuing to stare.

"Well then, mind if I join you?" She asked and then decided to interpret his silence as permission. He was sitting on the tail fin of a very big, very intricate fish statue. This time Chikako simply jumped to close the distance, avoiding the use of chakra completely. Then sat down next to him, a little less than two meters between them. A few grains of sand stirred, but settled quickly enough when she didn't do anything else.

Dosu had stopped his approach, when she'd first appeared on the roof, but after several minutes he gave up any attempt at stealth and simply walked up to them.

"I was planning to kill you in your sleep," he said to Gaara and then shifted his one eyed gaze towards Chikako. "Taking him out gives me a better chance to fight Sasuke. I'm sure you'd like to make your teammate's life a little easier too, wouldn't you?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"That's cute, but as far as I'm concerned you're both monsters, and right now I like Panda Eyes a lot better than you."

Dosu's shock at that declaration was almost comical, but Chikako couldn't enjoy it long, because she had to jump out of the way of a wave of sand. It wasn't actually coming for her, but it didn't try to avoid hitting her either when it slammed into the Sound nin. Gaara crushed him into a bloody pulp mere seconds later, and she used her chakra barrier to shield both of them from the resulting spray of blood.

"A little warning next time," she chided in a voice that was a lot steadier than she felt. "I wanted to ask him a few questions."

Gaara just shrugged, and she sat down again, afraid that she'd fall from the roof if she didn't. Keeping her legs from shaking was incredibly hard. She didn't even try with her hands, merely placed them in her lap and took slow, deep breaths to calm herself down.

Knowing how powerful and bloodthirsty Gaara was was one thing, but actually seeing the evidence of how much worse Lee's fight could have gone was quite another.

"You're afraid," the redhead stated after a while. It didn't sound like a question, but he clearly wanted an explanation of some sort. Chikako wasn't in the mood to play guessing games though, so she simply confirmed. Gaara waited several seconds for her to continue, but then gave up when it became obvious that she wouldn't.

"Then why stay here? People usually run."

"I didn't feel like being hunted," she told him. In the forest Orochimaru had said that prey should never stop trying to flee when a predator was around, and back then she'd wanted to, but that decision had been just as stupid as Naruto's to stay and fight, or Sasuke's to bargain their scroll. None of these would have had any chance of succeeding and the only reason they had survived that encounter was that the snake hadn't wanted them dead. In the future though Chikako would choose fighting over running when it seemed like all paths lead to death, because that way she'd at least have the chance to inflict some damage on her killer.

This was different though. Gaara had made no move to assault her in any way so far. Both his posture and chakra were perfectly relaxed, if slightly wary, completely unlike the excitement she'd seen in him when he'd killed Dosu. Chikako didn't think the redhead would attack her as long as she didn't make any sudden moves. Not to mention that she still didn't trust her legs to keep her upright. She wasn't stupid enough to trust him with her life, but for now keeping an eye on his chakra and hoping that she could use a Body Flicker faster than his sand moved would have to do.

"Do you really never sleep?" She asked, to keep herself from thinking too much about the film of blood on the roof that used to be a person.

"Bad things happen when I do," he told her, and Chikako seriously wondered what someone like Gaara would consider bad. She didn't know how much time she spent on that roof before she was sure she could make it back home without falling over her own feet. Neither of them said anything else, but she had the feeling that Gaara considered asking something several times and then decided against it at the last moment.

. . .

Cat came to find her shortly after dawn. Her crisp order to follow as stealthily as she could was the first time Chikako ever heard the ANBU's voice. That was also the only reason she did as told without commenting on the fact that she hadn't seen Cat in ages.

The woman did a double take when Chikako all but vanished. By now she could mask scent, body heat and any sound she made while keeping her chakra imperceptible. If she learned how to become invisible she'd practically be a ghost, but until then she'd have to make do with hiding in the shadows and moving around lines of sight.

Cat led her through a labyrinth of dark alleys and then tunnels until they reached a small room. By the time they stopped Chikako had no idea where they were, which was likely the point. The ANBU told her that this whole excursion was off the books before she opened the rusty door and led Chikako inside.

That announcement, or warning, came rather late, but she bit back the comment when she saw Hayate Gekko's bloody corpse on a low metal table in the middle of the room. there was a deep wound from his left shoulder to just below the ribs on his right side. Whatever had caused it was sharp enough to cleanly cut through a jonin vest, a layer of mesh, muscle and bone in a single swing. It very much reminded her of what Kakashi's notes said about the effect wind natured chakra had when using Chakra Flow. The referee was pale, his eyes and lips missing, and the wounds surrounding them made Chikako think that birds had found him quite a while before anyone else.

"Can you tell who killed him?" Cat asked, voice tight with barely suppressed anger. She wasn't just trying to do right by a colleague, she wanted revenge for the murder of a loved one, and Chikako hated having to disappoint her.

"No, there's barely any chakra residue left and I don't recognize the signature," she said, and then flinched when a wave of sadness and guilt hit Cat, pulling her under like a riptide. Chikako took a deep breath, adding: "I might, and I mean _might_ , be able to compare the remaining traces to samples of suspects if you have any. It wouldn't be enough to definitively tell you who did it, but I could give you an approximation of how similar the signatures are.

Cat perked up at that, suddenly having something to do again to avoid the helplessness grief carried with it. She didn't even tell Chikako to stay put, just vanished without so much as a cloud of chakra smoke. Chikako shook her head and sat down, back against the wall. She hadn't gotten a lot of sleep that night, and while a room that was empty, but for a table and a corpse certainly wouldn't make her list of preferred sleeping locations anytime soon, she was so tired that she dozed off almost the second her behind made contact with the floor.

. . .

She didn't feel any more rested the next time Cat woke her to present several pieces of clothing, so the ANBU couldn't have been gone long, but it was hard to tell without being able to see the sun. Chikako did, however, recognize three of the chakra signatures immediately as those of the Suna genin.

"Definitely not these," she said, giving them back and then concentrating on the remaining two. "Not Kabuto either, but the last one is close."

"How close?" The ANBU demanded.

"Close enough that it could have been the murderer, but I told you, I can't say for certain." Chikako made sure to put emphasis on that last part. Cat was no doubt acting without orders and it wouldn't do if she killed the wrong person. Especially if that person was a shinobi of an allied nation.

Cat nodded her thanks and escorted Chikako back to her flat without another word. She also promised to inform the Hokage about Dosu's death and how it had come about.

When Chikako woke up again several hours later there was a scroll on her bedside table, that contained information on an A-rank jutsu called Camouflage that allowed the user to bend light around their body by manipulating chakra to change the way it was reflected. If used correctly it would make someone almost completely invisible, even erasing their shadow. It wouldn't fool something like the Byakugan or Sharingan, and moving while under the jutsu would cause minor distortions in the air, but it perfectly rounded out Chikako's stealth repertoire.

She had to wonder about Cat's selection of potential murderers though. Now that she wasn't dead on her feet it seemed rather curious. Gaara didn't make a lot of sense because he seemed to be on some kind of leash and the wound that had killed Hayate didn't fit the way the redhead fought at all. Kankuro and Temari hadn't given any kind of indication that they might attack Konoha personnel, but if Cat had come to the same conclusions about how the injury had been caused as Chikako, those two made a little more sense. That meant the signature she couldn't place was likely their sensei as the only other Suna shinobi. Still Suna was not only allied with Konoha, but also far from the only nation with shinobi that could use wind natured chakra. In fact, Naruto had an affinity for the element, so there had to be some other reason for that specific selection.

And then there was Kabuto. Had he only been included because Chikako had warned Ibiki about him, or had he actually been revealed as a spy? Sometimes she really hated all the secrecy.

. . .

Hinata had her final check up in the hospital a little under two weeks after her fight against Neji. Chikako was so glad that she decided to escort the heiress to her appointment. The theory of the Gentle Fist was interesting, but learning it without any way to actually practice fighting against it to see if she understood it as well as she thought was frustrating. Chikako was very much looking forward to her first spar with Hinata.

"Shikamaru, Naruto and Choji are somewhere on this floor. I'm going to check on them to see what is going on while you're with the medic," Chikako said. The other girl perked up at the mention of Naruto's name, and told her not to worry about it and that she'd come find them after she was done.

Chikako thought it was kind of a miracle that her blond teammate still hadn't figured out that Hinata liked him. He was incredibly adept when it came to reading people sometimes, but at other times he missed the most obvious things. Then again, maybe it was a good thing because his ignorance gave the heiress more time to get over how shy she was around him.

When Chikako looked into the room the three chakra signatures where in only Shikamaru greeted her. Choji was fast asleep and Naruto just waking up.

"What happened to those two?"

"Choji just ate too much, no idea about Naruto though," Shikamaru shrugged.

The blond yawned, mumbling something about giant frogs and stupid perverts, and then his eyes suddenly snapped open.

"Where am I?"

"Hospital," the Nara supplied in a drawl. Chikako raised an eyebrow at the fruit basket he held out to Naruto. Apparently he'd brought it for Choji, but the medic had said his teammate wasn't allowed to eat anything just yet. She shrugged and grabbed an apple, telling the other two in very vague terms about her training with Hinata. Shikamaru, for his part, had elected to spent the month resting, and Naruto had somehow gotten himself into a situation in which Konoha's seal master, Jiraiya, had decided throwing the boy off of a cliff would help him summon toads. Or something. There were definitely parts of that story missing, and Chikako rather suspected that they had something to do with the blond's seal.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked, when her head suddenly snapped up.

"Maybe nothing," she told him, already halfway out of the door. The boys were hot on her heels a moment later. Chikako quickly moved down the corridor and into another room, only to see a cloud of sand hovering over Lee's hospital bed.

"What are you doing here you bastard?" Naruto demanded, rushing forward and hitting Gaara in the face. Shikamaru had the other boy's shadow bound a second later and Chikako body flickered between him and Lee. She considered forming a chakra barrier, but then dismissed the idea as useless, there was already sand on the bed.

Tiny pieces of Gaara's sand armor fell to the ground as he stared at each of them in turn. His eyes were as cold as ever and he didn't seem concerned at all, but his sand was moving away from Lee and back into the gourd on his back.

"I was trying to kill him," the redhead informed them.

"What ...?" Naruto looked completely baffled, whereas Shikamaru was more concerned and trying to understand Gaara's behavior.

"Why? You already won your fight," the Nara reasoned. "Do you have some personal grudge against him?"

Gaara's answer was so cold and matter of fact, it had Chikako tense in anticipation of a fight.

"I do not. I'm going to kill him because I want to," he told them and then, at Naruto's outrage, added: "If you get in my way I will kill you too."

Shikamaru tried to intimidate him by bluffing. He claimed Gaara would have no chance three against one and with a bound shadow. Chikako knew better though. The Suna nin didn't have to be able to move to control his sand. Surprisingly enough, Gaara actually gave them another warning instead of outright attacking, and that made her think he was unsure about the situation.

Of course Naruto had little enough common sense at the best of times, and completely ignored the danger all of them were in. Shikamaru tried to warn him about the redheads monstrous strength, but all that got him was a fierce grin.

"I won't lose to the likes of him!" The blond declared. "I have a real monster inside of me."

Chikako sighed, putting a hand to her forehead.

"So does he you moron, I already told you that."

Granted, Naruto's monster was a lot stronger, but unlike Gaara he only had access to a trickle of it's power. The Suna nin's gaze snapped to her, and then he explained that he'd always been a monster. That his father, the Kazekage, had tried to make him the ultimate weapon by sealing the spirit of Shukaku, a Suna priest, into him before he was even born. Chikako was pretty sure that the thing imprisoned inside of Gaara was one of the Tailed Beasts and not some spirit, but that probably wouldn't matter in the end.

"What a fucked up way for a parent to show love," Shikamaru commented. He was incredibly tense, and his nervousness only became worse when the redhead scoffed at him.

"Love?" He asked, with a chuckle that made Chikako distinctly uncomfortable. Then he continued to explain that to him, family was nothing but sacks of meat bound together by hatred. Apparently his mother had died giving birth to him, and his father had tried to have him assassinated for the past few years, after it turned out that making a child into a lethal weapon before it could even understand the concept of death was a bad idea.

When Gaara had reached the age of six it had been decided he was too dangerous and needed to be eliminated, which was fucked up, but so was the lesson the boy had taken away from his childhood. He was somehow under the impression that everyone needed a reason to exist, otherwise they were already dead. Something that Naruto seemed to agree with. Of course Naruto had decided that he wanted to make friends and earn the respect of his village. Gaara on the other hand had come to the conclusion that he existed to kill every other human. It was kind of scary to think that either could have taken the other's path easily enough.

Sand began to swirl around the room again, and Chikako decided it was time to test that theory about Gaara's leash. First she needed to draw his attention away from Shikamaru and Naruto though. She carefully cut a gash into the palm of her left hand with a kunai, and then flicked the blood at his face. His gaze immediately snapped to her, shifting between her eyes and the wound. He looked at least as confused as homicidal, which was probably the best result she was likely to get.

"The exam's rules prohibit fighting outside of official matches," she told him, keeping her voice as flat and matter of fact as she could manage. "Sparring is allowed for training purposes, killing is not. That means you have no right at all to attack Lee, seeing as he is unconscious and has most definitely not agreed to spar with you."

Gaara stared at her in that unnerving way of his, sand restlessly shifting in the air around him. Holding his gaze was hard, but Chikako felt his chakra calm and saw the madness recede from his eyes with every passing second.

"You're afraid," the redhead said, like he had on the roof, only this time it sounded almost like a question. Chikako laughed, in that way people did, when their brains struggled to get their stress levels back under control.

"Yeah, you scare the living shit out of me," she admitted. "But just like I told you last time: I don't like being hunted and the only sure way to avoid that is not to run."

Gaara let his icy gaze wash over each of them one more time, but then moved to leave the room, just as Gai and Hinata approached. He promised to kill them all before he was out of the door though. Not that Chikako cared right then, she was too busy sitting on the floor and trying to get her heart rate back to a reasonable pace.

Hinata offered to put their sparring session off until the next day, but Chikako declined. Instead asking Gai if she could borrow some weights from him. She spent almost every waking minute for the following two weeks with training. Fear was a great motivator.


	14. III - Minutes to Midnight

**A/N:**

 _lilith-thetiny-monster_

Wow, after praise like that I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.

 _Scarease_

True, but it's not about being captured. It's about not being hunted in the first place. Chikako doesn't want to spent her life living on the run, constantly having to look over her shoulder.

. . .

 **III - Minutes to Midnight**

"Nervous kiddo?" Ibiki asked the moment Chikako left her flat. He'd been waiting outside for the past five minutes, which was kind of unusual.

"No, but I think you are," she told him with a cheeky grin. "With Dosu out of the picture there will be eight fights before I even get to enter the ring." Ibiki shook his head at her.

"It's a really good position to be in if you ask me. You'll be able to see everyone fight at least once without having to give anything away yourself. And you could certainly use some rest after that training marathon you put yourself through," he chided.

Chikako didn't say anything to that. He was right on all counts, and had had to remind her to eat and sleep more than once during the past weeks. She was as ready for the third stage as she could possibly be, and while she had no doubt that she'd be able to handle Neji, she still didn't want to go up against Gaara.

The arena for the tournament was a big circular building on the outskirts of Konoha, which meant it was ringed by trees on all sides. It was rust red and resembled a sphere that was halfway underground and had it's center punched-out. The walls were several meters high to protect the audience, that would be looking in from above, from any stray jutsu or projectiles. Inside it was mostly dirt, but there were a few patches of grass, and bushes and small trees lined the wall.

As far as Chikako could tell there were a ridiculous amount of ANBU in civilian clothing or regular shinobi uniform all over the place. She raised an eyebrow at Ibiki, but he answered her before she could even ask if they were expecting trouble.

"Yes, but that's nothing for you to worry about. Just fight your matches and don't get yourself killed."

He really was worried. Did that mean whatever they expected to happen was bad or was it about the exam? She subtly tapped a request for Jiro to go take a look around the place on her leather bracelet. It was gone a moment later.

"I'm flattered by your trust in me Ibiki," she said, voice dripping with sarcasm. He wasn't fooled though and ignored her attempt to lighten the mood, loading her off in the arena with the other genin and then marching off.

They still had fifteen minutes before the first fight would start, so she moved over to one of the trees and sat next to Sai. He looked at her for a long time without saying a word before he nodded his greeting and handed her three drawings, two mice and one lion-dog.

"Just in case," he told her. She didn't even ask if he meant in case the fight went bad, or in case something else happened. If there was trouble ROOT would know, and if Sai was worried it was something big. Chikako smiled at him in thanks.

"If you're not called upon please stay at my side," she whispered. If something was going to happen she wanted to be close to the people she cared about. Sai could protect himself, but this way she wouldn't have to wonder where he was, and whether he was okay. He was also the only person, besides Kakashi, who was familiar enough with her style and she with his, that they could complement or cover for each other in a fight.

Naruto and Sasuke might be her teammates and would have her back, but the three of them had never actually fought side by side. They had this one technique they could use as a team. One that Sasuke grudgingly accepted as effective, and Naruto actively didn't want to use. Team 7 could fight in the same general area without getting in each other's way, but they didn't actually fight as a unit. They didn't even have the same priorities in battle. Chikako mostly just wanted to take threats out as fast as possible, Sasuke wanted to prove that he was better than his opponent, and Naruto wanted to make friends and change minds if at all possible. They approached problems from completely different angles, which wasn't a bad thing in and of itself, but without a leader to give them direction they were just three individual shinobi on the same side. If push came to shove there was no telling how the dice would fall, as evidenced by their confrontation with Orochimaru.

Chikako could work around them and they could work around her, but given the choice she'd rather have Sai at her back. With him she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he would follow orders, and not balk or try to change her mind if she decided that someone needed to die. Of course that came with it's own set of problems because he also wouldn't question her orders even when he should. Still, she'd rather worry about the fallout after everything was over than in the midst of battle.

They watched the other genin trickle into the arena in silence. When the fifteen minutes were up Genma Shiranui, the referee for the tournament, told them to line up. Naruto seemed a little worried because Sasuke wasn't there yet, but was otherwise as excited as ever. What worried her was that not only Gaara, but his two teammates as well, were waiting for something. Their chakra thrummed with a kind of anticipation that was greater than Chikako thought this tournament warranted. The redhead was always up for bloodshed and would be more than ready to be let off the leash for a few fights. Temari and Kankuro, however, hadn't seemed to take the other two stages all that seriously, there was no reason for them to now suddenly be nervous and excited. Of course it was possible that the mass of people watching had gotten to them, but Chikako wouldn't bet on it with everything else that seemed to be going on behind the scenes.

"Alright guys, this is the final test," Genma told them. "Rules are the same as during the preliminaries. You stay in the arena and you fight until someone is dead, unconscious, gives up or I call the fight. During the first round there is also a ten minute time limit and two matches will take place at the same time, so stay on your side of the arena. Anko is gonna referee the second match, seeing as I only have one pair of eyes.

"Now, Zaku Abumi will fight Shino Aburame on the left, and Sai will fight Kankuro on the right. the rest of you can watch from the waiting room."

The waiting room turned out to be almost empty, except for a handful of benches at the back. It was however inside of the arena wall, and much closer to the ground than the stands, which promised a better view.

The audience seemed to treat these first matches as nothing more than warm-up exercises. They were busier talking to each other, making bets or finding their seats than actually watching. It was ridiculous. Ten minutes might not sound like much time, but during a fight, when the fraction of a second could be the difference between surviving and dying, it was a lifetime.

Chikako mostly kept her eyes on Sai's match, but she did occasionally glance over to the other side of the arena. They actually both looked remarkably similar. Shino had his kikaichu swarming all over the place, whereas Sai used three dozen tiny ink mice.

Kankuro had apparently used his thirty days to create a second puppet, but Chikako couldn't tell why he'd bothered. The thing was positively shabby in comparison to the one he'd used during the preliminaries. The most intricate mechanism it seemed to have shot a few senbon, but that was it, and unless the Suna nin had suddenly become a lot worse at puppeteering the thing also handled like shit. Sai's ink mice had most of it's joints clotted and useless within the first two minutes of the fight, at which point Kankuro forfeit the match instead of using his original puppet.

It made no sense, especially considering that this was his only fight no matter what, and thus his only chance to prove he deserved a promotion. Losing meant he was out, whereas winning meant he would have to fight Gaara, and there was no way he would risk that confrontation if his behavior so far was any indication. Why even step into the arena if he wasn't going to try?

Shino's match didn't last much longer. He'd used his kikaichu to block the metal tubes in Zaku's arms. Then he'd had the rest of the swarm attack from one side while he attacked from the other. Naturally Zaku had wanted to eliminate both threats at once and aimed a palm in either direction. The result was a wet ripping noise, followed by a lot of screaming.

The bugs blocking the air canals in Zaku's arms had meant the energy released by his technique had nowhere to go. So it had taken the path of least resistance and ripped his arms apart at the elbow joint. Anko had waited a moment to see if Zaku had some kind of trump card up his sleeve, but called the fight when the boy fell over.

Neither of the winners seemed particularly happy with the way their respective fights had turned out. Shino, just like the rest of the Aburame clan, never really displayed any kind of emotion, and Sai was generally indifferent to most things. He did however shift his customary position to Chikako's left side so that he stood between her and the Suna team. She didn't acknowledge the action, but took note of the change anyway.

There were way too many players in this game, and she didn't have enough information to understand what was going on. There was Kabuto, who was most likely a spy, skilled enough to get his hands on classified information from several villages without being discovered, but at the same time careless enough to show his hand to a group of genin. Orochimaru, who could apparently enter the village whenever he felt like it. The snake was clearly interested in Sasuke, but Chikako didn't believe for a second that that was his only reason for being here. Then there was Otogakure, which hadn't existed less than a year ago, but could still somehow manage to send a team to the exams. And of course the general suspicion surrounding Suna, which was an allied village, yet had sent a mentally unstable jinchuriki on a flimsy leash that nobody even bothered to hold. Not to mention Danzo, who had an unknown number of the village's shinobi force under his control, and may or may not be loyal to the Hokage.

Chikako didn't believe in coincidences of this magnitude. She was sure that at least some, if not all, of these things were connected. Konoha was clearly prepared for something to happen, but she'd feel a lot better if she knew what said something was and from which direction it would hit.

"Next fights: Naruto Uzumaki versus Kiba Inuzuka, and Shikamaru Nara versus Temari," Genma announced to half-hearted cheers from the audience.

Naruto and Kiba practically had to drag Shikamaru into the arena. Chikako was pretty sure the Nara would have simply forfeit if the threat of having to face his mother's and Ino's wrath hadn't been hanging over his head. She really wondered what Konoha would have looked like with a clan of geniuses that didn't also suffer from terminal laziness. They didn't have any crazy kekkei genkai like the Byakugan or Sharingan, but she was willing to bet they could have easily become the shinobi worlds bogeyman if they'd tried.

Instead they got Shikamaru, who seemed so bored that just looking at him made Chikako yawn. Naruto and Kiba were the exact opposite. Both nearly bursting with energy, and happily trash talking each other.

With the way Genma had split the arena a little less than one third of each side lay completely in shadow. Of course that was the area Shikamaru stayed in to give his clan jutsu a distance boost, but Temari wasn't stupid. She quickly figured out just how far she had to stay away so his shadow couldn't reach her. She was a long range fighter, and her wind attacks were more than powerful enough that Shikamaru couldn't escape them no matter were he went.

It was already afternoon, so in a regular fight he could have just evaded her until the sun was low enough to give him more reach, but with the ten minute time limit that wasn't an option. Yet, all he seemed to be doing was hide and dodge. He never even tried to use his shadow, merely throwing the occasional kunai or shuriken in Temari's general direction. Some of the audience members were actually booing.

On the other side of the arena, Kiba and Akamaru were using the Fang Over Fang jutsu to rip through Shadow Clone after Shadow Clone. They were also inflicting incredible damage to the arena itself, but never even got close to the real Naruto, who constantly stayed at the back. He used the Replacement jutsu to switch places with one of his clones whenever he was in danger of getting hit, which also served to confuse his opponents' sense of smell.

Chikako wondered whether that was deliberate or just a happy coincidence, and what exactly he was trying to achieve. As far as she could tell he was trying to surround Kiba with his clones, but he'd also summoned three tadpoles for some reason. And then after seven minutes or so they started an impromptu shouting match. Kiba frustrated because Naruto kept running instead of fighting him head on, and Naruto because the summoning jutsu he kept using didn't work the way he wanted it to.

"Don't underestimate me!" The blond yelled at the audience when they began booing that match as well. Then there was suddenly a massive spike in his chakra, loosely forming tails behind him for a moment. The clones began to pile onto Kiba, and a giant form appeared out of nowhere squashing them and the Inuzuka. Confused silence reigned for a few seconds until the chakra smoke lifted and then the audience roared with laughter.

Chikako put her head into her hands and groaned. Of course her teammate would win by having a frog sit on his opponent.

"Unconventional, but effective," Sai commented, practical as ever. Sometimes it made her want to hit him.

She glanced back to the other side of the arena in hopes of escaping the sheer ridiculousness of Naruto's tactic, but Shikamaru was still just dodging and half-heartedly throwing shuriken.

Then Temari suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. The audience went silent once more.

While nobody had been paying attention the Nara had looped his shadow all the way around to the other side of the arena by taking advantage of the deep groves Kiba's jutsu had carved into the ground. His random attacks weren't random at all. They had served to herd Temari to the seemingly safe part of their battle field, far away from Shikamaru and the wall's shadow, and closer towards the trees on the opposite side and the destruction Kiba had caused. It was a brilliant game, every move leading up to that final one, and all the while keeping everyone under the impression that he wasn't even trying.

Chikako could practically taste the anticipation that permeated the air. Each move the Nara made, his opponent would copy, and everyone wanted to know how he'd end the fight. Temari closed her eyes, expecting the worst when he raised his hand. They snapped back open a second later.

"I give up," Shikamaru said, rubbing his shoulder and complaining about how tired he was.

"What?" Naruto shouted, bounding over to yell at the other boy. Chikako couldn't decide whether laughing or banging her head into a wall would be more appropriate, instead she settled for pretending she didn't know any of them.

The blond was making so much of a fuss, that Anko had to drag him back into the waiting room, while Genma announced the final match of the first round.

Tenten seemed pretty resigned before the fight even started, and the reason became clear after only a few seconds. She was a mid to long range weapons specialist, with an impressive arsenal of projectiles at her disposal, and near perfect accuracy. But that was all she was, and Neji had, just like Hinata had predicted, mastered the Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation, which meant he could deflect whatever his teammate threw at him. The technique required a lot of chakra, but then he only needed to use it once before he managed to close the distance and Tenten was forced to give up or suffer the consequences. She wisely chose the former, which concluded the first round of the tournament.

There was a five minute break before the second round was supposed to start, during which the audience got rather restless because Sasuke still hadn't shown his face. Genma was halfway through announcing that Shino won his match by default when a whirlwind of leaves suddenly erupted in the middle of the arena. At it's center Sasuke and Kakashi stood back to back, looking as if they were posing for some movie poster.

"Why are all of my teammates dramatic idiots?" Chikako complained. Sai elected not to answer, which was probably a good choice, given what she had planned for Neji.

Naruto was grinning like an idiot when the fight finally started, and actually shouting encouragements instead of insults. Not that Sasuke needed them. The training with Kakashi had made him fast, and he just about torched every single one of Shino's kikaichu. It was a rather anticlimactic match after such a flashy entrance.

"Orders?" Sai asked turning towards Chikako, when his fight against Gaara was announced. She stared at him. He usually did whatever she told him to do, which was why she always carefully thought about how to formulate each and every request she made of him, but he'd never outright asked her for orders. There wasn't really time to analyze the change in behavior. Asking what he wanted to do, and trying to figure it out from what would likely be a very vague non-answer was out for the same reason.

"Don't die or get yourself maimed," she told him instead.

Chikako kind of expected him to just forfeit the fight, and he did, but he made Gaara work for it first. Sai practically soaked the redhead's sand in ink, making it slower as well as harder to control by diluting it and adding weight. It was a good tactic, especially because it greatly weakened his opponent's ability to shield himself. It might even have worked, had Gaara not simply used his own sand to grind the dirt that served as the arena's floor into a miniature desert. The fact that taking his sand out didn't stop him because he could simply create more was just one more thing on the long list that made him terrifying.

Next it was Naruto's turn to fight Temari. Chikako missed most of it because she took the time to praise Sai's tactic and his judgment on how far to take the battle. It seemed silly, seeing as they were both genin, but he'd asked her for orders, and that made her feel responsible for his actions. Sai listened attentively while she spoke, not voicing an opinion of his own unless specifically asked. It frustrated Chikako to no end, but then Naruto's sheer stamina - and a myriad of Shadow Clones - won out over Temari's wind and depleted reserves.

"The final match of the second round," Genma announced. "Chikako versus Neji Hyuga."

Kakashi was standing outside of the waiting room, raising his one visible eyebrow at her. Chikako patted his shoulder and then told him in a mock patronizing tone: "Don't worry old man, I'm going to earn you a fortune."

Neji, already in the arena, scoffed at her when she joined him.

"Don't think training with someone as pathetic as Hinata could give you the means to defeat me. You should give up while you still can, my victory is fated."

"Poor little bird," she smiled. "So wrapped up in chains of your own making that you can't even see the sky anymore."

Neji immediately struck at her when Genma told them to begin, and he kept striking, while Chikako closed her eyes and danced with him. No matter what he did there were always precisely two centimeters between his hands and her body.

Neji's form was perfect, so perfect in fact that Chikako knew exactly what he would do next. The Gentle Fist was an incredibly powerful taijutsu style that could kill in a single blow without even leaving any visible marks, but it was also rigid. In any given situation there was precisely one best move, which made it incredibly predictable to someone who knew all of them.

Hinata might be a timid girl that shied away from confrontations, but she was also studious. There was nothing she didn't know about the Gentle Fist, even if she couldn't - or wouldn't - apply all of that knowledge. The girl was a deadly taijutsu master held back by nothing but her own desire not to inflict pain on others, and she'd spent the past thirty days teaching Chikako.

"For a clan in possession of one of the most coveted dojutsu the Hyuga are ironically blind," she singsonged, earning herself a snarl from Neji.

When the cousins had fought their motions had almost been mirror images of each other, the only difference being Hinata's more fluid style and Neji's superior speed. Chikako would never be able to use the Gentle Fist herself, at least not the was they did, but she'd learned almost everything Hinata knew about it. Unlike the other girl, she was also faster than Neji, dancing out of the way at the last moment to make it seem as if he needed to push just a little harder, and every time he did she matched his speed, laughing and offering insincere encouragements.

Chikako hadn't tried to attack him even once, but she made sure to keep her hands up at all times, palms open. That too had been Hinata's idea and it worked like a charm. Neji knew how to fight against the Gentle Fist and with the constant threat that Chikako might be able to use it hovering over him he had to concentrate on his defense as much as on his offense, whereas all she had to do was not get hit.

It still took a lot of concentration, which was why she kept her eyes closed and had practiced her mocking banter beforehand. Chikako knew every move Neji did and she could sense his chakra well enough that actually seeing him would have been more distracting than helpful. Of course not looking also had the added benefit of making him furious because it seemed as if she was barely paying attention at all and still so much better that she could afford to play with him.

After ten minutes he was panting, and as riled up as he was likely to get. Neji was a prodigy. He expected to be the best at what he did, and that arrogance and pride would be his downfall. If he'd been thinking clearly he'd have switched tactics long ago, but he needed to prove that he was better than her. That an outsider who had learned from someone he didn't respect and had already beaten wasn't better at his clan's signature style than him.

He never even noticed that all Chikako really did was evade and provoke, but then that was the whole point of this game. To take all of his strengths and turn them into weaknesses. And then, the second he started to doubt himself and his form was off just by the slightest margin, she struck. She turned into a ghost, using each and every stealth technique she'd learned at exactly the same time, body flickered behind him, and hit the back of his head hard enough to knock him out.

It had taken her a full week to perfect just that one move, and she could still only completely ghost for a maximum of two seconds. It didn't even fool the Byakugan because the concentration of chakra, even if it perfectly matched the environment in any other aspect, would always be different and shaped like a human. Still, when one was focused on a flesh and blood opponent that suddenly vanished, finding that little giveaway took time, especially when one was furious and not paying enough attention.

Chikako owed Hinata a lot for sacrificing almost all of her free time, but the stunned look on Kakashi's face as she walked back towards the waiting room was completely worth it. Now she only needed to hope that preparing for nothing but that one match wouldn't put her at too much of a disadvantage against her blond teammate. She didn't really have a way to deal with dozens of clones and giant frogs that fell out of the sky without warning.

Gaara was already in the long corridor that led towards the arena when she entered it. Two grass shinobi were leaning against the wall to either side in front of him.

"These low level tournaments are great for betting. Many of the ministers are only here for that," one started.

"So this fight, could you lose it?" The other finished.

Gaara gave them a mad grin. Sand rushed out of his gourd and a moment later the corridor was spattered in blood, two mangled corpses lying on the ground. He hadn't given them any kind of warning, not even hesitated, and he was walking straight towards her.

Chikako held his gaze, but she also moved out of the way. Slow, deliberate steps that put her back to the wall and left no doubt about the fact that she was not here to fight him. Gaara didn't say anything when he stopped right next to her, just stared. He was waiting for her to flinch, and the second she did he would kill her as well. Actually, considering how volatile he was, he might just get bored and kill her regardless.

"You always make such a mess Panda Eyes," Chikako told him, deciding that reacting the way he expected her to was too dangerous. She might have tried for fond, if she thought she could have pulled it off, but instead her voice was flat, almost bored. It didn't shake though, and that was the important part. "Go on, you can kill me another time. Right now you have a match to get to."

Gaara stared at her for a long time before he moved. Chikako slid down the wall the second his chakra was far enough away for her to be sure he wouldn't turn around. She hadn't even noticed that she'd been holding her breath until her lungs started to burn, desperately demanding air.

Naruto almost barreled her over when she finally made it into the waiting room.

"Oh my god, Chikako-chan! That was so awesome!" He shouted. Sasuke gave her a speculative look as he passed them on his way into the arena.

"Be careful," Chikako told him. She didn't explain that Gaara seemed more unstable than usual, which was saying something. He'd see the corpses soon enough.


	15. IV - Two Sides of the Same Coin

**IV - Two Sides of the Same Coin**

The crowd went wild even before the match started. After all, most of them had only come to see Sasuke fight against Gaara. Considering those two Grass nin had tried to fix the outcome, a lot of money was going to change hands no matter who won.

When Genma told the two competitors to begin sand rose out of Gaara's gourd and Sasuke immediately put some distance between them. The redhead began to pant as more and more sand gathered in the air around him. His regular chakra got tainted by the one that leaked out of his seal with every passing second, and he was gripping his head as if in pain. He seemed to be talking to himself as well, but he was too far away for Chikako to understand the words. Then it was suddenly over. Both his body language and chakra calmed down from one moment to the next.

Judging by his expression the change disturbed Sasuke as much as it did Chikako, but unlike her he couldn't just watch. To test the waters the Uchiha threw two shuriken at his opponent. It was a straight forward attack, easy to block or dodge. Gaara did neither. His sand caught the projectiles, but instead of letting them clatter to the ground it formed into a clone and hurled them back. Following in their wake was a wave of sand that Sasuke had to jump over.

He moved in close, kicking at the clone with so much force that the hands trying to block him exploded back into a formless mass of sand. Sasuke smashed his left arm into the clones throat in a way that would crush a human's windpipe. All that did was get him stuck, but he didn't panic. Merely used the arm to keep the clone in place while his right struck at the head, destroying the clone and giving him a clear path towards Gaara.

He moved in for a straight hit, shifting his weight at the last second, and then he was suddenly beside the redhead with not wall of sand in the way. Gaara was thrown back when the fist collided with his face, sand armor cracking and crumbling. It looked remarkably like his match against Lee. Sasuke even used the same stance to taunt his opponent.

Chikako had been faster than Sasuke a month ago. She probably still was over short distances, but Sasuke was running all over the place and maintaining his speed even while zigzagging to avoid the spikes of sand that tried to skewer him. Changes in direction like that, and without slowing down, had to put a massive amount of strain on his body.

Kick after kick he chipped away Gaara's armor. They both seemed fine for now, but they'd have to change things up soon. A battle of attrition wouldn't end well for either of them. With the amount of chakra it consumed Gaara couldn't keep up his sand armor forever and Sasuke wouldn't get past it with nothing but speed and taijutsu.

When the Uchiha next ran at him Gaara began gathering more and more sand around him, both from his gourd and the arena floor. A spherical cocoon formed around the redhead, and when Sasuke struck it spikes formed, almost skewering him. He managed to dodge most of them, but there was still blood dripping down his arms.

Naruto rushed out of the room, Shikamaru right behind him. Chikako had only half-listened to their conversation, but from what she'd gathered they wanted to find Kakashi and stop the fight. She didn't follow. Kakashi already knew about her encounters with Gaara on the roof and in the hospital. Whatever they had to say wouldn't change anything now.

Down in the arena Sasuke jumped backwards, and half-way up the wall before he stopped, crouching on the vertical surface. Chikako's eyes went wide the second she recognized the seals he was running through. The Uchiha wasn't nearly as fast as Kakashi, but the lightning dancing around his hand as he completed the Chidori was just as impressive. When Sasuke sprinted back down the wall again the jutsu ripped a deep grove into the stone.

Sand spikes stabbed at him once more, but this time the lightning chakra ripped straight through the cocoon. The impact created a little crater on the outside of the sphere, even melting some of the sand. An inhuman scream pierced the silence that had settled over the arena, but then the sand flowed back in, trapping Sasuke's arm. He struggled to pull it free, and when he did a clawed mass that was shot through by black and purple veins followed.

The thing was sucked back into the sphere a moment later, leaving behind a hole. Then the cocoon melted away, to reveal Gaara with a bloody wound in his left shoulder. He was oddly hunched over, staring at the ground and chuckling to himself. The eerie sound carried far, echoing between the walls, and then white feathers fell from the sky.

Chikako immediately felt the intrusion of foreign chakra. The genjutsu shattered before it could even take hold, but the few other genin still in the waiting room fell to the ground, unconscious. She laid a palm on Sai's forehead, feeding a tiny amount of her chakra into his pathways. The disruption canceled the genjutsu, and the burst of pain had him jumping to his feet before he was fully awake again.

A smoke bomb went off in the Hokage's box, the sound of something massive breaking and hitting the ground came from somewhere to the east and chaos broke out in the stands, as the hidden ANBU began fighting what appeared to be Suna and Oto shinobi. Kankuro and Temari joined Gaara inside the arena, and then fled over the wall, while their sensei stayed behind to fight Genma.

Sasuke followed the Suna team, and Chikako was about to do the same when Jiro appeared.

"The Hyuga girl that's been training you has been kidnapped by two guys with Kumo hitai-ate," he said so fast it was barely more than one word. Chikako stopped dead in her tracks, cursing loudly. Sasuke would need help, but if those assholes from Lightning got Hinata over the border ...

"Go," Sai interrupted her thoughts. "I'll keep the Uchiha alive until you get back." Chikako gave him a long look, but then nodded.

"Okay, see if you can find Naruto and Shikamaru first", she told him, then grabbed the tanuki and sprinted out. "Point me in the right direction and then find Kiba and send him after me, I might need a scent tracker if they have too much of a head start. Afterwards follow Sai please. He's going to need all the help he can get."

The Inuzuka, just like most of the other contestants, had left the waiting room after losing his match, but he was likely still around somewhere. Probably in the stands with the genin that hadn't made it to the third stage. Jiro was gone the moment Chikako finished giving instructions.

There was some kind of barrier on a nearby watchtower and she could see a giant, three-headed snake at the eastern gate. That wasn't the way the Kumo nin had fled though, so she paid neither of those things any more attention. Her only job right now was to get Hinata back.

It took several minutes for Kiba to catch up with her and he wasn't alone.

"Neji," she said, half greeting, half question.

"He isn't gonna make trouble," Kiba growled. It sounded like a warning, but the Hyuga didn't contradict him and it wasn't like they had time to argue. The Inuzuka took point, adjusting their path a little from the one Chikako had taken. Luckily the Kumo nin seemed more concerned with getting away fast than evading pursuers. They might not even know that someone was following them.

With Kiba's help they gained ground fast, and soon they were close enough for Chikako to pick up three chakra signatures. Hinata's and two others.

"They're at least high chunin level, maybe even jonin," Chikako warned. "There is also some kind of trap in front of us."

"I see it," Neji said, leading them around. This close to their prey losing the scent trail wouldn't matter. They were almost past the trap when some kind of mud wolf jumped at them from one side. Chikako cursed when it's teeth dug into her left shoulder. She managed to put her claws through it's side, which had the thing bursting apart in a shower of wet earth, but the damage was already done. According to Neji more would follow soon, so she volunteered to stay behind. The boys were better trackers than her, and she was fast enough to catch up with them once she was done.

Killing the wolves was easy enough. One hard kick or kunai to the head had them disintegrating into clumps of dirt. The problem was that she could barely sense them because the area was completely saturated by the jutsu's chakra, so they didn't stand out enough. They also reformed almost as fast as she took them down. Chikako was breathing hard by the time she noticed that the first one that had attacked was slower than the others. Apparently the chakra of her claws had disrupted the technique somehow.

She unsheathed her new wakizashi, opting to fight with only one blade because her left arm was almost useless. By now the sleeve was soaked in blood. It wasn't that she couldn't move the shoulder at all, but rather that it hurt too much to bother. She was easily faster than the wolves, and now that she knew they were there dodging them wasn't too hard.

The blade didn't reflect any light at all, not even when she poured her chakra into it. No glow or shimmer gave away that it was more than a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Kakashi might not approve of how easily she came to the conclusion that killing someone was the most effective way to solve a problem, but he'd certainly gifted her weapons worthy of an assassin. She'd have to thank him again when this whole mess was over and done with.

This time the wolves she eliminated stayed down, nothing but harmless earth once again. It still took a lot of time to get rid of every last one, and then she had to pause to wrap the wound in her shoulder. That too delayed her for precious minutes, but getting back on the trail fast wouldn't mean much if she passed out because she'd lost too much blood on the way.

Chikako couldn't sense Neji and Kiba anymore when she was finally ready to move again, but they had continued to run in a straight line for as long as they'd been in her range, so that was what she did as well. Akamaru waited for her on a tree some distance away. The little dog led her on a more twisted path through the forest, but thanks to him it didn't take too long to catch back up with the others.

"Neji needs help," Kiba shouted as he passed her, Hinata in his arms. The girl was a little dirty, but otherwise unharmed it seemed. Kiba on the other hand looked like he'd rolled in muck at some point. Blood and dirt had combined into reddish-brown sludge that coated most of his hair and face. The gray of his jacked was barely even visible anymore and the fabric was torn in several places, but he didn't limp and his chakra seemed strong. Akamaru rejoined his master while Chikako kept running.

When she arrived Neji's right arm was stuck in what appeared like a twisted, shiny stone. The clearing he was in didn't look natural either. Weirdly shaped rocks jutted out of the ground at improbable angles, and a number of trees had apparently been uprooted by a wave of mud at some point.

In front of the Hyuga was one of the Kumo shinobi. The man looked pretty battered, but also wore a triumphant smirk on his bearded face. He stood on a curved rock formation, clearly created by a jutsu, and shaped it into a sharp point. The whole thing gave the impression of a snake poised to strike.

Chikako used a Body Flicker to get in it's path before it could skewer Neji. She barely managed to form a chakra barrier in time. Her shoulder burned with pain, when she forced her left arm up to help hold the shield. It still wasn't enough though.

The Kumo nin's jutsu slammed into the barrier with so much force that it shoved her backwards and into Neji. She could feel him strike at a few of her tenketsu, and then a river of chakra rushed through her pathways like molten lava. It made even breathing hurt, but it also strengthened the barrier to the point that the rock shattered against it, spraying the area with deadly shrapnel. Their opponent opted to run away instead of trying to doge, and Chikako immediately followed. She was in front of him with two more Body Flicker's, drawing her wakizashi in one fluid motion and pulling it form his left hip up towards his right shoulder.

There was absolutely no resistance at all and she'd thought she'd somehow missed for a moment, but then bubbling blood seeped out of the wound and the Kumo shinobi fell to the ground in two pieces. Whatever the Hyuga had done had made her chakra a lot more potent, but she could already feel the effect lessening again, which was good because otherwise it would start burning her from the inside out.

Neji didn't look happy when she came back, but didn't comment either. The jutsu binding him had shattered with the other shinobi's death and he informed her that the second one was unconscious.

"Secure him for questioning if you can, kill him if you can't. They were likely just going after Hinata because the opportunity presented itself, but it's better to make sure that Kumo isn't involved as well," Chikako instructed, not caring in the least that she didn't actually have the authority to do so. Neji wasn't stupid, he might not like getting orders from her, but he understood the reasoning. Not that she gave him time to argue, taking of towards the village and leaving him behind.

It took a moment to find the drawings Sai had given her earlier that day. She stuffed the two mice back into her pocket, but poured chakra into the one with the lion-dog. It sprang to life immediately and she jumped onto it's back, telling it to take her to it's maker. Sai's ink beasts had some kind of connection to him, otherwise he wouldn't be able to give them non-verbal instructions during a fight. She didn't actually know how strong that connection was, or how smart the beasts were for that matter. The lion-dog started to run in what seemed like a plausible direction though, and Chikako decided to take her chances.

She told it to stop several minutes later. Shino was lying on the ground, one arm twisted at an unnatural angle, breathing fast and shallow. Jiro sat beside him, stitching up one of the numerous cuts across his shoulders and chest.

"He's been poisoned," the little tanuki said. "He fought that guy with the puppet, but he didn't have enough bugs left to do much more than stall him."

Chikako crouched down beside them. With this many wounds there was no way to tell through which one the poison had entered. Hell, it could be all of them, not to mention that it had likely already spread throughout his body. She'd just have to flood his whole system with her chakra and hope it didn't kill him because the poison certainly would if she didn't. His lips already had a slightly blue tinge to them.

She'd thought Shino was unconscious when she arrived, but he started screaming the second she began burning the poison out of his system. It was an ear-splitting noise, full of pain that echoed through the trees, and startled a flock of birds.

She could feel Shikamaru and his sensei close in on their position a short time later, but didn't pay too much attention to them. As far as she could tell they were the only other humans around. Chikako reconsidered that attitude when Asuma pressed one of his famous trench knives into her neck however. Thankfully there was no chakra flowing through the metal. He hadn't even broken skin, but it was kind of hard to concentrate on what she was doing, when she had to be careful not to slit her own throat by accident.

"She's helping him you moron!" Jiro shouted without looking up. Chikako wondered how he had gotten so proficient at treating wounds without the use of medical jutsu. His stitches looked rather professional, and his little furry hands were perfectly steady, the motions practiced.

"That's not how it looks from my perspective," Asuma said. His voice was quiet, calm even, but there was also an unmistakable threat in in. She wanted to explain what exactly she was doing, but she couldn't risk getting distracted because then she might lose control of her chakra, which would end very badly for Shino.

"Well, it's hardly her fault that you're stupid, is it?" Her little tanuki snapped. He wasn't usually this aggressive, and it made her want to hug him. They'd never really talked about their curious arrangement. The summon without a contract. It had been convenient for both of them, but they'd quickly developed a strong friendship over the short time they'd known each other.

Asuma didn't seem particularly happy with that answer, and even less so when Jiro told him to shut up so they could work in peace. He held his knife firmly in place, but didn't otherwise interfere. It was a good sign that he hadn't slit her throat yet she supposed. Still, Chikako made sure all of her movements were slow and obvious. No need to provoke him or risk giving the wrong impression.

Beads of sweat had formed on her forehead by the time she was done, and she wiped them away with the back of her hand, sighing in relief. Jiro had finished up quite a while before her, and quickly taken to look at her arm. Chikako hadn't paid too much attention to what he was doing at the time, but now she admired his handy work. The shoulder would be black and blue in a few more hours, but the tanuki's neat stitches had stopped the bleeding.

"He's gonna make it," she informed Asuma, while Jiro wrapped her wound in fresh bandages from her own first aid kit, apparently he only carried needle and thread around. "The poison prevented his red blood cells from carrying oxygen. It didn't damage any cells though. Burning it out, however, did quite a number on his pathways, so you should probably get him to a medic. I bet his vocal cords need treatment as well, all that screaming before he passed out can't have been good for them."

The jonin let her get up without protest after that. He didn't make her explain anything else either, but he also informed her that he needed to get back to the village and couldn't help with her team. To everyone's surprise Shikamaru refused to go with him. Apparently he'd played decoy while Naruto, Sai - and Sakura for some reason - went after Sasuke. Asuma had saved him from two teams of Sound shinobi, and then they'd heard Shino's screams.

"It makes sense," the Nara said. "They'll need help against that monster and I'm barely even injured. I can at least stall his two teammates if nothing else."

His sensei was clearly worried, but all he did was wish them good luck as Chikako called the lion-dog back over to lead the way.

They hadn't made it far when a cloud of what looked like chakra smoke, sand and parts of the foliage rose in the distance. As it dissipated a monstrous form became visible, towering over the forest. It had the same color as Gaara's sand, and it's whole body was marked by purplish-black swirls, just like the thing that had come out of the sand sphere during Sasuke's fight.

"Is that ...?" Shikamaru started, but left the question unfinished.

"It kind of looks like a tanuki," Chikako said while Jiro cursed like a sailor. The little creature was so terrified she could feel him shaking in her arms.

A moment later a gigantic frog summon appeared in another cloud of chakra smoke.

"Okay, what the fuck?" The Nara exclaimed. He was clearly regretting not going back to the village while he had the chance. The frog was most likely Naruto's, but for some reason it wasn't doing anything. The two giant monsters were simply standing around and staring at each other.

"Y- you need to - to get up there," Jiro stuttered, pointing at the beast she assumed to be Gaara. Shikamaru wasn't on board with that idea at all, so Chikako told him to keep following the lion-dog and find the others.

She'd used up more than three quarters of her chakra already, but Jiro seemed to have some idea of what was going on and a plan to deal with it. Chikako suppressed her chakra and masked her scent to make sure she could get close enough. Something that big wouldn't be able to feel her body heat. She hoped it wouldn't see her either because she couldn't hold the Camouflage technique long enough to be useful, not to mention that she didn't have the energy to spare.

Climbing the sand monster's limbs was easy enough while it sat still, waiting for it's opponent to do something. But of course the stupid frog had to finally decide that he was taking part in this fight after all. It jumped forward with a leap that made the earth shake and demolished a good portion of the forest below. Chikako wasn't really in a position to see how exactly the summon had attacked, but she had to hold on tight, and was almost thrown off even with the help of chakra to glue herself to the monsters rough skin. She was pretty sure this form was the Tailed Beast sealed into Gaara, which would make it the Ichibi, or Shukaku as he'd called it.

A loud crash sounded from somewhere further off, followed by a second smaller one. The Tailed Beast had stopped moving for the moment, and Chikako use her chance, sprinting up it's back and towards the head like Jiro had told her to. Buried hip-deep in it's forehead she found the unconscious form of Gaara.

"He sad bad things happen if he sleeps," she whispered, finally getting an idea of what he meant. Deep, terrifying laughter rang out as the last bits of Gaara's chakra vanished and the Ichibi fully took over.

"You have to hurry," Jiro urged. Chikako thought he meant for her to kill the boy and drew her wakizashi as she moved closer, but then the world around her suddenly shifted and she fell into a black void.

There was nothing around her for a very long time, or maybe just seconds, she couldn't tell. She couldn't even feel her own body in the endless black.

"Open your eyes," Jiro's voice said from very far away. Chikako did and then immediately tried to close them again, as pain shot through her head. It was a little like leaving a very dark room only to be greeted by blinding light, only she still couldn't see anything.

Then snowflakes began to fall, and the whispers started. They were distant, muffled, but got clearer as time passed. All the while the snowflakes were forming into hazy shapes, and then she was suddenly in a village.

 _Yashamaru_

The buildings were oddly rounded, with only a few small windows each. They were made of light gray or ocher stone, and there was sand everywhere. She had the distinct impression that the air was hot, but couldn't actually feel anything.

To her right a group of children was playing with a ball. They were loud and a little rowdy, but clearly having fun. She could see light blue, mostly translucent clouds surround their little bodies. To her left was a small boy on a swing. He was watching them with a solemn expression, a teddy in one hand. Chikako immediately recognized the red hair and dark rings around his eyes, but the distinctive kanji on his forehead was missing. His cloud, chakra she assumed, wasn't as clean as the others. The color was slightly darker and a little more purple than blue in some places.

"Gaara?" She ask, for once calling him by his name, but he didn't react.

"Oh crap!" One of the children shouted. It appeared they had kicked their ball onto a ledge of a nearby stone wall. They were arguing about how to get it down when sand enveloped it. The ball slowly flew through the air and landed in Gaara's hands.

Chikako hadn't seen him move, but he was standing in front of the group, holding out the ball to them. The children were frozen in shock for a moment, but then one of them screamed and they ran as if the hounds of hell were trying to catch them.

"Wait!" Gaara shouted.

 _Don't leave me alone!_

Tendrils of sand were racing after them, catching the slowest boy and dragging him back. The purple hue got stronger.

 _I don't want to be alone anymore._

More sand moved to keep another child from running away, but a man with light hair jumped in front of it. The sand had ripped shallow wounds into the skin of his arms and face, but he didn't try to move away as he pleaded with Gaara to calm himself. The boy hung his head and the sand fell away, as the color of his chakra turned blue again.

A feeling of shame that wasn't hers overcame Chikako and then she was suddenly no longer on the street.

Gaara stood in a circular room, a thin knife in his right. He was staring at a portrait of the man, and Chikako somehow knew it was someone else. His mother, who he had never even met.

"It's no use," the boy sighed. The knife trembled in his right hand, struggling to pierce through the sand that protected his left wrist. "The sand always gets in the way."

The man entered the room then, asking Gaara not to try and hurt himself. He seemed both friendly and sad.

"Yashamaru, I'm sorry," Garra whispered. "Do injuries hurt?" The man pointed to the bandage on his head, saying that it only hurt a little, and then the boy asked him to explain what pain was. Apparently he had never been injured and so couldn't understand what it was like.

How did one explain pain? Chikako had no idea how she would go about such a task. Yashamaru wasn't faring any better.

"Do you hate me?" Gaara asked. He looked terrified of the answer, but the expression quickly changed into a smile when Yashamaru reassured him that injuries happened and it wasn't that easy to hate someone. It didn't last long though.

"I think I understand what pain is," the boy said, gripping his clothes over his heart. "Although it doesn't bleed, this part hurts so much."

In response Yashamaru took the knife from him and cut his own finger. He explained that physical injuries would heal over time, and that the pain would eventually fade. Emotional ones however could only ever be dulled by time, and not even that was always possible. According to Yashamaru the only way to heal them was love. He went on to explain that his sister had loved Gaara, and that her will lived on in the boy's sand, which was the reason it always protected him.

Chikako could hear laughter amidst the distant whispers, but it seemed she was the only one. With it came a dark fog that press in on her from all sides. All that happened in the room, however, was Gaara asking for some ointments. Happy anticipation flooded her and then the scene changed again.

It was night now. Gaara was running down the street with a paper bag in his arms. He knocked on a wooden door and one of the kids from earlier opened it, but only a crack. Gaara tried to apologize and hand the bag over.

"Go away you monster!" The kid shouted, loathing clear in his voice. The door slammed shut and Gaara was left standing in the street with wide eyes.

Chikako could feel his shock and disappointment as well as a deep pain that gnawed at him from the inside. Loneliness, she recognized, even if she had never felt it to this degree herself. Again purple won out over blue, albeit more slowly this time.

Gaara was wandering down the almost empty street when a drunk bumped into him. The man shouted at him to watch were he was going, but then quickly stumbled away from him once he recognized the boy.

 _Those eyes, those hate-filled eyes._

 _Why?_

Sand shot forward, wrapping around the man's throat and head. It strangled and pushed until there was a popping sound and blood spurted in every direction.

The next thing Chikako saw was a man with red hair and a very angry expression staring down at Gaara. This time the boy reacted differently though. He lowered his gaze, and guilt washed over her like a tidal wave.

Then Gaara was sitting on top of a roof, hand shaking. The whispers where a jumbled mess of sounds, but she clearly heard the word 'monster' several times spoken by a myriad voices. She couldn't tell how long the boy sat there before kunai impacting with a sand shield at his back ripped him out of his thoughts.

 _What?_

 _Why?_

 _Why me?_

Gaara's emotions quickly shifted from fear to frustration and then anger. This time he actively commanded the sand to attack. It wrapped around his would be assassin and compressed. The spray of blood wasn't as dramatic as it had been with the man of the street, but the veiled figure fell to the ground just the same when Gaara released the sand.

The distant laughter only Chikako seemed to be able to hear came closer then, and the fog got thicker, giving the world an odd tint that made every color seem slightly off.

The boy slowly walked forwards. His hands were trembling terribly as he pulled the veil away.

"Impressive Gaara-sama," Yashamaru smiled, blood matting his hair and running out of his mouth.

Gaara fell to his knees crying and screaming. Pain lanced through Chikako's chest. She knew it wasn't her own, but it hurt all the same. She thought she knew what agony was, had learned it at the hands of a monster, but this was far worse than anything she had ever experienced in Orochimaru's care. She'd simply shut down emotionally while she'd been chained in the dark, and no physical wound could ever cause this much pain. But Gaara had felt this. Loneliness, rejection, betrayal, fear, hate.

"Why?" The boy sobbed. "You were always -"

"It was an order," Yashamaru interrupted him in a weak voice. " I was ordered to assassinate you by your father."

An image of the angry, redheaded man flashed through Chikako's mind, while a new wave of sobs shook Gaara and he vomited on the floor. There were more images as well. Angry or frightened villagers with hate in their eyes. A girl with blond and a boy with brown hair. Kankuro and Temari, she realized. They were his siblings, and so, so terrified of him.

She watched as Yashamaru explained what had been done to turn the boy into a weapon and that he had become too dangerous to keep around, and realized that this was what Gaara had told them about in the hospital. This was the first of many times someone had been sent to kill him.

The boy she saw crying on the roof didn't know that though. He was desperately clinging to what Yashamaru had said. That he'd acted on orders and had no other choice. The man disabused him of that notion though, claiming that he'd always resented the boy for killing his sister. That the woman had never wanted to give birth to him and had died cursing the village. He told the boy his mother wanted him to only love himself and only fight for his own sake. That she believed he would live forever if he existed that way, to carry her hatred for the village eternally.

"No one ever loved you. Please die," he finished, igniting dozens of explosive tags that had been hidden under his vest. All that was left of Yashamaru after the smoke cleared was a crater, whereas Gaara was completely unharmed behind a wall of sand.

 _I believe she loved you very much._

 _Love?_

 _The sand protects you because it carries your mother's will._

 _Only love can heal emotional wounds._

Gaara screamed, and as the sand etched the kanji for love into his forehead the whispers were drowned out by laughter.

"I finally understand," he said, right before the world was plunged into darkness again.

This time what Chikako saw weren't memories. A monster stood in her way, held by nothing but a few rusty chains. The version of Gaara she knew was sitting between it's front legs, wrapped in a clawed paw. He talked to it. Calling it mother and promising there would be more blood soon.

 _Panda Eyes_ , she heard her own voice. A quiet sound that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

 _I have a real monster inside of me!_

That one belonged to Naruto. It had been a little louder, but still so far away.

 _What a fucked up way for a parent to show love._

This one was so quiet, she only knew it was Shikamaru because she had been there when he'd said it originally.

 _You have no right at all to attack Lee._

Her voice again, almost inaudible.

 _You always make such a mess Panda Eyes._

 _His strength is false._

 _The only way for someone to be truly strong is when you have something special that you want to protect!_

 _I will protect them no matter what!_

Naruto's voice was so much louder than anyone else's. But then he was the other side of Gaara's coin, wasn't he? It still wasn't enough to get the redheads attention though.

Chikako tried to move closer, but the Ichibi's golden eyes suddenly snapped up. It's gaze was so full of hatred, it froze her dead in her tracks, and then sand wrapped around her body.

"Wake up!" Naruto's scream pierced the void. Gaara was suddenly gone, but the sand was still holding Chikako prisoner. Then blinding light ripped through the darkness and it shattered like glass. It felt like pieces of it were stuck in her flesh, yet when her hands roamed over her body there was nothing but unbroken skin.

She was falling again, but this time it was for real. Naruto and Gaara lay on the ground below her. They were both caked in dirt, chakra levels ridiculously low and blood was dripping from their foreheads and running down their faces.

Chikako didn't think she had enough chakra left to break her fall effectively. It probably wouldn't kill her, but she'd definitely end up with a few shattered bones. It didn't come that far though. She heard a bird's cry and then one of Sai's ink beasts caught her. It slowly spiraled towards the ground in wide circles.

"Why do you go so far for other peoples' sake?" Gaara asked, she could barely hear him over the rustling of leaves, and Naruto's answer wasn't much louder.

"They saved me from the hell of being alone," her teammate told him.

"Love," the redhead whispered.

The bird landed a moment later, set Chikako down between the two boys, and then flew away again. Sasuke and Sai rushed toward them through the trees. The former knelt next to Naruto, telling him that Sakura was fine. The latter moved past Chikako, advancing on Gaara with a kunai in his hand.

"Wait," she said. Sai stopped, frozen in place. He was close to Gaara. Closer than Kankuro and Temari, who had arrived shortly after him and Sasuke.

"Please don't," Temari begged, and Gaara's eyes widened in surprise.

"They are enemies and should be eliminated," Sai stated. His voice was completely even, but she saw the tension in his muscles and felt it in his chakra. "My orders are-"

"I said wait!" Chikako cut him off, then shifted her gaze to meet the redhead's. "Shukaku is not your mother Panda Eyes, you know that right?" Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper, but she might as well have slapped him. He flinched back even though he could barely move, and his limbs began to shake like leaves in the wind. He was completely helpless.

If she'd arrived to this without seeing his memories, she'd have killed him in a heartbeat. It was the logical thing to do. He could have been like Naruto, but he wasn't. Gaara was dangerous, volatile and he murdered people in gruesome ways just because it amused him. Letting someone like him live was stupid, and yet ... after seeing what had happened to him? After feeling the pain that had almost torn him apart? She couldn't do it.

"I know," Gaara breathed. Chikako stared at him for a long moment, searching his eyes for any hint of deception, but all she saw were loneliness and a tiny spark of hope.

"Don't forget Panda Eyes, and remember what Naruto told you as well." When she motioned his siblings forward they looked at her in disbelieve, but didn't hesitate. Kankuro pulled Gaara's left arm over his shoulder, and then they were gone.

She saw Sai tense even further, but he didn't try to protest again. Instead he steadied her when a wave of vertigo hit her, blood loss and low chakra reserves finally making themselves known as the adrenalin left her system. Naruto was out cold on the ground, a happy smile on his face. Next to him Sasuke was only marginally better off, likely due to the curse marks that spread over the left half of his face.


	16. IV - Aftermath

**A/N:**

 _Scarease_

Thanks.

 _lilith-thetiny-monster_

I'm glad you liked it. I was a little afraid beating Neji would seem too easy even with the month of specialized training.

. . .

 **IV - Aftermath**

They stayed in the forest to rest for several hours. Going back only to get themselves killed because they were too tired to fight hadn't really appealed to anyone. Instead Naruto, Chikako and Sasuke slept, while Shikamaru and Sai kept watch. The blond was still out cold by the time they switched, but almost all of his bruises had faded during the night.

Kakashi found them early the next day, or rather Chikako found him after sensing one of the dogs in the area. The jonin escorted all of them back to the village, after making sure that none of them would die without immediate medical attention. he also eyed her shoulder for quite a while and she got the distinct feeling that he'd claim to have a personal healer to get out of future hospital visits the second he found out Jiro was the one who'd stitched her up.

The east gate as well as a good chunk of the surrounding wall had been completely demolished by Orochimaru's three headed snake summon. A lot of the fighting had been in that area and around the arena, but some of the destruction had spilled out into the nearby residential districts. Naruto's flat was fine, but both Ibiki and Chikako would be homeless for the time being. She was a little surprised when Sasuke told her she could stay in the Uchiha compound for as long as she needed to, but grateful nonetheless.

Kakashi also informed them that the Hokage had died during his fight with Orochimaru, and that the funeral would be on the following day. Naruto was devastated by the news, but Chikako couldn't really relate and had no idea how to help him. In their little group Kakashi was the only other person who'd actually had a personal relationship with the Sandaime, and the only ways he knew how to handle grief weren't particularly healthy. He either ignored that something was wrong or, if he thought he was to blame, clung to his pain like a lifeline.

Chikako opted to watch the funeral from her usual spot on the Shodaime's stone head.

"Why let Suna's jinchuriki live?" Sai asked when he joined her an hour later. His voice was as flat as always, yet there was a note of desperation in it.

"If you're hoping for a logical reason ..." Chikako sighed. "Suna has unconditionally surrendered, and I could probably come up with some bullshit about political capital or something, but the truth is I didn't have a logical reason. The decision was purely emotional. It might pay off at some point or it might bite us in the ass. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

Sai requested she explain anyway, and so she did. Chikako told him of the memories she'd seen, the pain she'd felt. Of how Gaara had been made into a monster by those that were supposed to protect him, and how he'd finally stopped trying to be good when the only person he still trusted had asked him to die.

"This world devours so many children, and then spits them back out as nothing more than shadows of what they could have been," she said. "Gaara isn't any different than you and me, and he deserves a chance to decide his own fate."

"One chance," Sai warned. "If he comes back again-"

"I'll kill him myself," she finished. If the mercy she'd shown turned out to be a mistake she would do whatever it took to fix it. People always said that killing was hard, but she found that deciding to let someone live wasn't any easier. In fact it might be more difficult. After all, death was rather final, whereas a living person had nearly limitless potential to make her regret not taking them out of the game for good. She really hoped that Naruto had gotten through to Gaara.

. . .

Chikako went to visit Hinata in the hospital a few days later, but the young heiress was asleep when she arrived. One of the medics recognized her though and tried to make her give an explanation of what exactly she'd done to Shino. Luckily the boy in question saved her. He still couldn't talk in more than a whisper or use his chakra without pain, and it would take weeks before he had a reasonable amount of kikaichu again. His father Shibi Aburame was there as well. It seemed they had both come for the same reason as her. They were also more than willing to distract the doctor, so Chikako could make a quick escape.

It wasn't the first time one of the medics had flagged her down and it likely wouldn't be the last. They couldn't decide whether or not they approved of what she'd done to get the poison out of Shino's system. Some thought of it as luck, others as a brilliant remedy for all poisons, and some where of the opinion that she had deliberately tortured a fellow shinobi and should face reprimands. It was ridiculous, especially because they should have better things to do only days after an invasion. The Aburame clan had decided not to file charges of any kind. In fact, Shibi had thanked her on behalf of the clan and offered her sanctuary if ever she needed it.

Team 7 wasn't back on the regular mission roster yet and Kakashi had told them to take a few days off from training as well, so Chikako had some time to kill. She wandered around aimlessly for a while. Ibiki was busy doing whatever he did to the unlucky souls that had ended up in T&I's holding cells, including the guy Neji had brought in on her orders. Kumo probably wouldn't get that one back in one piece, or at all.

She was on her way to the Nara compound to see if Shikamaru would entertain her for a while, when a familiar chakra signature stopped her dead in her tracks. Chikako quickly crouched down and pretended to fish a stone out of her shoe, to avoid seeming too suspicious. As far as she could tell no one was watching her, but as Ibiki liked to say: better paranoid than dead.

There was no mistaking who the intruder was, even if she hadn't seen Itachi in years. He'd been one of the only constants in her life for a long time, and she wasn't likely to forget what his chakra felt like any time soon.

Finding him wasn't too complicated. Her sensing abilities got less precise the further away from her target she got, but a general direction was all she needed to get closer.

"Should have known you'd be here," she said, sitting down next to him. Itachi had a sweet tooth and the secluded outdoor eating area of the little dango shop was one of his favorite sports in Konoha. His choice of clothing as well as his companion were rather curious though. They were both dressed in a black cloak with stylized, red clouds on it, and wore traditional conical hats with white strips of fabric attached to them.

It worked okay for Itachi, she certainly wouldn't have guessed it was him if she hadn't been able to sense his chakra. The other man, however, was incredibly tall, carried a massive weapon around with him, and not even his outfit could hide that his skin was grayish-blue.

"So?" Chikako demanded, when she didn't get a reaction. "Why come back now?"

"We're looking for someone," Itachi sighed, offering her one of his dango sticks. She raised an eyebrow at him, but stuffed one of the sweet dumplings into her mouth so she wasn't tempted to comment. The Uchiha had been an ANBU captain by the time he was thirteen. If he had actually been trying to find someone he would have snuck in, gotten the information and then snuck out again. He certainly wouldn't be sitting around in plain view, and right after an attack at that. The two of them already looked suspicious in their odd clothing, but right now people were especially wary of strangers.

"Who's the brat?" The other one asked, flashing a row of razor sharp teeth. Chikako blinked at him, once, twice.

"You're not related to Zabuza, are you?" She blurted, and startled a laugh out of the blue guy.

"How's a little thing like you know Momochi?"

"Ah well, he was supposed to kill us, but it didn't go so well," she shrugged. "Stuff happened. Anyway, in the end we got along fine and he taught me a few tricks."

That rather vague explanation earned her another laugh. He almost chocked on his tea a second later though.

"Nice to meet you Hoshigaki-san," she smiled. Chikako hadn't been entirely certain about his identity, but that reaction was a dead giveaway. Kisame Hoshigaki the Monster of the Hidden Mist, sometimes also referred to as the Tailed Beast without a Tail. He was one of the Seven Swordsman as well, and also a nukenin that had no business being in Konoha.

If that alone hadn't made her uncomfortable the fact that Itachi's Sharingan was activated certainly did. It didn't use up nearly as much chakra for an Uchiha to use it as it did for Kakashi, but keeping it active outside of battle still seemed like a waste. Not to mention that it put a considerable amount of strain on the eyes over long periods of time.

She'd already established that he wasn't trying very hard to be stealthy, but then he wasn't actively provoking a confrontation either. He'd inevitably be noticed at some point though. Still, he was more than skilled enough that he wouldn't need the Sharingan against most opponents. Did he just keep it active all the time?

The appearance of Kakashi on the edge of her range startled Chikako out of her thoughts. She immediately masked her scent and chakra, which had both Itachi and Hoshigaki staring at her.

"What?" She snapped at them, suddenly realizing that being seen in their company would get her into a lot of trouble with Danzo, and likely whoever became the next Hokage.

"How long can you keep this up?" Itachi asked, voice mild, but curious.

"Just scent and chakra? Pretty much as long as I feel like it, provided I'm not fighting of course." All masking her chakra took was a little bit of concentration, anything else also required some energy, but for scent that amount was negligible, to the point that she regenerated the chakra faster than she used it up. The amount of energy masking body heat took varied with the temperature of her surroundings, but by now she had enough practice to do all three of those things even while asleep. The Camouflage jutsu was an entirely different beast though. It required a lot of attention and chakra too keep it active. Too much of the latter produced an effect like shimmering air, and too little would create odd shadows where there shouldn't be any. Both effects were equally obvious and the reason precise chakra control was needed to successfully use the technique.

Chikako almost had a heart attack when Kakashi decided to stop right outside of the dango shop and lean against the wall. The man didn't even like sweets, there was no way he just happened to be here by coincidence. The two nukenin had gone silent and she sighed, chewing on the rest of her dango. Might as well wait and watch what happened. It wasn't like she could get away without her sensei noticing anyway.

She seriously reconsidered that decision when not only Asuma and Kurenai, but also Sasuke showed up a few minutes later. Considering that Kakashi had gone out of his way to greet the younger Uchiha by name he probably knew the identity of at least one of the men at her table. It seemed they had come to the same conclusion because they were gone a second later, leaving Chikako alone with two cups of tea and another stick of dango.

While both Asuma and Kurenai moved on, Kakashi took a seat next to her.

"I'm pretty sure Naruto is at Ichiraku's," he said over his shoulder, dismissing Sasuke. The Uchiha glared at the back of his head at the treatment, but gave up soon enough. It wasn't like that ever worked anyway. Kakashi waited until the boy was well out of earshot before he continued.

"Intriguing choice of company."

"Quite," Chikako agreed. "He said they're looking for someone, but I don't think that's true."

"Oh?" Kakashi actually sounded interested in the answer for once, so she explained her reasoning instead of giving him a cheeky comment. Itachi's behavior didn't make a lot of sense because it would inevitably lead to a confrontation, and he generally avoided those unless there was no better option.

"If he wanted to be found he could have just walked in without the hat. The Sharingan alone is enough to let anyone know who he is."

"Yeah, but he doesn't want to fight," she insisted. Walking in like Kakashi had described would mean attracting a lot of attention very fast, which would end in a large scale battle or force him to leave. "He isn't hiding, so he wants someone to know that he is here. Or maybe that he was here, considering that he doesn't seem to care who finds him. A small confrontation wouldn't be made public knowledge to avoid a panic after recent events, but at least the council and all ANBU and jonin would hear of it sooner or later."

"A message then, or maybe a reminder that he still exists. As far as we know he hasn't done anything noteworthy since he left the village. But why call attention to himself now?"

Chikako shrugged at her sensei. She knew Itachi well, but she couldn't read minds, and it wasn't like he shared his plans with her.

"Maybe you should go see how Naruto and Sasuke are doing," Kakashi added after a moment. Both of her eyebrows shot up in surprise, but she nodded and left to do as ordered anyway. He clearly knew something he wasn't willing to tell her yet, but she'd probably find out soon enough.

Naruto was indeed at Ichiraku's, the person sitting beside him was Jiraiya though, not Sasuke. The seal master invited him to go on a trip to find the most beautiful woman in the elemental nations, or so he said. Naruto didn't seem all that excited, but in the end the Sannin managed to cajole him into agreeing anyway.

Chikako had no idea where her other teammate was, but she was also pretty sure that Sasuke wasn't the one she was supposed to check in on. Whatever Kakashi was worried about, Jiraiya would be able to handle it better than her, so she merely warned the Sanin of their visitors and then left to find her sensei again. He had no doubt gone after Itachi and Kisame.

She didn't have to search long. Apparently the moniker Tailed Beast without a Tail was well deserved. She could feel the swordsman's chakra far outside of her usual range, and quickly headed in his direction. He'd either decided he was done waiting for someone to call him out, or someone already had and he was fighting.

The scene Chikako arrived to didn't leave her much time to think. Kakashi was kneeling on the water in the middle of the Naka river, Kurenai and Asuma to either side, and Kisame and Itachi in front of him. His chakra levels were ridiculously low, considering they had been full less than twenty minutes ago. The exposed Sharingan eye could probably account for most of that, but it still seemed curious. She'd have to puzzle it out later though because right now Kisame was sprinting towards her sensei, while the other two Leaf jonin stood around uselessly with their eyes closed.

Chikako used a quick succession of Body Flickers to get in front of him in time. She even managed to get her chakra barrier up, and realize how useless that would be against Samehada, because of course Hoshigaki had to wield a sword that ate chakra.

She felt Itachi's chakra flicker as if he was about to move, but then Gai was suddenly there out of nowhere. He kicked the swordsman away with so much force that he skipped over the water five times like a big, blue stone before he finally managed to stop his momentum.

"Who the hell is that?" Kisame shouted. While Itachi warned his partner not to underestimate Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey, Chikako thanked the green clad jonin for saving her ass. He actually seemed confused by that for a second, and she realized that he'd tried to rescue Kakashi, not her. Gai had either been as distracted as her in order not to notice her in time, or those Body Flicker's had been a lot faster than she'd thought.

The last of Kakashi's chakra reserves gave out a moment later, catching Chikako's atention as he fell over and sunk below the surface. Gai pulled him back out immediately though, and handed him over to Asuma. The latter warned them not to look into Itachi's eyes to avoid getting caught in the same genjutsu that had hit Kakashi.

"Just take him and get out of here will you?" Chikako snapped. "You are useless like this. And why the fuck would you try to fight those two in the first place?"

"Ah, Chikako-chan one has to defend their home even against overwhelming odds," Gai told her, but she ignored him. She didn't know how strong exactly Kisame was, but it didn't really matter considering that none of them stood a chance against Itachi anyway. So instead of being careful she decided to gamble, walking forward and looking right into Itachi's eyes.

He raised an eyebrow at her, but held Kisame back and let her come closer.

"I missed you, you know?" She asked, body flickering forward to hug him. Itachi stood frozen in place for a second, but then sighed and hugged her back. His chakra was a curious mixture of almost overwhelming sadness and a tiny spark of contentment, whereas everyone else's just reflected their shock.

Chikako stepped backwards after a long moment, again staring right into Itachi's eyes.

"Kakashi is pack, I'm not going to watch while you kill him," she declared, putting as much steel into her voice as she could manage. "Please leave Itachi. You already got what you wanted didn't you?"

"Brave, aren't you little girl?" Kisame said with a smile that showed way too many teeth. He was about to raise his sword, presumably to attack her, when Itachi called him off.

"We didn't come here to fight, this is nothing more than a waste of time. We're leaving."

He didn't raise his voice even just a little bit, the tone as pleasant and polite as always, but it was unmistakably an order he expected to be followed. The swordsmen didn't look happy at all, but obeyed without a word of protest. Then both of them vanished into thin air, leaving nothing behind but ripples on the water.

Chikako watched the spot they had been in until Gai startled her out of her thoughts by placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Kakashi needs rest," he said, carefully, quietly, as if he was expecting her to lash out. She almost snapped at him that she wasn't some frightened animal, but he slowly unclenched her fists for her and she noticed the blood dripping down her palms. When had that happened?

Chikako blinked at the red liquid curiously as if she didn't know what it was, which probably explained why Gai guided her towards Kakashi's flat with a hand on her back. By the time they had made it she'd come to the conclusion that she was likely in shock, even though she had no idea why. Nobody had even gotten seriously hurt, and while her sensei was chakra exhausted, it was hardly the first time. Certainly nothing to worry about.

"No!" Kurenai suddenly shouted, drawing Chikako's attention. "I don't care. She hugged him! I want some answers!"

"Please-" Gai started in an effort to calm the woman down, but she didn't seem like reasoning with her was an option. Chikako hadn't even noticed that the jonin had been talking to each other. How could she possible this distracted?

"We're friends," she whispered, and suddenly the room was silent. "It's classified," she added when she noticed that they were staring at her as if waiting for a more elaborate explanation.

"Bullshit!" Kurenai shouted again, advancing on her. "How could that possibly-"

"I think it's time for you to leave," Gai cut her off. He was suddenly between the two kunoichi and didn't look like he intended to move again anytime soon. Asuma gave Chikako a very long look that she couldn't read at all and then he escorted Kurenai outside. She didn't think he'd said a word the whole time, but then she hadn't really paid attention either. Kurenai clearly had come to the conclusion that she wasn't trustworthy, but what of the other two jonin?

"I do not know how, but you have earned my eternal rival's trust, and so I will trust you as well," Gai told her. Maybe he could read minds. She was about to ask when a wave of dizziness hit her. It seemed Kakashi wasn't the only one stupidly low on chakra. How had she not noticed that before?

"It seems those impressively fast Body Flickers do take their toll after all," Gai mused. He was definitely a mind reader.

Chikako yawned, closing her eyes for just a moment.

She woke up on a futon next to Kakashi's bed. Several hours later. Gai wasn't there anymore, but Jiro was back on her wrist, pretending to be a leather bracelet, and Sai was sitting outside on the windowsill. He left the moment he noticed that she was awake though. Chikako didn't really have the energy to wonder about the odd behavior. She also got distracted by the way Kakashi's chakra felt.

Her sensei's reserves took ages to recover because of the Sharingan. What was out of the ordinary though was the way his chakra hummed with static. She hadn't noticed yesterday, but that wasn't really a surprise considering how out of it she'd been.

If she didn't know better she'd say Kakashi was under a genjutsu, but there was absolutely no foreign chakra in his system. Not even residue from the jutsu Itachi had used on him. Nothing. Yet, his own chakra was fighting against something. It didn't seem to do him any harm, but she asked Jiro to fetch a medic anyway. The little tanuki was surprisingly eager to help. She assumed it was compensation for the fact that he refused to talk about what happened with Gaara and the Ichibi.

Gai entered the flat alongside the doctor, who informed her that both Kakashi and Sasuke seemed to suffer from the same thing after their confrontations with Itachi. He also had no idea what said thing was, only that it didn't cause any physical damage and apparently kept her teammates in a comatose state.

Chikako raised an eyebrow at Gai. So he explained that Sasuke had come to see how they were doing and overheard a jonin in the process. It seemed Itachi, or rather Akatsuki, the organization he worked for, was after the Tailed Beasts. Sasuke had immediately gone to track down Naruto and run into his brother in the process. Of course he'd also tried to kill Itachi and gotten his ass kicked.

"What an idiot," Chikako groaned. "Why does everybody seem to think they can just take on one of the most powerful shinobi this village has ever seen?"

"Would you like me to stay with Kakashi for a while so you can visit your teammate in the hospital?" Gai asked rather pointedly.

"No," Chikako told him with a glare. "He totally deserved that beating and I'm not leaving here until Kakashi wakes up."

"Sasuke-kun has sustained a number of bruises as well as a broken arm and several broken ribs." Gai's voice was verging on angry now and Chikako sighed.

"It's not that I don't care he's hurt," she said. "But his hatred blinds him. And those injuries? Any remotely competent medic can heal them. They won't so much as leave a scar behind and it's hard to take them seriously when I know that Itachi would never kill Sasuke."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," she huffed. "Itachi murdered his whole clan. Old people, babies, even his own parents, but not Sasuke. I don't know why he did it, and I don't know why he does what he does now, but I know for a fact that he loves his brother." Chikako didn't mention that Itachi was a pacifist. That statement didn't go well with this particular example, and it wasn't something Gai needed to know. If Itachi hadn't been the heir, hadn't been taught that he needed to fulfill his duty to the clan, he would have never become a shinobi. Her friend might be brilliant and deadly, but he also hated violence and the suffering it caused.

Sasuke would have attacked his brother until he was physically unable to continue. Itachi could have achieved that without breaking any of his bones, but he'd been playing villain for a while now. She wouldn't judge him until she had evidence that could explain the discrepancies between his character and behavior. The only theories that Chikako could think of were that he was either protecting something or acting on the Hokage's orders, but neither of these made a whole lot of sense.

Gai tried to convince her a few more times to go to the hospital, but she didn't budge. He'd have to drag her away kicking and screaming if he wanted her to leave Kakashi. She told him as much. In the end he went and stole Sasuke from the hospital, which was why there were now a bed and two futons in Kakashi's flat. It was a curious kind of compromise considering that it would cause a minor panic in the hospital, but Chikako wasn't about to question the decision.

At least she didn't until both Sakura and Ino were pounding on the door, demanding to see the Uchiha. She tried waiting them out at first, but after half an hour her patience was at an end. She stalked over to the entrance, ripped open the door and then hit them with a burst of very focused, very malevolent killing intent.

"You have five seconds to leave, or I swear I'll cut you into so many tiny pieces that no one will be able to identify what's left of you," Chikako said in the most pleasant voice she could manage. She'd personally always thought quiet threats were far more terrifying than shouted once, but cheating a little with killing intent certainly didn't hurt. Maybe she'd overdone it though.

Both girls were hugging each other and huddled against the wall, staring at her with wide eyes. Chikako sighed, but didn't say anything more. Instead she closed the door in their faces and hoped that they could at least be frightened quietly. If they started to cry or scream she'd definitely have to kick them down the stairs.

Gai came over to deliver food and scold her in the evening. She thanked him for the former and completely ignored the latter. He was the one who had brought Sasuke here, that didn't mean she had to tolerate the Uchiha's fangirls.

The next day had Hinata leaving a collection of herbal teas and salves in front of the door without even knocking. Chikako stopped her before she hurried away again though and asked if she wanted to come inside.

"I wouldn't want to be a burden," Hinata told her. It didn't take a genius to figure out she'd heard about the incident with Sakura and Ino. Chikako assured the heiress at length that she was never a burden and couldn't be as annoying as the other two girls even if she tried.

They spent a pleasant few hours talking about whatever took their fancy. Hinata didn't care about Sasuke or Kakashi any more than she did about any other near stranger, but she'd still specifically made the salves for them. They were meant so relieve stress on the chakra system and also had calming as well as anti-inflammatory properties. Chikako told her that she was too nice.

"You're just too jaded," Hinata quipped and then promptly slammed one of her delicate hands over her mouth in shock. Chikako blinked at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. It took her several minutes to get her breathing back under control, but by the time she did Hinata looked a lot less horrified.

"See?" Chikako smiled at her. "The sky didn't fall down."

On day three Shikamaru brought over a shogi board and then spent the whole day with her.

"Heard this is a no-annying-visitors zone," he'd said when she'd let him in. Apparently the village, or at least this year's rookies, had nothing better to do than gossip about who was and wasn't allowed to enter the flat.

After that Shikamaru, and sometimes Choji, Shino or Hinata, spent every day keeping Chikako company. Even Neji visited once so she could explain how she'd beaten him during the third exam round. Sai never came in, but he was usually somewhere close by when she went to bed and still around by the time she got up again. She left food on the windowsill every evening to thank him for keeping watch. Chikako had no idea if something was going on, or if he was just being cautious, but it was nice to know that he was there in case something did happen.

On the seventh day Naruto bounced into the room, all wide smiles and exited energy. He had started talking a mile a minute before he'd even been through the door. With him were Jiraiya and two women. The seal master and the one in a dark blue kimono and a tiny pig in her arms waited outside, while the other woman marched in as if she owned the place. She had blond hair and wore a grass-green haori over a gray kimono-style blouse. On her forehead was a diamond shaped seal that held immense amounts of chakra.

"Tsunade?" Chikako guessed.

"Try Hokage-sama," Shikamaru suggested before the woman could answer. Chikako shrugged at him.

"Right now I'm more interested in the fact that she's probably the world's best medic, but I guess she's also not a bad choice for Godaime."

"So glad you approve," Tsunade sneered. She only needed seconds to figure out what was wrong with Kakashi and Sasuke, and even less time to fix them. She also looked a little baffled when Chikako bowed deeply in thanks and apologized for being disrespectful.

"Knock it off!" The woman demanded. "I want both of you in my office before the day is over." She glared at each of them in turn as if she expected protest and then marched out, dragging Naruto with her.

"Weird," was Shikamaru's only comment, then he reset their game as if nothing had happened. Chikako silently agreed.

Kakashi woke less than thirty minutes later and almost immediately threw them out of his flat. He seemed more embarrassed than unhappy though, so Chikako didn't read anything into it. He was usually the one protecting others and never really seemed to know how to react when the tables were turned.

They hadn't planned to go see Tsunade so soon after the woman had left, but it wasn't like either of them had anything better to do. Of course that didn't keep Shikamaru from walking so slowly that Chikako would have sworn he'd lose a race against a stone. By the time they finally reached their destination they'd wasted nearly a full hour.

"Good job," Chikako commented sourly.

"You could have gone on your own you know?"

"But then she'd have made me wait for your lazy ass to arrive."

Shikamaru gave her a one shouldered shrug as he opened the door to the Godaime's office. Lazy bastard. Still, she'd gotten used to having him around, and it wasn't like he was bad company.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at both of them, and Chikako didn't know if it was because she'd expected them to arrive five minutes after they'd run into her assistant on the road or not for a few more hours. Instead of enlightening them she threw a chunin flak jacket at Shikamaru.

"Congratulations," she drawled with a sadistic smile at the Nara's groan. Then she turned towards Chikako, another vest to her right and a stack of papers to her left. "Explain to me why nobody wanted to promote you during the exam, but there are more than a dozen recommendations for a field promotion. I also have several requests from the hospital, both to get you an apprenticeship and to reprimand you for unlawful use of an unspecified medical procedure. Not to mention one report marking you as a potential traitor and threat to the village, and a request from Suna for leniency on an entirely different matter of potential treason."

Chikako blinked at her for a few moments while Shikamaru quietly snickered at her side.

"Uhm ... my fight with Neji, going after Hinata, rescuing Shino, the confrontation with Itachi and not killing Gaara, respectively," she guessed. This time it was Tsunade's turn to stare in confusion. The Godaime made her explain everything that had happened from the start and in detail. Shikamaru tried to escape from the office twice. The first time all he got for his efforts was a glare, but the second time Tsunade threw a paperweight at him that broke the bookcase behind him. He sat down and pretended he wasn't there after that.

In the end the Hokage decided that Chikako would neither get a promotion nor a reprimand. She also made her register at the hospital as a poisons specialist, which wasn't entirely untrue, but implied she actually used poisons or knew how to properly treat them.


	17. IV - Decisions

**A/N:**

lilith-thetiny-monster

Yeah, I like him for the same reason, but he probably just thinks doing anything other than going along is too much trouble. I probably rewrote the Itachi part three times because I couldn't decide how to do it. Also, I don't mind the rambling at all. It's actually kind of nice because I always imagine someone talking really fast, almost stumbling over their words because they got excited and just can't wait to share what they think.

HushDon'tLetThemHearYou

I got an E-Mail notification of your review, but curiously enough it doesn't show up on FF. Anyway Thanks for letting me know what you think and I hope this chapter isn't too disappointing in that regard.

Scarease

Thank you.

. . .

 **IV - Decisions**

"How come the Uchiha is in the hospital, but your sensei isn't?" Shikamaru asked in his usual lazy drawl. Chikako shrugged.

"Well, technically they're both supposed to get a check-up today, but Kakashi tends to conveniently forget these kinds of appointments."

The Nara grunted in acknowledgment. Sometimes she wondered why he even asked. It wasn't as if he was actually interested in what any of her teammates did. At least not as long as they didn't make trouble for him. Shikamaru was probably one of those people that would let the world burn around them so long as everything they cared about was safe from the flames. Not that she could fault him for that, after all Chikako was the same.

A little further down the street Ino and Choji stood in front of a barbecue place. Asuma was nowhere in sight yet, but unlike Kakashi the man was actually on time if he could manage. He also seemed to think inviting his team for lunch or dinner after successful missions was a good way to reward them and facilitate team spirit. Chikako had no idea if it worked, but it was certainly a nice gesture.

This particular time they were here to celebrate Shikamaru's promotion, and the Nara had decided to drag Chikako along. He probably hoped she'd save him from all the jokes about how the least motivated guy in the exams was the only one who had made a positive impression on the proctors, but he'd be sorely disappointed. She still needed to pay him back for snickering at her in the Hokage's office and then trying to leave her with the short-tempered woman.

"I envy you Chouji, you don't care how much you eat at all," Ino said in a long-suffering tone. I have to go on diets and it's so hard!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes dramatically, and Chikako lightly hit his shoulder so he didn't draw attention to them. She wanted to see the rest of this little play.

"Why bother?" Choji asked, honestly confused for some reason. It was so obvious for whom Ino wanted to look like a stick figure instead of training to become a better kunoichi. The girl was deathly afraid of muscles and had apparently no idea that women didn't suddenly turn into brawny monsters just because they did a few push-ups or lifted weights.

"But you don't even know if the guy likes skinny girls," Choji reasonably told her. Not that Ino listened.

"All guys like skinny girls. I mean who'd wanna be with a fa-" She stopped herself mid word. "Never mind, you're one of a kind Choji. Still, you should pay more attention to your body or you won't be getting any girls," Ino finished and then headed inside with the newly arrived Asuma.

"She doesn't get it," Shikamaru scoffed as they approached Choji. "Guys don't necessarily like skinny girls, they're more interested in a nice rack."

"Well, I guess that makes her one of a kind as well," Chikako chuckled. Ino's constant diets certainly hadn't done her figure any good, but then she still had a few years so that might change. From what she'd heard Tsunade had been rather flat chested in her youth and now the woman could probably suffocate someone just by hugging them.

Shikamaru joked a round a little more to make sure Choji was fine and hadn't been hurt by Ino's comments, but Chikako didn't listen any longer. She could sense both Naruto and Sasuke nearby. They seemed to be high up and a little looking around confirmed that the hospital was in the direction she felt their presence in. What could they possibly be doing on the roof?

She was about to ignore them and move on, but then Naruto's chakra multiplied in a way that indicated he'd created several dozen Shadow Clones. Chikako stared at the roof, the only thing she could see from down here though were the occasional plumes of chakra smoke whenever a clone was destroyed. A few seconds later a figure she assumed to be Sasuke sprang up high and then a giant fireball hit the roof and destroyed all the clones.

"Oh you have to be shitting me," Chikako growled and sprinted towards the hospital, using a few Body Flickers to cover the distance faster. She heard Shikamaru shout her name and felt him follow, but he couldn't keep up with her speed. Sai was a different matter. By now she was faster than him as well, but not by much. He'd taken to following her at a distance for the day. She had no idea why, but it might come in handy now.

With her chakra reserves full she decided that running up the side of the building would be more effective than taking the stairs. It would also cause less people to get involved. The roof was fenced in, but she simply vaulted over the obstacle without pause when she saw her two teammates.

There was lightning blazing in Sasuke's left hand. She had no idea what kind of jutsu Naruto held in his right, but judging by the amount of spinning chakra he had compressed into a tiny ball it would cause a lot of damage when it hit.

"Stop it!" Sakura screamed from the sidelines. She'd probably been stalking the Uchiha again, not that it mattered right now. Naruto and Sasuke were sprinting at each other, screaming like maniacs, while the idiot girl tried to get between them.

Chikako used another Body Flicker and made it there first. She kicked Sakura hard, not caring where she hit the girl as long as she was out of the way. She vaguely registered a grunt, but was too busy coating herself in a cloak of chakra to pay too much attention. Her usual barrier wouldn't do because the thing would shatter like glass against attacks like that. Instead she hoped she could mitigate some of the damage.

Naruto's eyes widened the second he registered Chikako in his path, and she felt the panicked surge of both his and Sasuke's chakra, but neither of them would be able to stop in time. She gripped both of their wrists a moment before they would have collided, and then turned, redirecting their momentum enough so that they shot past each other instead.

She heard two crashes and something she assumed to be stone splinters from the roof hit her in the side, but the pain couldn't compare to the way both of her arms felt. Her right hand was sticky and smelled like burned flesh. Tiny tremors shook her muscles and what felt like tongues of fire snaked up to her shoulder like vines. The left side was even worse. Her hand was fine, but the skin from wrist to elbow was completely shredded. There was probably some muscle damage as well, it certainly bled enough.

Chikako stood very still for several seconds, trying not to black out from the pain. She hadn't been this hurt in a long time and wasn't used to the stress it put on her body anymore. She very slowly pushed more and more chakra into her arms to numb them without causing any more damage.

"Let me go! I need to help!" Naruto shouted.

"I think you helped enough," Shikamaru growled back at him. She'd never heard him this angry. He had Naruto bound with his shadow, and even though she could feel the blond's chakra raging against the jutsu it didn't do him any good. On her other side Sai pressed a kunai to Sasuke's throat, which explained why the Uchiha hadn't said anything yet. Sakura was crouching down a few meters further away, holding her stomach and staring at the demolished roof. Kakashi stood beside her. He looked a lot less surprised and very, very angry.

The chidori had ripped a trench into the roof, and whatever Naruto's jutsu was had created a crater so big that the room below now had a skylight. Chikako took several deep breaths before she straightened herself.

"Are you two completely insane?" She asked. Her voice wasn't loud, but it practically vibrated with anger. "Unless you're actually trying to murder someone you don't use a fucking assassination technique against them. Especially if you can't stop it. I swear the next time you do this shit I'm not stepping in again." Then she rounded on Sakura. "And you! What the fuck is wrong with you? Have you suddenly become a competent shinobi or was your intention simply to play meat shield? Because I promise one of those jutsu is more than enough to rip a body apart, the only thing you would have achieved is inflate the kill count."

Chikako's breathing was labored after her little rant, and then everything tilted to the side and started to spin. Kakashi caught her long before she hit the ground, the angry storm of his chakra swirling around both of them. She felt more than heard him say something, but didn't understand a word. Staying awake was all she could really concentrate on.

Kakashi moved fast, and apparently straight through a window and into the Godaime's office.

"Out!" He ordered. There was a lot of noise, then a door slammed and Chikako was placed on a sofa. Her sensei said something else she didn't understand, followed by a crash.

"Wait?" Tsunade snarled. "I'm not waiting! She needs immediate medical attention!"

Chikako was pretty sure her sensei ignored the Godaime because she felt him crouch at her side, and then he lightly touched her shoulder.

"Pup?" He asked quietly. Opening her eyes was very hard, so she just blinked a few times.

"Yeah I know, gotta stay awake," she mumbled. Tsunade huffed at that, but then Kakashi explained to her what would happen if Chikako wasn't awake. After all, the reason she was more or less immune to most genjutsu was because her chakra attacked foreign chakra in her system, which of course also applied to medical jutsu. She needed to be awake to suppress that effect and even then her own chakra would burn her cells. That was why she usually didn't bother seeing a medic. She healed quite a bit faster than most people, and that was generally enough, but this time there was considerable nerve damage in her right hand and arm, and the muscles of her left were shredded. It wouldn't kill her, but she could quit being a ninja without Tsunade's help.

The Godaime talked quite a bit while she fixed her. Chikako assumed it was meant to distract her from the pain. It didn't work particularly well, but she appreciated the effort.

"You're my new favorite Hokage," she mumbled.

"Who was the old one," Kakashi asked a little bemused, while Tsunade huffed. It wasn't a secret that she hadn't particularly liked the Sandaime after all.

"Shodaime-sama of course."

At that Kakashi laughed outright. Tsunade seemed rather confused, but Chikako didn't feel like explaining that the man's stone head was her favorite spot in the village and that he deserved some credit for that.

She had no idea how long it took Tsunade to heal her, but she passed out the second the woman declared that she was done. When she woke up again the very familiar ceiling of Kakashi's flat greeted her. The man himself wasn't there, but Pakkun rested on her belly, while the rest of the dogs were sprawling in various positions around her.

"If I'd known all I needed to do to not get thrown out was stop my moronic teammates from killing each other-" she started, but was interrupted by the grumpy pug.

"Oh come off it pup," he yawned. "He always let's you stay here when it's about you. He only throws you out when you're the one taking care of him."

Chikako rolled over, throwing the little dog off in the process.

"Hey!" He complained, mock growling at her and threatening to show her the door.

"What did he do to them?"

"He said he was just gonna talk to them, but I bet he'll give them the shittiest D-ranks he can find for a month or two, and maybe he'll kick their asses in a sparring match," Pakkun told her happily. "Actually, he'll probably kick your ass too."

"What?" Chikako sat up, startled by the cheerful way the pug had announced that last bit. "What did I do?"

"You got hurt." The dog gave her a hard look. "He smashed the Godaime's window and threw some filthy rich clients out of her office. She's not happy."

Chikako sighed. He had had to be close at the time considering how fast he'd been on the roof. Kakashi could easily beat her when it came too speed. If she'd paid a little more attention to the surroundings, instead of just Naruto and Sasuke she would have probably noticed him earlier. He could have stopped both of them without getting hurt.

Somehow she always ended up learning lessons the painful way.

She felt Sai approach a few minutes later. He stopped on the roof of a house on the other side of the street and then stayed there. Clearly within her sensing range and easy to spot form the window, but far enough away that the dogs wouldn't smell him.

Chikako told the pack that she'd be taking a walk, and that they should probably go back to their dimension so Kakashi had the option of summoning them if he needed to. They hadn't said that he was on a mission, but he only ever left the pack to watch over her when he couldn't do it himself. The dogs didn't argue, which told her whatever her sensei was doing was dangerous.

Konoha had lost a lot of people during the invasion, but they needed to avoid looking weak because otherwise one of the other nations might decide they were easy pickings and would finish them off. To meet mission demands Tsunade had to send out almost all of the remaining jonin an chunin, often in teams that were smaller than they should be. As one of Konoha's best Kakashi would have to shoulder a huge part of that burden.

She met Sai on the Shodaime's head, as usual. Unlike normal though he seemed worried and nervous. Even more so than the day he had taken her to Danzo.

"What's going on?" She asked, keeping her voice low. He startled anyway.

"Remember when you told me to come find you if I needed to get out?" He asked, not looking at her. "I have orders-" He started, but the seal in his mouth kept him from completing the sentence.

Chikako gave him a searching look. Sai was clearly miserable, which was so out of character for him that it worried her. He wasn't a cheerful person by any stretch of the imagination, but he never displayed emotions to the extend that anyone could just read them on his face. He'd been staying close and keeping watch for over a week now as well.

"To kill me?" She guessed, and his head snapped up, eyes wide. He didn't do anything to confirm or deny, which told her that he couldn't, and that meant she was either right or close enough to the truth that it triggered the seal. The timing seemed a little odd. If the order had been given because she had prevented Sai from killing Gaara or because of her interaction with Itachi then there was no reason to wait this long.

She had slept in the Uchiha compound the day after the invasion. It was remote enough that nobody would have noticed an assassination until well after it was too late. Afterwards she'd stayed at Kakashi's flat. Under normal circumstances trying to kill someone while the jonin was around was a really stupid idea, but he had been in a coma, so that shouldn't have been a deterrent. But then Sai was the only person that watched her wasn't he? It had been common knowledge that both Kakashi and Sasuke had fought against Itachi, not, however, why they were off the mission roster afterwards. Chakra exhaustion was such a normal thing for her sensei after using the Sharingan that Sai could have easily lied about his condition. Now Kakashi was out of the village though, and Ibiki had been stuck in T&I since the invasion.

Whatever Sai's actual orders, he'd have to leave with her or face the consequences if he stayed behind. The only other option they had was to come clean to Tsunade, which would be difficult seeing as Sai couldn't talk and Chikako had no proof. Not to mention that the Godaime hadn't been in the village for years before assuming her new title. She had even less of an idea who in her ranks could be trusted than anyone else. Chikako didn't think Danzo was very forgiving to tools that stopped following orders either. Someone like Kakashi was well known in the village, had been even as a boy because of his father and sensei. Sai though had no family as far as she was aware, and neither his teammates nor sensei would kick up a fuss if he mysteriously died on a solo mission.

"Thank you," she said, stepping closer to give him a hug. Sai froze and didn't relax for several second, but then he - very awkwardly - hugged her back. "Do you have what you need?"

He nodded, patting his bag. Everything Chikako had owned, except for the things she'd had with her at the time, had been destroyed during the invasion. Afterwards she'd been too busy playing Kakashi's guard dog to get anything more than a change of clothes. Even that was just a standard shinobi uniform Gai had brought over.

She wrote a note for Kakashi in her and Ibiki's personal code. He wouldn't be able to read it, but he'd know who could and if Sai's nervousness was anything to go by they didn't have time to waste. They would have to leave the village without raising suspicion too, which meant slowly. It would give Jiro enough time to bring the note back to her sensei's place and catch up with them though.

This time of day Izumo, Kotetsu or maybe even both should be at the main gate. They still owed her for not telling Ibiki about the way they'd decided to weed out the weak genin before the first stage of the chunin exams. With that kind of leverage she could definitely talk them into ignoring that she had forgotten the mission scroll this once. Especially with the added workload.

Sai walked slightly behind her in his usual position as they made their way to the gate. His chakra was still giving off a nervous energy, but his features were calm again, and that was all they needed.

In front of the open gate and staring into the forest stood Sakura. Chikako would have ignored her, but then the girl stepped right into their path.

"Did Lee find you?" She asked. "He said he would tell you what happened if he saw you on his way to the hospital."

"What happened?" Chikako asked back, raising one eyebrow. "And does that mean he's decided to risk the procedure?" Tsunade had given him a fifty percent chance of survival, but without the treatment he would have to quit being a ninja. Gaara had mangled his arm and leg too badly.

"Yes," Sakura nodded. "But more importantly, you have to go after Sasuke! He defected, and-"

"He what?" Chikako interrupted the other girl. How stupid was that boy and why the hell hadn't she heard about this before?

"I- well- he wants power so he decided to leave. Shikamaru, Naruto, Choji, Kiba and Neji are going after him to bring him back though," she rushed out, and then added before Chikako could ask: "Shikamaru is team leader. He said he didn't ask you to come because you were still hurt, so ..."

"What an idiot," Chikako huffed. She marched up to the gate, where indeed Kotetsu manned one of the desks. "I'm going after Sasuke, don't argue with me."

"You- no!" he sputtered. "You are on medical leave, Hokage's orders!"

"I won't tell her," she shot back and kept walking.

"Hey! Wait, I can't just not tell her," Kotetsu called and then used a Body Flicker to get in front of her.

"You can do it later though, can't you? Maybe in an our or two. I mean you are completely swamped with work," Chikako tried to sweet talk him. He didn't seem convinced, so she added: "Also you still owe me a favor, remember?" At that he suddenly stood up straight. Both him and Izumo owed her many favors of that kind, but she usually didn't call them out on it. They were always appropriately frightened by the threat, which was more than enough to make them be nice to her. It was kind of like an unspoken rule that they wouldn't make any trouble for her and in turn she'd never tell Ibiki about their shenanigans.

"I suppose you're right," Kotetsu said slowly. He looked a little suspicious, but then shrugged it off. "After all, this paperwork is a lot more important than one genin leaving to help her fellow shinobi. I can't waste time leaving my position because of such a minor detail."

Chikako nodded her thanks and then walked around him and out of sight. She hoped he wouldn't get into too much trouble when she didn't come back.

"We're actually going after Sasuke, aren't we?" Sai sighed.

"No, if he wants to put a collar on himself I'm not gonna stop him. I've had enough of his stupid obsession with revenge that blinds him to everything else," she told him. Before he could relax however she added: "We are going after Shikamaru and his team though. Of course I'll understand if you don't want to come. We can meet up afterw-"

"Just lead the way," Sai interrupted her. He looked so annoyed that it made her laugh despite the situation. Apparently all it took for Sai to show some emotions was being ordered to kill a friend, decide against it and then come to the conclusion that his only other option was to defect.


	18. V - A New Kind of Monster

**A/N:**

For some reason a number of reviews don't show up, and I didn't even get an E-Mail notification for one of the new ones. Sorry to whoever wrote that one. i know it exists because I see how many review there should be, but I have no way of reading it.

. . .

 _Scarease & lilith-thetinymonster_

Afraid you'll have to wait a little longer to find out. Sasuke isn't allowed to play with the other children until next chapter. I hope this one tides you over until then.

 _heyits me & DWM_

Hey, thanks for reading and reviewing. It's always nice to see new people.

. . .

 **V - A New Kind of Monster**

Shikamaru's team was long out of Chikako's range and without a tracker their only choice was to make an educated guess and hope they weren't too far off the mark. Sasuke was defecting to Orochimaru, which meant he would most likely head for Otogakure, and that was in Rice. Neither Chikako nor Sai knew where exactly the village was, other than north, but it was reasonable to assume that Sasuke would have moved along the river, at least for the first few kilometers. Accordingly that would be their path as well.

"Hey, can we use one of your birds to fly?" She asked hopefully. "Should make catching up a lot easier."

"Yes," Sai agreed. "But it would also mean we don't have a way to get out quickly. I only have one prepared and making another one now would take time and chakra we can't spare."

"Fine, no birds."

It took only half an hour before they ran into the first trap. Explosive tags that were arranged so that they formed the corners of a cube. Chikako had never seen anything like it before, but it was easy to spot because the tags were active seals and thus gave off chakra. She assumed the whole thing would explode if a person entered the area. Not that she was willing to test that theory. In fact, they gave it a wide berth just to be safe.

There was no way Sasuke knew how to do something like this, which meant he either wasn't alone or they had stumbled across someone else's path. The latter theory was quickly abandoned because the further they went the more traps they found. They were all deadly, but also simple and sometimes rushed. It seemed too unlikely that someone else just happened to go from Konoha to Rice in a hurry and expected to be pursued by hostiles.

"Tell me you see that too," Chikako requested when a tremor shook the earth and a cloud of rock, dust and foliage rose in the distance. Sai merely nodded and moved on, For a moment she wished Shikamaru was there because he would have at least cursed or something. Then again maybe not. The Nara more than likely knew that Choji could become a forest-obliterating giant, so it was a lot more likely that he would have laughed at her.

The Akimichi performed a rather ungraceful body slam, smashing trees to bits, and Chikako seriously wondered who he was fighting. Or had he taken a page out of Naruto's book? After all the blond had won his fight against Kiba by having a massive frog sit down on him.

Then Choji was suddenly up in the air, seemingly having been hit by something strong enough to lift him off the ground. He shrunk again as he fell, and then Chikako couldn't see him anymore. She decided to head in his direction anyway. The team had likely split up because otherwise Choji would have risked crushing them, but there was still no one close enough for her to sense, and the Akimichi definitely needed help. Whoever he was fighting had to be incredibly strong to survive being pressed into the ground by that much weight.

Only minutes later a massive amount of chakra manifested out of nowhere. It startled Chikako so badly that she body flickered backwards out of pure instinct, which in turned made Sai stop and rush to her side.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. Choji did something. His chakra it's - it's a lot more than he's supposed to have. We need to hurry."

They'd already been running as fast as they could without wasting chakra, but with the added urgency of this development they still managed to push a little harder.

When they arrived at the scene of the fight, it was to see a monstrous guy in an outfight not unlike the one Orochimaru had worn in the Forest of Death. He had a mane of bright orange hair on his head, two tiny horns on his forehead and his skin was an odd redish-brown. Behind him stood Choji, much, much slimmer than he'd been the day before and with so much raw chakra protruding from his back that it formed beautiful butterfly wings.

The Akimichi gathered all of that chakra to his left fist a moment later, and then hit his opponent in the face while shouting something about stealing his last chip and insulting Shikamaru. The impact made the air shimmer as the chakra was released, and the shock wave gave Chikako a headache.

Choji's enemy died almost instantly and then his strange skin color began to unravel into arrow shaped markings. These too receded until his eyes were no longer black, his skin was white again and the mane of orange hair was nothing more than three lines that ran from the front to the back of his head. Choji was breathing hard, all of his chakra spent and Chikako had to move fast to catch him before he hit the ground.

Whatever had been going on during this fight, other than Choji's brief transformation into a giant, had created a new clearing in the forest and turned it's floor into nothing but rubble.

"I won," Choji wheezed. "I actually won."

He tried to stand up, but Chikako held him down. Sure, he'd won, but he'd also almost killed himself doing it. That last technique had completely emptied his chakra stores and even burned most of his body fat to create more energy. He had no reserves left at all and without a quick way to restore them organ failure would only be a matter of minutes.

"He needs food, preferably something that can be digested fast," she told Sai.

The boy rummaged around in his bag for a few seconds and then held out a single packet of sugar from one of Konoha's tea houses. Chikako didn't ask why he had it on him, merely opened the thing and emptied it in Choji's mouth. The Akimichi was barely even awake and she had to slap him twice to get his attention. He desperately needed to eat more, which meant he had to stay awake.

He more than likely was a ware of that fact, but Chikako explained it to him anyway while Sai handed her ration bar after ration bar. The things tasted horrible and would take some time to digest, but the sugar packet should tide him over until then. At least she hoped so.

"You gotta go after Shikamaru," Choji forced out between bites.

"Yeah I know, don't worry." Chikako waited a few more minutes to make sure Choji could stay awake on his own, but he was right. During the invasion there had been four Sound shinobi in those uniforms. Barrier specialists and Orochimaru's personal guard. She hadn't actually seen any of them herself, but the description Ibiki had given her fit well enough, now that the guy no longer looked like a monster. That more than likely meant there were three others with Sasuke.

Choji handed Sai a small pouch full of soldier before they left to follow the others. He also told them to watch for markings on the trees because the plan had been for him to catch up with the squad after defeating his opponent.

"If he had that many soldier pills, why didn't he just take one of them?" Sai asked as soon as they were on their way again.

"Do you know how Soldier Pills work?"

"By stimulating the body to produce more chakra faster."

"Exactly. The technique he used did the same thing, only it already used up all of his non-essential reserves. To create chakra the body primarily burns fat. When most of the fat is gone, or after prolonged periods without food, muscle and lean tissue is burned instead," Chikako explained. "You saw Choji. He was thinner than Ino. The only way his body could have produced any more energy without food intake would have been by starting to metabolize his organs, which would have been just as deadly."

Sai nodded once, filing away the information. They continued in silence afterwards, following the arrows that were indeed carved into the trunks of some trees. Neither of them mentioned that the marks that had appeared after the Sound shinobi's death looked a lot like the ones Sasuke's cursed seal produced.

There weren't any more traps, which likely meant the Sound nin hadn't expected anyone other than their comrade would come after them from that point on. It made following them considerably faster, and being underestimated like that was a huge advantage. At least if Shikamaru's squad didn't let pride get in the way. She had no doubt that the Nara would use any advantage his enemy gave him. Neji, Kiba and Naruto on the other hand were rather likely to insist on being taken seriously.

It didn't take them too long to catch up with the Hyuga, but he was in bad shape. Several odd looking, golden daggers stuck out of his back, and he was bleeding from a few other cuts. Myriads of the same daggers littered the forest floor as well as two giant arrows of the same material. Judging by the almost fist sized hole in his left shoulder one of them had also apparently hit Neji at some point. His hair tie had been destroyed too it seemed and his hitai-ate, ripped and bloody, lay on the ground.

Chikako could sense another chakra signature somewhere close by, and pointed Sai in that direction while she headed for Neji. She barely even saw the projectile, another arrow, in time to form a chakra barrier and deflect it's path. It was a good thing she'd stood at an angle because the barrier shattered even with the lessened impact. The giant arrow missed them by only a few centimeters, creating another crater as it hit the ground.

"We need to stop meeting like this Hyuga," Chikako quipped. "The people shooting pointy things at you get stronger every time and I'm not sure how long I'll be able too keep up."

A choked laugh escaped his mouth together with a trickle of blood, but then he smiled and gripped onto the string attached to the arrow's shaft. His chakra flared for a moment, and then he pulled. Chikako started running before he could get any stupid ideas, homing in on the stranger's chakra signature. Sai was right behind the Sound nin, and they hit him at almost the same time. Her wakizashi slashed through the torso, while his tanto cut off the head.

This guy wore the same clothing as the other one and his skin color was a similar shade as well, but his hair was a light gray, his horns were longer, a third eye sat in the middle of his forehead and he had six arms. The pattern of his curse seal was a mess of swirly lines, and as they receded his hair turned black and grew shorter, his skin became a more human looking shade of brown and the horns vanished. The six arms and extra eye, however, did not.

"Jiro sew up his shoulder please and then catch up with us," Chikako said, vaguely gesturing in Neji's direction. The tanuki almost immediately transformed back into his furry self and went to work. "Hyuga, if you think you're able to, go back the way you came. Choji is where you left him, but he might need help getting home."

"We need to go after-" He started, but she didn't let him finish.

"We," she told him with emphasis, pointing towards herself and Sai, "are going after them. You on the other hand are in no shape to continue, and I don't want to find out what happens if Hinata gets angry with me for letting you die like some heroic idiot, so move your ass back towards the village!"

She didn't wait for an answer, merely motioned for Sai to continue. The Oto nin were incredibly strong, especially with those massive chakra boosts the seals seemed to give them. Considering he was a jinchuriki and had that fancy new technique, Naruto would probably be able to handle one on his own, but Shikamaru and Kiba were more likely to end up like the other two members of their squad.

Chikako's head whipped to the side only minutes after they had left Neji, but she didn't stop running.

"Remember our friends from Suna?" She asked. "They're headed this way, from the village it seems."

Sai didn't answer. He might have accepted her decision to let Gaara live, but he wasn't happy with it. Chikako hadn't thought she'd find out whether or not it was a mistake this soon, and she really hoped that it wasn't. If Suna was in league with Oto again they would most likely all end up dead. They could barely fight the Sound nin as it was. Then again, the direction the Sand team was coming from suggested that they had been in Konoha, which meant they could be friendly back up.

"Kiba is below us and to the right, likely went down the cliff and into the river. He isn't fighting right now, but his chakra is really low and one of the Sound guys is close by. Shikamaru is up ahead, facing of with another one," she informed Sai. He just glanced at her, waiting for orders. It was creepy and they really needed to talk about that, again, but not now. "I'll go after Shikamaru, his opponent has coated the area in chakra, which probably means genjutsu. Are you fine going after Kiba?"

A nod, and then he was gone. The blank facial expression was unnerving. Chikako had kind of hoped his earlier annoyance with her meant he'd opened up more. It was really hard to hold back with the orders when he just did whatever she told him to, and she really shouldn't be giving any orders to anybody. She had a hard enough time keeping herself alive most of the time, and that was with her better healing and resistance to poisons as well as genjutsu. Not to mention the fact that she'd been incredibly lucky so far.

Ibiki or the Hokage could have had her imprisoned or executed after she'd been freed from Orochimaru. Zabuza could have decided to kill her in Wave, when Kakashi was out cold. Orochimaru himself had had the option in the Forest of Death. Then there was Gaara who had turned several people into mangled corpses or a mist of blood in her presence, without anyone else there to interfere. Itachi, who could have, at the very least, put her in a coma like he did with her sensei and teammate. And of course Danzo. If the man had given Sai the order to take her out sooner, she had no doubt the boy would have gone through with it. Friendship was a new concept to him, at least as far as she knew. There was no telling at what point it had started to weigh heavier than obedience.

When Chikako neared Shikamaru's position he was kneeling on a thick tree branch. His arms were stretched out to either side and his muscles shivered, but his head was turned down and he didn't move otherwise. In front of him was a girl in one of those monster forms. She had long, coral colored hair and five white horns protruded from her head.

The area was completely blanketed in her chakra, and Chikako had a hard time keeping the genjutsu from taking hold. She could move just fine, but it felt as if invisible strings were restraining her. That alone wouldn't have been a problem, what bothered her though was that her flesh seemed to be melting like wax and dripping down her body. That too was merely illusion, yet the sensation was incredibly gross and painful.

The problem with the genjutsu was that the Sound nin used music to create it. That meant as long as she kept playing her flute the stupid thing would try to catch Chikako again the instant she broke free. It was incredibly annoying and her own chakra wasn't potent enough to fight the effects off entirely. She really needed to find out more about Orochimaru's curse seals. Harnessing natural chakra like that had to come with some kind of nasty side effect, other than the obvious ugly it caused.

The other girl picked up a kunai, moving closer to the Nara and clearly intending to finish him off while he couldn't move. This time Chikako knew better than to rush in like an idiot though. Instead she paid more attention to her surroundings, noting that the foreign chakra's hold on her friend had lessened considerably. She didn't know how, but he'd broken out of the genjutsu on his own, and now that the Oto kunoichi wasn't playing her flute anymore it wasn't continually reapplied.

Chikako ghosted almost completely, using all of her stealth techniques except for the Camouflage jutsu, and moved in closer.

Right before Sound's latest monster gutted Shikamaru she stopped dead in her tracks, cursing even worse than Chikako ever did. Shadows snaked up and around her body, while the Nara explained how he'd tricked her into coming closer. His foresight and knack for tactics were impressive as always. The talking, however, was meant to stall for time because he was neither stupid nor arrogant enough to give away his moves unless he had no other choice. Chikako decided that was her cue to join the fight.

She used a Body Flicker to get behind the other girl, and not a second too soon. Her appearance grew even more monstrous as her chakra surged, and the shadows receded. Shikamaru was clearly struggling to hold the technique, but a second was all the time Chikako needed.

Her chakra enhanced blades cleanly cut through the other girls neck and torso. It wasn't nearly as easy as usual because her strange skin proved to be quite a bit more resistant than regular human one, but in the end she was dead just the same and her appearance reversed as it had with the other two. A spray of blood hit Shikamaru in the face, making him look even more beaten up than he already had, and of course he immediately started to complain. Not that Chikako listened.

"Need help with that?" She asked, pointing at his broken finger. That certainly explained how he'd escaped from the genjutsu. He shook his head, and after making sure he didn't have any serious injuries Chikako verbally tore him a new one for not taking her on this mission to begin with. He tried to reason with her a few times, but gave up quickly enough when she kept ignoring him.

The whole exchange didn't take longer than the Nara needed to splint his finger, but it made her feel better anyway. Naruto wasn't here and neither was Sasuke, which meant they weren't done yet. Shikamaru informed her that a fifth Sound shinobi had shown up and run off with the container they'd transported Sasuke in. Naturally Naruto had gone after the Uchiha. Shikamaru didn't know what the whole deal with Sasuke was, and why they'd stuffed him into a cylindrical box, but they both agreed the reason couldn't be good.

"You're late," Chikako called, as soon as she judged Temari was close enough to hear. Her two teammates weren't with her. Had they split up to help the Konoha nin or Oto nin? She took a defensive stance in front of Shikamaru, but relaxed as soon as the other girl came into view. She didn't have her weapon drawn, and there wasn't any hostility in her body language.

"You knew we were coming?"

"Take this moron and check on Sai and Kiba please," Chikako said, without explaining. "They're somewhere down by the river, not too far from here."

Temari told her that her brother Kankuro had gone that way, but Chikako insisted she check on them anyway. The blond just glanced at Shikamaru before she agreed without further protest, clearly having grasped that Chikako mostly just didn't want him to continue with this mission. The Nara had caught on as well, but he was too low on chakra to reasonably make a case in favor of going on.

"Gaara?" Chikako asked.

"He went ahead," Temari told her.

Chikako nodded and started running without another word. If the redhead had cut a straight path instead of following the river she wouldn't have noticed his chakra pass. With the Suna team on their side things seemed to be looking up. Now the only question was how Gaara's mental state had changed since she'd last seen him.

She almost came to a sputtering halt when she felt the boy's chakra because Lee's was right next to him. Instead of stopping though Chikako almost doubled her speed to reach them. She had no idea how Lee was there - the idiot should be in the hospital recovering - but if she arrived only to see him squished by Sand again there would be hell to pay.

When she reached the clearing the two, as well as another Sound nin, were in Lee was indeed surrounded by Sand. Only, it was protecting him from what looked like bullets.

"I'll handle this," Gaara said. Of course Lee disagreed, starting to march forward and then promptly fell on his face.

"Sit down moron," Chikako called, moving over to them. "Panda Eyes here in I got this. Tsunade is going to kick your ass if you ruin her work, and believe me you do not want to get on that woman's bad side.

"Chikako-chan!" He hollered, far louder than was warranted. She cringed a little at the noise. Gaara merely nodded in greeting. The redhead seemed a lot more stable than during the exam. There wasn't even a trace of the malevolent Tailed Beast's chakra tainting his own. She decided to take that as a good sign and trust the peace for now.

Lee explained to them how their opponent could grow bones at will and use them to attack. It seemed unnecessarily painful and gross, which was right up Orochimaru's alley.

Another volley of bullets, that were apparently finger bones, flew their way. Gaara blocked it just as easily as the previous one. Afterwards his sand rushed forward to attack, and Chikako followed in it's path, her stealth techniques still in effect. She made sure to stay behind the white haired Sound nin, moving in for quick attacks with her blades and out again just as rapidly.

The guy way annoyingly fast, dodging both her and the sand at every turn, without even breaking a sweat. She backed off several meters to give Gaara more room, and to watch her opponent's movements for a while. The redhead created hundreds of tiny sand bullets in the air all around the Sound shinobi. She could feel some of his chakra in the ground as well. It turned out he'd also created some more sand below the other guy's feet to keep him in place as the bullets rained down on him.

The Oto nin ended up completely coated in sand, and then Gaara closed his fist. The sand compressed, blood spraying out, but it was far less than she'd expected. Instead of slowly fading the white haired guy's chakra surged, then a hand covered by the curse seal markings reached out of the sand.

It seemed he'd protected most of his body by growing plates of bone around himself like an armor, but Gaara wasn't done yet. He'd created a lot more sand all around him in the mean time, and was now trying to bury his opponent under a wave of it. Chikako, already standing several meters further left, still had to jump out of the way and use the opening Gaara had left her in order to not get swallowed up herself. When he was done the whole clearing as well as a big part of the surrounding forest was a desert, with lots of broken trees and ripped up foliage poking out here and there. This time the Sand didn't press inwards, but down, creating earth quake like tremors.

"Are you serious?" She shouted at him. This kind of attack was total overkill, especially considering that the Sound nin still wasn't dead. All he'd done was turn the place into a wasteland.

What crawled out from underneath the newly created desert looked even worse than the other monsters Chikako had seen that day. His skin was the same odd color as it had been for the others, but instead of horns six bones that looked like massive ribs, bent backwards protruded from his back. He also, for whatever reason, had a tail. The boost in chakra made him faster as well, which was bad because he'd already been quite fast to begin with.

Gaara tried to stop him with sand again, but he ripped right through the attack and then the redhead's shield. He even managed to crack the sand armor with what amounted to nothing more than a tackle.

"He's not your only opponent!" Lee called, jumping at the Sound nin. The kick he delivered to the other guy's head did absolutely nothing, and the tail that slammed into Lee in retaliation hit with enough force to smash Gaara's hastily thrown up sand shield. Her fellow genin flew several meters through the air before a hard landing on his back forced the air from his lungs.

Chikako didn't just stand around to watch though. She'd used the distraction to close the distance. This time her swords were safely in their sheath. Instead she relied solely on her chakra claws. Until fighting with blades became second nature to her they slowed her down. Her own chakra though she was more than used to. Using chakra manipulation to attack, defend herself or boost her speed was instinctual at this point. It took away from her reach, but she needed the added speed to avoid getting skewered, or tackled as it were.

Her blades had already had a hard time cutting through that last Sound monster. With this one it would only be worse. He'd withstood the sand without problem, so instead of attacking with her claws she used them to block whenever she couldn't dodge. Her little dance with the Sound shinobi was a lot less smooth than the one with Neji had been. She could barely keep up with his speed, and when he pulled out his freaking spine to use it as a whip things got even more annoying.

Gaara couldn't block any of the attacks for her because his sand wasn't dense enough, and got blown apart on impact. Instead he created floating platforms, which she greatly appreciated because they gave her more directions to move in.

When the Sound nin swung his spine whip again she jumped on, then over the thing, landing right in front of him. Chikako let the claws vanish, since they only just held when his bones hit them. Instead she gathered chakra in her hand and struck his chest with an open palm, releasing the energy into his body like tiny needles. It wasn't the Gentle Fist, but judging by the sound her opponent made it definitely hurt.

Not enough to distract him though. While she had moved in bones had sprouted from his left arm, twisting until they formed into a lance surrounding the limb. She tried to body flicker out of his range, but wasn't quite fast enough. He'd managed to ram the tip into her side. Hot blood gushed from the wound, and Chikako had to grit her teeth against the pain. She forced chakra into the wound, accelerating the healing to numb it and, hopefully, keep from bleeding out.

The Sound nin spat blood, hunching over, but then moved forward without actually pausing. Again Chikako was too slow to get out of the way in time, but Gaara threw up another shield. It looked like a much cuter version of Shukako, and half of it blew apart just like his other attempts had. It held, however, and also shattered their opponents bone lance into hundreds of pieces.

Gaara glanced in her direction, then started a conversation with the Sound nin, apparently stalling for time so she could recover. His voice sounded as uninterested as it always did, but the guy, whose name turned out to be Kimimaro Kaguya, was rather willing to talk. It seemed he too needed a pause. He informed them that he was the last living member of his clan. When Gaara told him that that would soon change he just laughed though. Apparently he was mortally ill and would die soon, one way or another. Chikako cursed loudly at that. People that had nothing left to lose were the worst kinds of enemies because they would gladly die to take out their opponent. On top of that this lunatic also worshiped Orochimaru.

Gaara let the idiot rant on about the snake's greatness for some time, while he slowly gathered his chakra in the ground. When he was done he cut Kimimaro off mid word by using his sand to drag him below ground.

The relieved breath caught in Chikako's throat when a forest of bones shot out from the quick sand a moment later. It didn't stop there though. The grotesque trees sprang up all over the place. Gaara had to save her and Lee again by lifting them up on his floating sand clouds.

The Suna nin thought he'd finally won, but Chikako knew better. Kimimaro's chakra was still there, speeding up one of the bone trees right behind Gaara. She used a Body Flicker to get to him and slam her palm into the mass of chakra that emerged, forming into their opponent. This time she hit him with all the chakra she had left, forcing it through his pathways. She could almost feel them get burned and ripped apart as he screamed.

"Fuck," she cursed, stumbling backwards and into Gaara. He caught her, but immediately handed her over to Lee, forming another sand shield around them.

"Pretty sure he's finally dead," Chikako mumbled, rubbing at her arm. She'd burned herself with that last attack. The damage wasn't nearly as bad as what she had inflicted on Kimimaro, but it still hurt like a bitch. Even worse there was an itching sensation right below her skin that wouldn't go away.

Gaara waited several minutes just to make sure they had actually won, and then lowered all of them down at the edge of the bone forest. Afterwards he handed her the thin, white piece of cloth that was usually draped over his shoulder and around his torso. She looked at him quizzically until he nodded towards the open wound in her side, then embarrassment hit her. She'd actually forgotten that one because of the stupid itching.

While she bandaged herself up, wishing Jiro would finally catch up so he could take care of the wound, Lee and Gaara talked. It seemed, just like her, the redhead thought they would have all ended up dead if Kimimaro had been at full strength. Lee, however, disagreed. Apparently Gai was of the opinion that luck was part of a shinobi's strength, and what Gai thought Lee treated as fact.

Gaara said something insulting about Gai, which had Lee explode into a mini rant that ended with the demand not to slight his sensei.

"You too become enraged if the one you admire is insulted," Gaara mused, referring to Kimimaro's devotion to Orochimaru. "He was the same as Naruto Uzumaki. The only difference is that the person Kimimaro admired isn't a good one."

"You don't have to admire a bad person," Lee told him, which had Chikako laughing.

"It's not that easy. When that person is all you have, all you know then it doesn't matter whether they're good or bad." She didn't turn to look, but she could practically feel Gaara's gaze boring into the side of her head, so she continued. "I have a friend - my first friend - who has been doing things that seem really bad, but it doesn't at all fit with who I think he is. I keep hoping that there is a good reason for his actions because they bring him into conflict with other people I care about, but in the end ... I don't know if I could truly turn my back on him, even if there isn't."

"No one can fight loneliness on their own," Gaara whispered. At that she did turn, and then scooted closer to give him a side hug, mindful of her wound. He seemed completely surprised and his whole body went rigid, but she hadn't been squished to death by sand yet, so it couldn't be that bad.


	19. V - Crossroad

**A/N:**

 _Scareease_

Thank you.

 _hyits me_

It's not just Sai's ROOT problem. I mean Chikako is the one that was supposed to be assassinated, so it's fair to assume Danzo wants both of them dead at this point. You'll get more Itachi don't worry, but like you said I have to fabricate some reasons first.

 _Drunkle Qrow_

Well, as long as it's the good kind of weird everything is fine. Someone should probably write a manual about how to deal with emotions though.

. . .

 **V - Crossroad**

"Shit!" Chikako cursed, sprang to her feet and then started running, shouting over her shoulder: "Wait for Sai please and then send him after me!"

Lee shouted something after her, but she didn't listen. The Kyubi's chakra had suddenly erupted further down the river, which meant Naruto was not only fighting, but also in trouble. He only ever pulled on the Tailed Beast's energy when he was in danger.

Chikako didn't really have a plan for what to do when she reached the blond. He was more powerful than her, especially now that she was almost out of chakra and had a bleeding wound in her right side. Still, she couldn't just sit around when she knew he was in trouble.

"You are in no shape to continue fighting," Gaara remarked. In her weakened state catching up with her hadn't taken him long. She was actually kind of surprised that Lee had stayed put, but that was likely the redhead's doing as well. The floating sand cloud he was standing on was surprisingly fast, and she was glad when his sand picked her up and placed her next to him. She wasn't only not in a condition to fight, she couldn't even run properly.

"Thanks," Chikako wheezed, then pointed him in the right direction. Floating meant they wouldn't have to follow the terrain and could cut their path short.

"Lee said Naruto followed after your third teammate, apparently he intends to seek out Orochimaru on his own," Gaara informed her. It sounded almost like a question, but with his general lack of inflection these things were hard to tell. Chikako decided to answer him just in case.

"The idiot wants power no matter the cost, and he's decided that an untrustworthy snake will serve him just fine, even if he is the mouse in that equation. Well, at least I hope that's it because if he actually believes the bullshit Orochimaru has promised him something is seriously wrong with his head and I'm still hoping hes just stupid and not insane."

A massive wave of chakra, both Sasuke's and Naruto's, yet not, hit them a few minutes later. Gaara clearly felt the pressure and maybe even the wrongness, but for Chikako it was like getting torn to shreds by gale-force winds. Her teammates' chakra was mixed with one anothers as well as the Kyubi's and that of the curse seal, which made for a very potent mix of opposing forces. It was laden with electricity, wind, fire, hate and hope alike, and it made her want to crawl into some deep dark cave to wait out the storm.

Chikako forced her breathing to remain as even as possible, but it was an uphill battle. Then the wave of chakra was gone, just as suddenly as it had come, and she lost her balance. She yelped in surprise, would have likely fallen to the ground if sand hadn't held her in place. Her head was pounding and her skin tingled as if thousands of insects crawled beneath it.

A drop of water hit her hand, then another, and then the sky opened up. It wasn't quite torrential, but the rain quickly soaked through their clothes and Gaara's sand, which forced him to land. Moving the sand when wet was a lot more difficult than he was used to. It slowed them down so much that Chikako decided to try running again. She wasn't particularly fast right now, but certainly faster than Gaara, who generally fought stationary.

Chikako thanked him again for his help, but then left him behind to reach her teammates. By now she was close enough to sense both of them regularly. Their chakra was back to normal, but also relatively weak. Naruto's more so than Sasuke's, which made her think the Uchiha had either already or was about to win their fight.

She pushed herself as hard as she could without relying on chakra. What she had left wouldn't be enough for more than one or maybe two Body Flickers, and if Naruto had indeed lost she might need to protect him.

The scene she arrived to wasn't nearly as bad as she had feared. The boys had stopped at the Valley of the End, an appropriately dramatic place to have their battle. Her blond teammate lay on the ground next to the river. His clothes torn and dirty, but physically he was completely fine. Sasuke stood over him, barely able to keep himself upright, yet he too didn't seem particularly hurt, only exhausted. There were two holes in the back of his shirt that made Chikako's eyes widen. The skin underneath was perfectly fine, but unlike Naruto the Uchiha didn't heal faster than normal people.

"That weird monster form gave you wings?" She guessed, half hoping that she was wrong, that he hadn't actually used the cursed seal, but of course she knew better. What else would have made his chakra feel like that?

Sasuke flinched when he heard her voice, apparently too distracted to notice her approach. She certainly hadn't been quiet, more concerned with speed than stealth.

"Yeah," he agreed, head still bowed and eyes focused on Naruto. There was a kunai in his left hand and he gripped it so hard that the knuckles turned white. "Sakura and Naruto already had their turn. Is it time for you to try and keep me in the village now?"

She laughed at that, shaking her head. It wasn't a happy sound, but her only other option would be to cry, and that would be even less helpful.

"That would be a tad hypocritical considering that I was leaving myself when I happened to hear about your stupid plan to join Orochimaru."

His eyes snapped up to hers, wide and disbelieving.

"You're defecting?"

She shrugged at him, then smiled.

"Well, unlike you I don't have much of a choice. There's a faction inside of Konoha that has, at least as far as I can tell, been operating independently of the Hokage. The leader wants me dead and since I have no prove of his involvement and no idea who exactly is under his command, getting out seemed like the only viable path." She nodded at his weapon and then at their blond teammate. "I take it your brother told you how to gain the Mangekyo?"

"You knew?" He asked a little surprised, but then laughed. "Of course you did. Sometimes I think he told you more than he ever told anyone else."

"You're the only other person I know of that he really cares about, and he always wanted to protect you from all the monsters lurking in the shadows of this world. I already knew better at that time, but trust me there is more than enough he didn't share with me either."

"How does becoming a monster himself and killing my clan protect me?"

"I don't know, but I'll find out." Chikako put a hand on her wakizashi, widening her stance a little. "But if you try to go trough with that," a glance at his kunai, "we're going to have a problem."

He laughed again, just as humorless as the first time, and shook some of the water out of his hair. It didn't help at all because the rain, even though it was lighter now, was still falling.

"I won't be his puppet. I'll gain power my own way."

She relaxed a little, letting go of her blade. Killing Sasuke wasn't really a viable option because of how much he meant to Itachi, and she'd kind of grown to like him herself, even if he was a massive idiot. Not to mention that Gaara had been right, she hard a hard time standing without showing how much her side hurt, fighting would likely only get her killed before she achieved anything. Still, she wouldn't just have stood aside while Sasuke murdered their teamamte.

"So instead you'll be Orochimaru's toy?" Chikako asked, one eyebrow raised. "That cursed seal isn't power. It's just the strings he'll use to maneuver you around."

"I know what he wants and I don't intent to give it to him. I will take everything he has to offer, then I will kill him," the Uchiha said with conviction.

It was more than Chikako had hoped, yet less than she wanted. He wasn't completely lost, but so, so blind.

"Let me know if you'd like some help with that last part. Killing Orochimaru is certainly on my todo list, but do you really think a man that is afraid of your brother can possibly give you the strength to kill him?"

"Why would one of the Sannin be afraid of Itachi? Jiraiya handled him just fine," Sasuke asked, eyes narrowed.

"Oh please," she scoffed in answer. "I heard all about that and that old pervert did not handle him. Itachi decided to leave, just like he did in Konoha. The Mangekyo is immensely powerful and only a handful of people have ever been able to activate it. Your brother is the only living Uchiha who possesses it and Orochiamru said himself that he wants you because of your eyes. Do you really think he would have settled for the regular Sharingan if he was stronger than Itachi?"

A long silence followed that statement, then Sasuke slowly turned away from her.

"That day ... he said if I were to master the Mangekyo there would be three people who could use it."

"Three?" Chikako breathed, disbelieve coloring her voice. If that was true that meant there was another Uchiha out there somewhere. One who had suffered enough and possibly killed the person closest to them to activate the Sharingan's advanced stage. That kind of power wasn't easy to hide and the Uchiha clan's dojutsu was well known throughout the Elemental Nations, yet she'd never heard about that person before. The massacre had been years ago, which implied whoever it was was deliberately keeping a low profile.

It could mean they were simply a recluse or maybe just didn't involve themselves with shinobi live. They could be hiding to avoid people like Orochimaru, but there were also reasons far more sinister to keep someone in the shadows. After all, good shinobi could become famous, but the best should be nothing more than whispers on the wind. Ghosts that only existed in the nightmares of their enemies.

Chikako didn't get a lot of time to contemplate all the negative implications that information could possibly have.

"Kakashi is coming this way," she told Sasuke. He'd only just entered the edge of her range, but he was moving fast and would reach them soon. The Uchiha grimaced at the news.

"Well? Are you just going to stand around and wait for him to drag you back?" Chikako asked with a raised eyebrow. He turned back towards her and she almost laughed at the confusion in his face.

"You're not going to stop me?"

"Of course not. I mean it's not like you'd just stay in Konoha. They'd have to put you in chains and lock you away to keep you put, and I'm decidedly against cages of any kind," she huffed. "I'd rather you come with me than go to the snake because he's a twisted bastard, who does terrible things to children, but you already know that."

"I will do anything to get the strength I need," Sasuke told her.

"Yeah sure, whatever," she said annoyed, but perfectly aware that she couldn't change his mind. "Just don't come to me crying when he makes you torture puppies and sticks needles in you because I promise those things will happen, and he will laugh like the maniac he is while he does it."

Her voice had turned bitter at the end, which made Sasuke give her a quizzical look. She shooed him away though. Kakashi was too close and it was far too late to tell the Uchiha in detail just how deranged his new master was. If the things he already knew and could guess at didn't deter him the details of her past wouldn't either. He was so fixated on wanting to kill his brother that it had become his sole reason for living.

"This time everyone survived and because they followed you of their own volition I'll make an exception, but if you ever go after anyone I care about Sasuke," she paused to give him a hard look so he would know she meant it, "I will hunt you down like the mad dog you're turning into, and unlike you I won't play games."

Chikako wanted both Orochimaru and Dazo dead, but she wasn't consumed by the need to kill them. They would die eventually, by her hand or someone else's. She didn't need them to suffer to find peace of mind, she just needed them gone.

Sasuke was trying to prove something. His revenge was a blazing inferno of emotions that slowly but surely consumed him from the inside out. If he didn't stop himself there would be nothing left but a hollow shell by the time he was done. If he ever actually managed to kill Itachi he would also destroy his only reason to live, and who knew what someone that broken might decide to do next.

Her revenge was cold. It was something that needed to happen at some point, but she could wait. Her priority was the safety of the pack, not the death of her enemies. Sasuke was willing to cut all ties of friendship to get what he wanted, but she would not. Chikako's path was slower and she might not make it to the end before her time was up, but she also would be more than just an avenger. She had seen enough monsters to know there was no point to turning into one herself just so she could take others down.

"You're like Gaara pre-Naruto-intervention, only worse!" She called after Sasuke's retreating form, and then sat down next to the blonde to wait for their sensei. He probably wouldn't be happy with her, but she wouldn't leave without Sai. They'd simply have to hope that saving the ink bird for an escape would prove to be as useful as it sounded.

Gaara caught up with her almost at the same time as Kakashi did. By now the rain had stopped completely, which might be really good or really bad for her, depending on which side the redhead chose.

"Is he ...?" Kakashi asked, and Chikako hastened to inform him that Naruto was fine. He crouched down and picked the blond up slowly, carefully, as if he might fall apart if Kakashi moved too fast.

"Sasuke's committed to his idiocy, but on the bright side he chose not to kill Naruto. I'm not sure I could have stopped him if he had," she added, putting some pressure on her side with her right hand. The wound had started to bleed again while she'd run to reach her teammates, but she'd ignored it until now.

"You okay pup?" Pakkun asked in his usual gruff tone. He'd let Kakashi to them and was now inspecting the scars Naruto and Sasuke had ripped into the stone.

"I'll live," she assured him while Gaara moved closer, presumably to confirm that Naruto was indeed still alive. She sensed Sai and Jiro in the distance, but no one else was following them. It seemed if worst came to worst the numbers would at least be equal, provided Naruto stayed unconscious.

Kakashi maneuvered the blond onto his back and then turned towards Chikako.

"Let's go home," he said with a tired sigh. That alone made her feel guilty. He already blamed himself and she'd just drive the knife deeper, even if that was the last thing she wanted.

"Can't," she told him, taking a step backwards and away. "Root wants me dead so I'll be taking an extended vacation."

Kakashi's typical slouch suddenly vanished, replaced by an alert posture in the blink of an eye. She could even feel his chakra rising in that storm it only ever did if he was really upset.

"Give me a name," he growled, gaze locked with hers as if he could get the information he wanted straight from her mind just by staring at her. She had no doubt that he would kill whoever she told him to in that moment, and ask questions later, if at all. It almost made her move towards him again. She really, really wanted to hug him, but couldn't risk getting too close just in case.

"You know it's not that easy, probably better than me," she sighed. "Sai got the order, but he warned me instead of going through with it. We're both leaving Kakashi. We have to. There's no telling who Danzo has under his thumb and Tsunade doesn't even know he exists, much less who she can trust. I left a note with everything I know in a code only Ibiki can read. Jiro should have placed it in your flat."

He offered to talk to the Godaime, make sure he wouldn't be sent out without her, so that he could protect her. Even told her she could live with him. Chikako stopped him before he got much further. Seeing Kakashi like this was too hard. He'd saved her, he'd watched over her and he'd taught her that family was more than blood. They both knew she was right, that going back was too dangerous for her, he just didn't want to believe it.

"I promise I'll be smarter than Sasuke, so please don't get yourself killed on my behalf and make sure Naruto doesn't either," she told Kakashi, forcing herself to smile. She couldn't quite keep the tears at bay, but it would have to do. Then she turned to Gaara and added: "You too Panda Eyes, you're a lot more likable when you're not liable to murder anyone in your vicinity."

Chikako used the last of her chakra to body flicker backwards and then sprinted towards Sai before either of her companions could react. The boy had waited on the edge of the forest and by the time she reached him a giant ink bird sat next to him. They climbed onto it and were in the air only seconds later.

She turned around when she felt Gaara's chakra surge, only to see a massive sand wall between them and Kakashi. Chikako had no idea if the redhead was just being careful or if her sensei had actually tried to stop her, but she was grateful for his help all the same. It was good to know that he had her back.

"Where are we going?" Sai asked her after a few seconds in the air. One of his sleeves was torn off and there were some scratches on his arms, but otherwise he looked completely unharmed.

"Don't care," Chikako yawned. "You're flying so you chose. Just wake me when we get there, and maybe make sure I don't fall off before then."


	20. VI - Heading into the Unknown

**A/N:**

 _Scarease_

Not quite, but I foresee traveling in their future.

 _Zynis_

Hey, thank you and welcome back.

 _lilith-thetiny-monster_

I kind of feel bad for all the people left behind, especially Kakashi. Sasuke is indeed an idiot, but then he isn't the only one. The Sandaime should have dealt with Danzo ages ago, and if Chikako had actually talked to anyone about what she knew things might have worked out better (or worse - I can never tell before I start writing it down).

 _heyits me_

Sai really got the short end of that stick, but then that's what you get when you make friends with weird people like Chikako.

 _furgetfulFollower_

Thank you. I have to disappoint you on the Sai Chikako ship though, it's not planned at all. In fact no romance is, which of course doesn't mean it can't happen, but don't get your hopes up.

 _RedHairedOctavia_

I know torture is a whole other ball park than just witnessing (or inflicting) death, but Sasuke has done enough of the latter by now. I don't see him suddenly come to the conclusion that Orochimaru is a lot worse than he expected, tuck his tail and run.

 _Drunkle Qrow_

For now I'm going to play around with some of the filler episodes from the anime and maybe a movie or two. I also have something planned that isn't cannon at all and most likely needs to happen before Naruto gets back to Konoha. That said, I'm almost certain that I will skip some time later on, but don't expect the Shippuden part for a while.

 _zairyuu & sarahmchugs_

Thanks and welcome to both of you.

. . .

 **VI - Heading into the Unknown**

Chikako woke up as a freezing cold breeze hit her face. She was on her feet almost before her eyes opened to take in her surroundings, breathing calm and hand on the hilt of her wakizashi. Sai sat at the mouth of a small cave, his back against the wall. He'd clearly been keeping watch at some point, but was fast asleep by now.

"Idiot, you should have woken me up," Chikako huffed under her breath.

He knew better than that. Nice gestures didn't mean that much when they got people killed. The fact that he hadn't made a fire despite the cold suggested that he was being cautious, which didn't fit with trying to keep watch even though he was too exhausted to stay awake. Sai was also generally too practical for something like this, so what was going on?

A flicker of his chakra several dozen meters away from the cave gave her a better idea. It seemed he had created ink mice to guard the perimeter and alert him in case something happened. That would probably be enough to wake him up. Still, it wasn't particularly safe.

"Hey, Jiro?" She whispered. "How long have I been out?"

The little tanuki transformed in a heartbeat, clinging to her arm.

"Two days," he told her in an earnest tone. "Boy's been eating Soldier Pills. I told him he couldn't keep going like that, but after you stopped breathing he wouldn't listen."

"Come again," she blinked at him stupidly. Jiro huffed, puffing up is fur, and still not letting go of her arm.

"You stupid human didn't tell us how badly you were hurt, so you lost too much blood before I could stitch you up properly."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh," he grumbled, sounding almost as grumpy as Pakun usually did. He also squeezed her poor limb even tighter, but Chikako didn't try to shake him off. She healed faster than average, sure, but bleeding out was certainly one of those things that would kill her like anybody else. She'd known that. She'd even been concerned about it at the time, but then she had just grit her teeth and ignored the pain like she always did.

Even so many years after ANBU had rescued her from Orochimaru, after becoming friends with people as fiercely loyal and protective as Itachi, Kakashi and Ibiki, it still felt odd when someone worried about her. And of course that list was longer now, wasn't it? Sai certainly hadn't warned her and refused his orders, forcing him to defect, just because Danzo was an asshole. She'd made friends or was a least on friendly terms with quite a lot of people, many of whom she'd just left behind without explanation.

They deserved better, but telling them would put them at risk. It was bad enough to place the burden of knowledge on Kakashi, Ibiki and Gaara. All three could take care of themselves and wouldn't rush into stupid situations. Chikako hadn't even planned to tell the redhead, he'd just been there when she'd explained things to her sensei, but maybe it was for the best. After all as Suna's jinchuriki and the late Kazekage's son he might actually hold some political sway and would be willing to shelter Sai and her instead of handing them over to Konoha. Not that she was going to ask him for a favor like that as long as there were other choices, but it was a good thing to keep in mind.

She pulled Jiro a little closer, snuggling her face into his warm fur and ignoring his half-hearted protests. They sat like that for almost an hour before she asked him to go find the nearest settlement and steal some warm clothes for her and Sai.

"I'm no thief!" He protested. "I will pay for what I take."

Chikako just smiled at him. She'd tried to explain to him that transforming pebbles or leaves into money wasn't the same as paying. The things were worthless and would transform back eventually. Actually, she wasn't even convinced he really thought he wasn't stealing or if he just liked to pretend. Not that it mattered either way as long as he did what she'd asked for.

Sai had brought them to Iron, a place that was nothing but rock and snow. The first thing he should have done after finding shelter was leave her behind and make sure they had food, water and a way to stay warm. But of course Danzo had taught him how to be a tool, not a person. So instead he'd made sure she was safe not matter what, which meant he had to stay to protect her and Jiro had to stay in case his medical knowledge was needed. After all tools didn't take care of themselves, they just did what they were supposed to do.

She'd talked to Sai about this more than once, that she was his friend, not his commanding officer. He said he understood, but when it came down to it he always fell back on what he'd been trained to do. Obey. Don't questions orders. The mission is worth more than your life. And those were just the things she knew about. With that stupid seal in place he couldn't really share anything with her.

As far as Chikako was aware the only time he'd ever broken those rules was when Danzo had ordered him to kill her. Before that she suspected he had taken some liberties with the way he interpreted what he was supposed to do, and she knew for a fact that he had avoided getting intelligence on or from her. She'd thought it meant he'd broken free of his chains, but in reality he'd just chosen a different master.

Sai probably didn't even know how to function on his own. She hadn't either. The only difference was that the master she had chosen instead of Orochimaru had been too lost to ever pull on the chain, therefore forcing her to make her own choices. Back then she would have done whatever Kakashi asked of her, but he hadn't just not asked. He hadn't even been there most of the time, except as a distant presence to watch over her.

Chikako couldn't do the same for Sai though. She wasn't strong enough and he wouldn't understand. Chikako had been tortured, mistreated, used for experiments and forced to kill other children. Orochimaru had liked to play mind games with her, but he'd never truly broken her. She had no doubt that he could have, he'd just never cared enough to go through the trouble. It wasn't like she had been a particularly difficult prisoner, and keeping her chained up or in a cage had been an easy thing to at the time.

Sai on the other hand wasn't just a byproduct of what had happened to him. He was specifically made that way. Even with her limited knowledge of ROOT it was quite obvious that unlike Kakashi, who had been recruited at some point after graduating from the Academy, Sai had been in the organization before he became a shinobi.

One day she'd find out what exactly Danzo's many sins were. She had no illusions that she could make him pay for every single one, but she could make sure that those that had suffered because of him weren't forgotten.

Jiro was back over an hour later in the form of a human boy, with a bundle in his arms. Chikako didn't even bat an eye, having recognized his chakra before he came into view. He generally preferred to transform into small objects, but she knew he could become just about anything as long as he had the chakra to make up for the difference in mass. Sai's ink beasts apparently hadn't gotten that memo though.

Chikako had to save the tanuki from a lion-dog, splattering the snow with ink. At first she thought Sai had prepared some kind of trap for the mice to trigger, but apparently he'd woken up and called the thing himself.

"Wow, you're even worse than me," she chuckled, grabbing one of the dark gray cloaks Jiro had brought and throwing it at him. The tanuki turned back into a leather bracelet after reporting on the village and she let him absorb some of her chakra in thanks.

"I apologize," Sai said, looking at the ground.

"For what?" Chikako asked, but didn't give him time to answer. The only thing he should possibly be sorry for was not taking care of himself, and she seriously doubted that that was what he meant. "You got us out safe and apparently you're better at keeping watch while asleep than I thought you were."

"We are not safe," he told her, but didn't elaborate. They both knew what he meant. Nobody was ever truly safe, especially not a shinobi. Only very few ninja died due to natural causes and even fewer because of old age. Chikako knew that outlook was even worse for the two of them. There was more than likely at least one member of ROOT on the hunt for them and if they got especially unlucky Tsunade would declare them nukenin. Either as a cover as not to make Danzo suspicious, or because she didn't believe what little information Chikako had left behind on the councilman's dealings.

"I know," she sighed. "Let's get ourselves some armor while we're in the land of samurai, and then head into Hot Water through Rice. After that we can just keep going east, sail across the sea and past Water." Chikako shrugged a little helpless. She didn't really have a plan other than not to get killed. They needed to get away from Fire, at least for a while, but at some point she wanted information and that would be hard to come by on the other side of the world.

Iron was the only land that had a military made up of samurai instead of ninja. The country had managed to stay politically neutral and hadn't been involved in any of the shinobi wars. There was actually a general understanding that ninja didn't meddle with the Land of Iron, not that Chikako held out much hope that Danzo would adhere to that.

Sai had flown them from the Valley of the End, which meant tracking them would be incredibly hard, but it wasn't like they could just stay in Iron. The land was rather cold and unforgiving, not to mention that the samurai didn't take kindly to any and all ninja, but especially those that weren't supposed to be in their nation.

. . .

Chikako and Sai headed towards the biggest town between their hiding place and Rice, but waited until two hours after sundown before they entered. She would have preferred to buy what they needed, if only to avoid leaving a trail, but they didn't have the money. Instead they used their shinobi training to sneak around unseen and break into several shops.

First was food. They were both hungry, and Sai didn't have any rations left. They ate their fill, but didn't take anything with them. Hunting wasn't particularly hard when one was a ninja and packaged food would just be extra weight and volume they'd have to carry around.

After that came clothing and armor. Chikako usually wore a standard Konoha uniform, which had been fine so far, but now it would draw attention she couldn't afford. The only thing she kept was the black, full-body mesh suit she wore beneath the uniform. She'd found a thigh-length, sleeveless yukata to wear over it. The material was heavy, dark red, and resistant against fire, tearing and cutting. Those qualities were the reason she'd chosen it despite the color, which wouldn't blend all that well into most environments. Sai had commented that at least blood wouldn't be visible on it, and she still didn't know whether he'd meant that or tried to make a joke.

The yukata wouldn't restrict her range of motion, yet still provide protection. It also served to hide the weapon pouches strapped to her thighs, while slits on either side allowed her to easily access them. It was kept closed by the thin, white cloth Gaara had given her to bandage her side. She'd washed it in the snow earlier to get the blood out and had intended to use it as a scarf until they were out of the cold, but it seemed more fitting this way. She'd made the knot at the back, so that the long ends wouldn't be in her way. A thick, black cord to which she'd fastened her blades sat on top of it, which kind of gave the impression of a regular obi and obi jime.

Instead of the standard shinobi sandals, Chikako picked out thigh high leather boots. The material was strong enough to provide protection, yet supple enough to let her move in them without a problem. She also found a pair of fingerless, elbow length gloves made from the same leather. They'd probably been made as a set, and very conveniently fit Chikako almost perfectly.

Leather would need more care than most materials, but it was also more robust and had the added benefit of being waterproof. Sai and her would be on the run for a while, so picking clothing that wouldn't fall apart after just a few weeks seemed kind of important.

In terms of actual armor Chikako picked up some pieces from a rust red samurai armor. Greaves that protected her shins and came with a movable part for the knees as well as forearm guards. Also shoulder armor made up of three individual plates so it wouldn't restrict her movement.

Anything more than that would have been too heavy. Protection was good, but in the end she relied more on speed than anything else. This way Chikako would be able to use her arms and legs to block without being slowed down.

Sai kept his sandals and gloves, but picked out black trousers and a dark gray shirt made of thicker material than he usually wore. He also chose the same pieces of armor as Chikako had done, the only difference being that his were charcoal and of a slightly different style.

What surprised her was the bow he found and decided to keep. It seemed like a curious choice, especially considering that projectiles were more often than not simply meant as distractions. A single arrow could easily be dodged in a fight. Then again, a bow had a considerably higher range than throwing weapons. The arrow would also fly faster and Sai generally preferred to keep some distance between himself and his opponents. The tanto he kept strapped to his back was more of a last resort than his go to weapon.

When they were done neither of them looked like a samurai or ninja. It was an odd blend of styles that would hopefully obscure their abilities and origins, even when the weather didn't permit them to hide under cloaks.

Their last stop was a book store. As Chikako picked up two books on sealing, Sai selected several maps as well as an illustrated glossary on plants. The latter listed mostly medicinal usages, but also mentioned application for poisons, and in some cases cooking.

While the two shinobi had gotten supplies, Jiro had played lookout and distracted anyone who came too close. The little tanuki had entirely too much fun playing tricks on people. By the time they finished up some of the townspeople were telling ghost stories that involved vanishing or moving objects. It wasn't very subtle, but it might hide the fact that some items had been stolen, at least for a while. It also didn't screamed 'prankster', which was a lot better than 'nukenin on the run'.

. . .

They crossed into the northern part of Rice without a problem. It was still cold, but not nearly as harsh as Iron's countryside. Apparently Orochimaru had conquered the land some time ago and now called it Land of Sound. His village, Otogakure, was pretty close to Fire's border, which meant the shinobi presence in the north of the country wasn't all that high.

Sai and Chikako easily evaded the few ninja that they came across. She didn't know if Orochimaru didn't have the people or simply didn't care to protect his land better, but it made her life easier so she wouldn't complain. They still slept in the forest instead of looking for inns to minimize the chances of drawing attention though. Ibiki would be proud - right after he got over the fact that they had defected.

Unlike Fire, Sound had several mountains, which together with the unfamiliar terrain meant they didn't move very fast. Of course they weren't pressed for time in the sense that they had to be somewhere, but their slow progress gave potential pursuers the chance to catch up with them.

Thanks to Sai's ink bird there wasn't an actual trail to follow from Fire to Iron, but as the only country without a shinobi village in the area it was a rather obvious choice. The same was true for their journey through Rice and into Hot Water.

To the east and west of Iron were Earth and Lightning. Both had a very strong shinobi presence and a really bad relationship with Konoha. The best Chikako and Sai could hope for if they got caught there was a quick death, but torture and interrogation were far more likely. To the north was snow, which, as the name suggested, had an even harsher climate than Iron.

In theory they could have tried to go south west to reach Wind, but they would have had to cross Fire, Earth or Rain to do so. The first two were out of the question for obvious reasons, and the last because rumor had it that nobody got through Rain unseen. Chikako didn't know why, but she wasn't willing to find out with nowhere to run. The fact that Ame shinobi were notoriously short tempered and frequently got hired for assassinations only cemented that decision.

In any case, they really only had one way to go and any halfway decent tracker would know it, trail or no trail. Accordingly they slept in shifts and made sure not to waste chakra, which was apparently not what their pursuers had expected.

Chikako noticed them on the third evening. They were fast, but not particularly stealthy and at best mid to high-level chunin. She warned her companions long before the four man team reached them, and then hid in a tree while Jiro transformed into her and pretended to sleep. Sai had one of his ink lion-dogs lay close to the tanuki and draped both of their cloaks over it to hide it from view, before taking up position in another tree.

He couldn't practically disappear the way Chikako could, but he was still pretty stealthy, especially compared to the other four shinobi. They wore black cloaks and white masks like ANBU, but those would have brought the two genin in or at least given them a chance to surrender before trying to kill them. They also wouldn't have been as easy to detect.

Granted, not every ANBU was as good as Kakashi when it came to stealth, speed and tracking, but none of them would have been so obvious. For shinobi this team was incredibly loud, they also didn't have a very good grip on their chakra. Their priority was speed above all else, which made them about as subtle as Naruto.

Chikako waited until after one of them had thrown a kunai at the concealed lion-dog just to make sure they were really ROOT and not just some rookie ANBU team. It seemed Danzo wanted them dead as soon as possible and was confident that the numbers advantage was enough to take her and Sai out. She wondered if he just severely underestimated them or if it was her that underestimated his puppets, but she didn't care enough to find out.

Unlike people like Naruto or Sasuke, neither she nor Sai had the need to prove themselves. They didn't care whether or not they could win in a fair fight, and were perfectly willing to play dirty, which was why Chikako worked so much better with the artist than her former teammates. When it was kill or be killed it shouldn't matter how the opponent died, just as long as he did.

Jiro disappeared before the kunai even hit the lion-dog, thereby neatly avoiding the spray of ink. It blinded one of their pursuers as the chakra construct exploded, which Chikako used as her chance to body flicker behind the guy at the rear. She put her tanto through his back, piercing the heart, before he got a chance to react. Meanwhile Sai shot an arrow through the eye of another one, proving that his aim was impeccable no matter which weapon he used. The whole thing took barely two seconds, and left them with one blinded opponent and one that had apparently not known that Chikako could form chakra barriers.

While Sai killed the one that stumbled around trying to get ink out of his eyes with another lion-dog, she engaged the fourth in close combat. He used a bo to fight, and had tried to ram the end into her gut. The guy was actually fast enough that she hadn't managed to dodge in time and reflexively created a chakra barrier. There had been so much power behind the strike that it easily broke the hastily formed shield, but the resistance had been unexpected enough to surprise him.

Chikako used the distraction to grab the staff with one hand to pull him closer, while she slashed at his neck with her tanto. The cut bled, but it wasn't quite deep enough to be fatal. The point was moot however when one of Sai's kunai hit him in the back of the head a moment later.

"That was weird," Chikako commented. She knew that unlike ANBU, ROOT wasn't exclusively made up of elite shinobi, but this fight had seemed far too easy.

"It is possible that the councilman is unaware of any ability you haven't explicitly displayed during the exams," Sai said with a smile. She stared at him for a few seconds and then burst into laughter. Of course she'd guessed that he kept things hidden from Danzo, but this was a lot more than she'd expected. It seemed her very specialized fight against Neji had not only won Kakashi some money, but also served to hide most of her skill set. Even if the councilman had information on the preliminary fights that meant all Danzo definitively knew about her was that she was fast. He could guess at the poison resistance or some jutsu that shielded her against gas as well as the fact that she had learned the Gentle Fist katas, but that was pretty much it. He'd probably reevaluate how dangerous they were after his four hunters didn't come back, but for now it would give them a very nice head start.

It was a good thing Danzo was so arrogant. He put a seal on his people to keep them from talking, but he didn't actually think they could outsmart him, or he would have known not to trust any information Sai had given him.

"Let's take two masks and hide the bodies," Chikako decided. The things would help to hide their identities and with the cloaks they might even be able to pass themselves off as ANBU. It wouldn't be enough to gain access to anything or get away with giving orders, but outside of villages civilians and lower level shinobi would likely let them pass without question.

She chose a fox, whereas Sai picked a mask that looked like an owl. Afterwards they made quick work of the bodies, then found a new place to rest for the night.

Sai had first watch, and, she found out when it was her turn, had apparently used that time to paint the masks. Chikako hadn't even known he had colors, but the results were certainly impressive.

For his mask he'd drawn a black triangle on the forehead. He'd also rimmed the eyes and beak in black, using one continuous line and sharp angles. The lower part of the beak was colored in a shade of grayish blue. He'd used the same color to mimic the facial features of a horned owl from above the eyes to the tufts of feathers that looked like horns. It made the mask seem attentive and somehow disapproving, which meant it had more of an expression than Sai usually did. Chikako kind of wondered if it was supposed to be a hint. After all he was only in this mess because of her.

He'd rimmed the eyes of her mask in black just like with his own, giving the round holes sharp angles. Underneath was a thicker red marking that accentuated the form even more. It looked like blood on the white mask and was the only color he'd used. The mouth was a wide grin, and in place of eyebrows he'd drawn short almost triangular shapes. It was a lot more simplistic than his owl mask, but it made the fox look like a mischievous trickster. The expression was halfway between friendly and menacing, and seemed like it might go either way depending on how the light hit it.

Chikako had never seen ANBU masks like that, which was a shame because they were brilliant. The regular versions always seemed blank, no matter what shape and markings they had. These on the other hand perfectly hit that spot where they clearly were not alive, but looked like they might move. It made her uncomfortable just looking at them.

Ibiki would love having something like that for T&I, and Chikako really hoped she'd see him again so she could show him. It would be nice to think 'when' she saw him again, but as things stood 'if' was probably more appropriate. The encounter with those four ROOT operatives made things seem easy, but in reality even those guys could have meant a lot of trouble had they been given correct information about their targets. Whoever tracked them down next would likely be stronger and at the very least a lot more careful.


	21. VI - An Unexpected Discovery

**A/N:**

 _Scarease_

Thank you. I'm not in need of any more OCs just now, and if that changes I'll make them up as I go, but thanks for the offer anyway.

 _forgetfulFollower_

Well, I hadn't actually planned to do anything more with that team than give Chikako and Sai a warning that things were going to get worse, but then I read your comment and had an idea so ... there you go.

 _Guest_

Thank you. Sai is indeed an awesome friend (which surprised me a little, considering that he wasn't supposed to be anything more than a person Chikako could relate to).

 _Episoph_

Sai isn't really the reckless type, but then they likely won't run into Orochimaru again for a while yet so ... maybe?

 _lilith-thetiny-monster_

Me too. I mean a have an outline of where I want them to go and what I want them to do, but things rarely work out the way I plan them so we'll see.

. . .

 **VI - An Unexpected Discovery**

The next morning was rather quiet, which was bad because Chikako had a hard time not falling asleep again with nothing to occupy her mind. Having only two people to keep watch meant neither of them got a lot of sleep, and it was certainly taking it's toll.

Jiro didn't have the necessary skills to help out because while he was stealthy himself, he wouldn't notice anyone sneaking past him either, and Sai couldn't spare the chakra to constantly keep up a perimeter with his ink beasts. They'd need to take a whole day off from traveling soon to recover, but as it was their progress was already ridiculously slow.

Chikako wished, not for the first time, that the books on sealing were more helpful. Setting up a sealing array that reacted to chakra and functioned like an alarm would be incredibly useful - if only she could figure out how to make it work.

Sai yawned, stretching like a cat. He'd taken to doing that the past two days or so. Apparently not having to bolt upright the second he was awake was quite the luxury. Chikako certainly preferred it when he took his time to get up. Sudden movements tended to make her nervous lately, and her instinctive reaction was to throw pointy things first and ask questions later. Luckily Sai was both fast and prepared for friendly fire. He'd changed her nickname from Weirdo to Scaredy Cat though.

Breakfast consisted mostly of berries and a few nuts. They only ate one real meal in the evenings before going to sleep because there wasn't time for anything else. Chikako would go hunting or fishing, while Jiro searched for mushrooms, eggs or fruits, and Sai prepared a fire.

The boy, it turned out, was a surprisingly good cook, which was nice because Chikako got incredibly bored when preparing food. It wasn't like she couldn't follow a recipe, but more that she tended to rush through the task to get it over with. Sai on the other hand would learn all of the steps by heart and then meticulously follow every single one. He had a really hard time improvising though, which meant Chikako often had to intervene because the middle of nowhere in Sound wasn't exactly where one found a lot of spices, herbs or kitchen utensils. What they ended up with couldn't hold a candle to the dishes served in an Akimichi restaurant, but they certainly wouldn't starve either.

The lack of good food and amenities wasn't the only change their new status as (most likely) nukenin had brought. They'd decided to constantly wear their new masks. It wasn't the most comfortable thing, but worked well enough. They'd also started calling each other Owl and Fox, not mentioning anyone else's names either. It wasn't that they expected to be overheard in the woods, but it was a good habit to get into. They'd be around other people soon enough and the best disguise was useless when they just gave away their names or those of the people they knew.

Some random shinobi wasn't likely to know who Shikamaru or Hinata were, but names like Tsunade Senju or Kakashi Hatake were pretty likely to ring a few bells. in fact, anything that could connect them to Konoha was dangerous, and therefore something to be avoided.

It was a good policy, and hopefully one that would keep them safe, but it also resulted in a lot of silence or cryptic conversations. Chikako wasn't very good with the former, but Jiro and Sai tended not to get the references with the latter. To avoid that problem she started working on a cipher they could use.

They all knew Konoha Standard of course, but that was out for obvious reasons. Chikako could also have taught them the code she used with Ibiki, but that seemed like a breach of trust. That one was supposed to be only for the two of them and she couldn't ask Ibiki for permission at the moment. So instead she invented something new with the input of her two companions.

The whole thing was a lot more complex than any other code she knew because it was meant to allow actual conversations, and not just a quick exchange of information. Coming up with gestures and corresponding symbols to be written down or sequences that could be tapped was a lot of fun though, especially for Jiro who felt rather useless most of the time.

The days were all pretty much the same; eat, travel, eat, sleep. In between there was gathering food, washing in a stream or pond if they could, working on the cipher as they ran, and sometimes they spent some time talking or reading when they settled down for the night.

Today was a little different though. They would likely cross into Hot Water before sunset, which meant avoiding border patrols. Or at least that had been the plan.

They'd been moving a little slower after noon, so Chikako could better concentrate on chakra signatures in the surrounding area. She stopped short in the middle of a nonverbal conversation with Jiro when she felt Naruto's chakra at the very edge of her range. It was just a flicker, flaring up for a second and then gone again just as fast. She couldn't feel him at all afterwards, but by now she knew better than to disregard her senses.

Instead she informed her two companions and headed in the direction of her former teammate. He shouldn't be in Sound. The likelihood that Tsunade had allowed him to go after Sasuke again was rather slim, which didn't leave a whole lot of other reasons for him to be there, none of them good.

It took them almost a full hour to reach what looked like the entrance to an underground structure, which said a lot about the amount of chakra Naruto had to have been using. The blond was still there, but so were Sakura and Jiraiya. Definitely not an official mission then, but maybe not quite unsanctioned either.

If Tsunade had sent them out there would at the very least be a tracker with the team, but more likely she wouldn't have Naruto - and especially Sakura - allowed to go. The blond was strong, but he was also practically hopeless when it came to stealth and infiltration, not to mention that he was too valuable to Konoha to be delivered to the enemy on a silver platter. And Sakura had, as far as Chikako was aware, no noticeable skills whatsoever. According to Sai she was more hindrance than help on any mission above D-rank.

What puzzled her was Jiraiya. He was a Sanin, a sealmaster and acted in some official capacity for Konoha, information gathering most likely considering how much time he spent outside of the village. He'd taken Naruto with him to search for Tsunade, which turned out to be a good call because otherwise Itachi would have gotten her teammate.

Assuming Jiraiya had know of that danger at the time, which was likely because Kakashi had definitely known something before confronting Itachi, he was protecting Naruto. Taking him on a trip to look for an ally was one thing, but she doubted that the sealmaster would take him into Sound. But then Naruto wouldn't have taken no for an answer, would he?

She shook her head and sighed. The idiot had probably decided to go after Sasuke himself and just happened to run into Jiraiya on his way out. Or maybe the Sanin had been watching him. In any case this wasn't an official mission, but Naruto had avoided defection by having the older man with him. Lucky bastard.

Chikako trusted that the Sanin could keep her former teammate safe and stayed out of sight. She couldn't really judge what was going on beneath their feet with nothing but her sense of chakra to go on, but it seemed whatever had happened an hour ago was over now. The group was moving around with someone Chikako didn't recognize and never came close to any of the other chakra signatures.

She'd taken to keep her stealth techniques (except for Camouflage) active at all times since they'd defected. It was good practice, and improved both her concentration and chakra reserves. Sai did the same to a lesser degree. He did fine when it came to masking scent, sound and body heat, but could only suppress his chakra and not completely blend it into the environment because he didn't sense it nearly as well as her (of course neither did anyone else she knew). His control also wasn't good enough for the Camouflage jutsu, but that would have to wait until they had the time to work on it.

When she felt Naruto's group approach the entrance to the underground structure she huddled further into the shadows and signaled for Sai to leave. Chikako felt confident that Jiraiya wouldn't notice her, but she wasn't so sure about him. This was definitely a situation in which better safe than sorry applied.

Not that Sai minded. He didn't exactly have a burning desire to see any of the three Konoha nin, and was in fact quite happy to stay away from Sakura. The two had never really managed to get along and instead usually ignored each other. The girl hadn't been particularly receptive to Sai's attempts at friendship, and he'd stopped trying after the third time Sakura had mostly stood on the sidelines during fights.

There was a rumbling sound before Naruto, followed by the rest of the group, sprinted towards the surface. Behind them a cloud of dust billowed into the air, and the ground caved in, sealing the entrance to the underground structure.

The fourth chakra signature turned out to belong to a girl with long orange hair. She seemed about the same age as Naruto and was clearly distressed. Tears were running down her face in rivers, two clean paths cutting through the dirt and grime that marked the rest of her skin and clothing.

They were all dirty, but looked mostly unharmed. The only exception Naruto who's back was soaked in blood. It looked fresh, still wet, yet none of the liquid dripped to the ground beneath him. Either it wasn't his or the wound had already healed enough to stop the bleeding.

Jiraiya didn't linger. He summoned a big, mint green toad with darker markings on his back, and ordered all of them to climb on. The girl wasn't happy, but Naruto said something to her and she stopped crying.

They left only seconds later, presumably for Konoha, but Chikako waited several minutes before calling Sai back. She informed him of what she'd seen, sensed and theorized. He agreed with her assessment of the situation and then nodded towards the pile of rubble the other group had left in it's wake.

"You want to go in," he said. It should have been a question, but his tone suggested that he was just making the statement for forms sake. Sai often had a hard time understanding her when it came to anything that related to friendships or emotional reasoning, but in other respects he knew her scarily well. Chikako was curious by nature, and doubly so where it concerned her allies and enemies.

She gave him a sheepish grin.

"Getting the rocks out of the way is going to take a while and there are still people alive in there. Hostile I'd wager."

Sai didn't even bother to answer that comment. Instead he walked over to the mess and started to dig. The boy definitely deserved a medal for putting up with her.

. . .

They had to jump out of the way of more falling dirt several times, but after hours and hours of digging (Jiro had helpfully transformed into a shovel) the entrance was clear.

Chikako went in first, Sai at her back, while the tanuki turned back into a bracelet to rest.

The whole place was dark, with surprisingly high ceilings, held up by stone pillars. It seemed like most of the structure was still intact, but clearly not in the best shape. The floors and walls, rough stone and brick, had seen a lot of fighting judging by all the holes, scratches and dark discolorations. Chikako couldn't actually smell blood in the air, but she was willing to bet that Kakashi would have been able to.

Most of the damage didn't look fresh either. This place was old and layered in dust. Orochimaru didn't much care about the comfort of others, but he always kept the places he worked at and the the people he worked on clean and in good health. At least if he expected to need them in the future. The state of this structure suggested that whatever he had done here had lost it's appeal a while ago. Maybe he'd finished the research or given it up as a failed experiment.

"It looks abandoned," Sai said in a low tone that didn't carry. They both knew it wasn't really. She'd told him about the chakra signatures she felt down here. Then there were the still burning candles that lighted up some of the corridors and rooms. Someone had to replace and light them regularly.

Orochimaru had left her and the other children behind back in Konoha. She'd assumed that it was because he had been in a hurry to get away, but maybe he just didn't care enough about his experiments to clean up when he was done with them. At least a few of the rats in this cage had clearly been free to move around though. Why had they stayed?

As they walked they came across a myriad of traps. Most had already snapped shut, likely been triggered by Naruto's group. They were all ridiculously primitive. Chikako and Sai had no trouble at all avoiding the ones that were still active, proving that the blond had no business infiltrating anything and certainly not the hideout of an S-class nukenin.

All of the chakra signatures were in one part of the building, to their right, so they explored what lay to their left first. The corridors were even dirtier than the ones they had come through to enter, and no candles were to be found anywhere. Not even burned down stumps.

There was a lot more blood in this part though; equipment too. It seemed like whoever was still living here liked to stay well away from Orochimaru's research, which was a good thing as far as Chikako was concerned. The world didn't need any more psychopathic madmen with the ability to twist bodies and minds into monsters.

They found laboratories, but they were nothing but burned out husks. It didn't satisfy her curiosity in the least, and she mourned the knowledge that had been lost, no matter how much suffering had been caused to gain it. Chikako hated Orochimaru, and she wanted him dead for what he had done, for what he still did, but there was no denying the fact that he was a genius.

His experiments were horrifying, painful and more often than not cruel. She wouldn't wish that kind of treatment on anyone and she certainly didn't condone it, but that didn't take away from the value of what Orochimaru had learned over the years. The knowledge had been here and destroying it after the fact didn't help anyone, it certainly didn't erase what had been done.

"What a waste," she cursed, clenching her hands into fists.

Sai took a step closer and into her personal space. he didn't touch her, didn't say anything, but the message was clear. She wasn't alone, and even though he likely didn't understand why this place made her both sad and angry, he would stand by her side like he always did.

"Let's check out the other half," she said, turning around and squeezing his hand in thanks. He might not know how to comfort people, but the effort itself was more than enough to lighten her mood. Chikako was grateful for his company, trust and loyalty. He hadn't asked about her past, even now that they were away from the Leaf and he wouldn't have to report to Danzo anymore. She hadn't told him anything of her own volition either, but she would the second they were out of this place. He had more than earned the right to know for whose sake he'd left his village behind.

Sai merely nodded and fell into step as she left the room.

The closer they got to the other chakra signatures the more candles lined the walls, until gloomy turned into bright. It didn't make the corridors look any friendlier though. The opposite really. More light meant it was easier to see where blood had splattered the stone and dried because no one cared enough to clean it up.

A biting smell that was a vile mixture of urine, feces and likely some other bodily fluids greeted them, growing stronger the closer they got to their target. With it came a quiet rattling noise, metal on metal. Chains, Chikako knew. It was a sound she was entirely too familiar with.

The worst part was the whispering though. At first she'd though it was a conversation, after all there were several people ahead of them, but it was only a single voice. Someone was muttering, chaining words together in a way that made no sense whatsoever. Sometimes the sounds weren't even words at all, just syllables in a string without meaning.

They approached cautiously, ready to dodge an attack at a moments notice, but it never came. The room they entered was far, far inside of the structure. Likely a lot further than Naruto had gotten because he would have never left something like this the way they found it.

They'd walked into a dungeon. Not even holding cells or a prison, but an actual dungeon. To her left was a long wall, bare put for the chains that hung from it at equal intervals. Most were empty, but some held rotting corpses. This close the smell was almost overpowering and Chikako had a hard time to keep her meager breakfast down.

To her right were a number of tiny cells, each holding more than one person. They were all alive, but only just by the looks of it. Clad in rags, or nothing at all, severely malnourished , and more often than not with open sores all over their bodies.

The one muttering to himself was an old man and the only one not in a cage. His ankles were chained together, but otherwise he could move around freely.

Naruto had clearly fought someone the day before, so there had to have been more people alive down here, but Chikako was pretty sure they had been in far better condition. Since nobody else had left she'd likely find the corpses in a different part of the massive underground structure, one they hadn't explored yet. There was no way to tell how the groups had been affiliated with one another though, and she wasn't likely to glean any information from the ones left behind.

She tried anyway of course, but all she got for her trouble was silence or gibberish. In the end she decided that the best she could do for these people was to end their suffering.

They didn't even react when she broke the locks of their cells, cutting through the metal with the chakra laced blade of her tanto. Their bodies might be alive, but their eyes were dead. Not even a hint of intelligence or consciousness left in them.

Sai caught on quickly when she started to cut the prisoners' throats. She didn't tell him to help, not wanting to force him to kill when he didn't have to, even if it was an act of mercy. It was silly of her. Of course he assisted anyway, and it wasn't like they hadn't both killed before. Neither of them knew these people. They weren't betraying friends or ruthlessly murdering innocents. They were sparing lost souls a bit of suffering.

It felt different though. Surreal. The minds of these people were gone, probably far enough that they couldn't even feel their bodies anymore. They would have lived a few more days at best; or worst. The only one Chikako was actually conflicted about was the old man with the chained ankles.

He didn't protest what they were doing, in fact all he'd been doing since they had arrived was kneel on the ground and mumble nonsense, but he wasn't half dead either. He was dirty just like the rest of them, his clothes were barely more than disintegrating rags, yet he was clearly eating. His skin wasn't gray, his lips weren't dry and cracked, and there was flesh on his bones.

Was it kinder to kill him too? To spare him from an existence as a mad ghost wandering the halls? Or would he recover in time, without the duty of caring for anyone but himself?

It wasn't her place to make the decision. She didn't know him, had no authority in the matter, yet she stood before him blade in her hands. Unable to strike the killing blow, but just as unable to walk away and leave him to his fate.

Chiako's breath hitched when, after several long minutes, the man stopped mumbling and looked up at her. His eyes were a light blue color, glistening with tears and milky with age. A smile graced his lips, wrinkling the skin of his face even more than it already was. Then he lifted his head up further, baring his neck to her. His hands were clasped in front of him, and as she swung her blade once more Chikako realized that he'd been praying the whole time.

Blood sprayed and the old man fell, body limb now that nothing held it up anymore. Like a puppet whose strings had been cut. She caught him before he hit the ground and then gently lowered him the rest of the way. Her face was wet with tears she didn't quite understand, but they were hidden under her mask so she didn't bother wiping them away.

"Fox," Sai called quietly from the other side of the room. He'd waited for her to be done, but whatever he had found was important. His chakra was churning in a manner that made her uncomfortable.

When she got closer he pointed at one of the men he had killed earlier, and Chikako crouched to get a better look at the corpse. At first she had no idea what he was trying to show her. the man looked just like all the others. Same faded clothes, body in the same condition. Then her eyes widened and she turned to look at her companion.

"Is that ... ?" She asked, not quite willing to voice her suspicion. He nodded anyway and pointed out three others.

It was hard to tell because their eyes were dull, sunken into their skulls and gaunt, but now that she knew what to look for the similarities were undeniably there. These four men looked exactly like the ones that had attacked them only days ago.

"How likely is it that they all had twins that just happen to be here?" Chikako queried.

"Not very," Sai told her, confirming her own thoughts.

Had those men not been ROOT after all? Or even worse, did Orochimaru have a connection to Danzo?

Chikako would like to think that they had just been plants left behind after the failed invasion. Spies maybe. But that was just wishful thinking. It would be an incredible coincidence if Danzo had sent a squad after them that just so happened to be comprised of four people that looked exactly like the men in this dungeon.

"Always wheels within wheels," Chikako muttered. "Why are things never easy and straightforward?"


	22. VI - Change of Occupation

**A/N:**

lilith-thetiny-monster

Well, Sai doesn't make his first appearance in canon until after the time skip, so for now the lack of Naruto shouldn't make a difference.

Scarease

Interesting, terrifying ... do we really want Orochimaru to clone people ;P?

barrakimanta

Her clothes have actually been mentioned before she changed them, as well as the fact that she has dark eyes, but I worked a little more description in just for you.

The fact that I generally don't describe her appearance all that much is actually on purpose. The story is written in third person, but it is Chikako's perspective all the same, and she doesn't much care what she looks like. Or rather, after years and years without a mirror it's simply not something she spends time thinking about.

. . .

 **VI - Change of Occupation**

Chikako was more than eager to leave Rice the second they made it out of the underground compound. Orochimaru had experimented on children while he had been in Konoha, and it had taken years for someone to even notice. Now he had a whole country at his beck and call. She could only imagine how much worse that was.

At least one of the three genin from Sound she'd met during the chunin exams had been physically modified. Then there were the curse seals he apparently handed out like candy, despite the low survival rate that came with activating them for the first time. But then those people were nothing more than pawns in his game, and yet they worshiped him. At least some, like Kimimaro.

They didn't talk much for the rest of that day, instead making sure they managed to cross into Hot Water unseen. Yugakure was known for it's strong inclinations towards pacifism, but that didn't mean it's shinobi couldn't or wouldn't fight. Chikako certainly had no desire to find out what exactly their stance on intruders was.

The hotsprings all over the country, however, were something she was very interested in. They had avoided settlements so far, but that wouldn't be and option for much longer and Chikako really missed warm baths.

With the help of the many maps Sai had stolen in Iron, finding one that didn't belong to a town or village was surprisingly easy. It did make her wonder why the samurai possessed detailed cartography of another country that wasn't even their neighbor though.

Not that it mattered at the moment. Chikako had more than enough enemies in Orochimaru and Danzo. She wouldn't put anyone else on that list without a very good reason.

They settled down right next to the hotspring for the night. Jiro was probably even more delighted than her by that choice, but even Sai seemed happy enough. They were in the middle of nowhere, and finally out of Sound, so Chikako decided it was time they caught up on some sleep.

Sai created several dozen ink mice and one lion-dog to guard them until morning, and Jiro would stay awake as well while they slept. It wasn't as safe as when Chikako or Sai personally kept watch, but this was their best chance to rest in peace. Any pursuers Danzo might sent after them would have to pick up the trail in Sound, which would take some time, and that was only if he wasn't still waiting to hear from the other team.

They ate rabbit with a side of nuts and berries that evening. A good meal that would be followed by her first full nights sleep in days, but first it was time to talk to Sai.

She told him everything she remembered of her past. From the vague impressions of her parents to being kidnapped and experimented on by Orochimaru. She described the other kids, the laboratory and the day ANBU had freed her. How Kakashi, Ibiki and Itachi had watched over her and become her family, and how the Hokage had offered for her to serve the village as a shinobi.

"You didn't have a choice either," was what he said when she was done. Chikako raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Granted, she hadn't really had a choice when it came to her occupation - or anything else with more impact than what she'd like to eat - but that hadn't been the reaction she'd expected. The boy didn't say anything else though.

Instead he fished a brush and paints out of his bag and started to draw. It was clear he loved doing it in the way he held the brush and very carefully applied every single stroke. Sai only ever used ink to create the beasts he send into battle. Even his sketches were exclusively drawn in ink. She had never seen him use colors before, only guessed at the fact he even had them after he'd painted their masks. This time though, she watched.

His movements were precise, and a lot slower than she was used to. He never rushed when creating the ink beasts, but he was usually fast about finishing them. Sai clearly enjoyed drawing and painting in all it's forms, but this was his true passion.

It took Chikako quite a while to figure out what he was doing. The background was easy enough to guess at long before he finished it. A brilliant sky bathed in the pink and purple of dawn. The sun nothing more than a golden glow behind ancient trees. And on one of the massive branches sat two children. They were five or six maybe, fair skin half shadowed by the canopy and speckled with light by the first rays of a new morning.

Chikako had to smile when she recognized the boy as Sai and the girl as herself. They both wore simple black clothes, but there wasn't a single weapon in sight. He'd painted himself the way he always looked, merely younger. The same wasn't quite true for her.

Her dark eyes seemed to sparkle with joy, one corner of her mouth angled up in smirk. It wasn't an expression she thought she'd ever worn. This painted Chikako was a little shorter than Sai, just like her counterpart, but were the real life version was athletic from years of hard training, this one was merely slim. The long, sable hair she usually kept in a ponytail and out of her face was short instead. It looked like a storm had blown through it, creating a wild riot of curls around her face.

Those two children clearly had had quite a bit of fun before stopping to watch the sunrise. It was how things could have been, and Chikako wondered if he mourned that other life, the one that wasn't. Then he added a fox on the ground beneath them and an owl in the sky above, and she had her answer. They were older now, but they'd also left their masters behind and it was time to carve their own path instead of following the one laid out for them. Sai and Chikako weren't the names either of them had been born with, but they'd chosen to become Owl and Fox.

. . .

They spent another full day relaxing at the hotspring and recovering from their journey so far, but on the third morning it was time to start moving again. Sai had created a few more lion-dogs as well as a bird during their down time, whereas Chikako had read her sealing books. She was pretty sure she could create explosive tags at this point, but trying those out while they tried not to draw attention didn't seem like the best idea, so she saved them for later.

Sadly an ink bird wouldn't be enough to get them all the way across the ocean, so they'd have to secure passage on a ship at some point. They both carried some money, but that wouldn't last them very long and it certainly wouldn't be enough to reach their destination. Smuggling themselves onto a ship and hoping not to be discovered for several days also didn't seem very appealing, which meant they needed a job.

People generally didn't hire nukenin for legitimate dealings, and village shinobi didn't go looking for jobs outside of their mission office. So finding something to do as a ninja was out of the question, but most other jobs they were qualified for wouldn't pay all that much and Chikako didn't want to stick around longer than absolutely necessary.

The plan was to find the closest town and hire on as bodyguards for traveling merchants, but Jiro found something even better while scouting. Apparently being mostly pacifistic didn't keep Hot Water from putting out contracts of the bring back dead or alive variety. People could actually just walk into the local police station and pick up what were essentially Bingo Books for all manner of criminals, civilian and shinobi alike. There were even some loose papers hanging on one wall, presumably because there hadn't yet been time to update the book.

"This is like bounty hunter heaven," she murmured, absently ruffling the fur behind Jiro's right ear. He occasionally complained that he wasn't some house cat, but didn't actually try to make her stop so Chikako ignored him.

"It is information that should be protected, not handed out to strangers," Sai sniffed. He sounded unusually disgruntled and she imagined a frown marred his features under the mask. Chikako was used to Ibiki's paranoia, especially when it came to all things related to intelligence so the reaction didn't surprise her. Sai had been raised in a secret organization, it was only natural that he would disapprove of people sharing sensitive information this openly.

Of course the other shinobi villages all had Bingo Books of their own and would gladly pay even an outsider for taking care of their enemies, but they also generally didn't share who exactly they wanted dead and why. After all, hunter-nin existed for a reason, and a village that relied on others to solve their problems was seen as weak. In a world that made children into soldiers because otherwise there wouldn't be enough warm bodies to throw into the next war, and keep up with missions afterwards, seeming weak was almost the same as inviting the wolves in through the front door.

"Pick someone," Chikako said while pocketing one of the Bingo Books and pulling one of the papers from the wall. "Preferably a civilian in the area, we can meet back up in a week or so. Traveling separately for a while will make tracking us a lot harder, and with this the time won't even be wasted."

"Split up?" He asked as if the suggestion startled him. There was a note of worry in his voice and Chikako quickly assured him that it was only temporary. She would keep some of his ink mice with her and he could take Jiro. They'd leave after a week no matter what became of the contracts they picked.

Sai didn't seem happy, but agreed anyway. They did need the money and this move would neatly cover their tracks. Danzo's people didn't know they had taken the masks and they were looking for a pair of Konoha shinobi, not two individual bounty hunters.

"Come," she told Sai after he'd picked a contract and then led him out of the station and the town. They walked in silence. The two masked strangers drawing a few curious looks here and there, but nobody tried to stop them.

When they were far enough away from the busy streets and Chikako had made certain that no one was in range to overhear them she turned around to face her companion. His body language said he was calm, but being able to sense his chakra she knew better. He was restless, worried and even a little afraid.

They picked a meeting place and went over a myriad of plans, most contingencies in case something unforeseen happened. Chikako thought it was excessive, after all unforeseen meant there was no way to tell in advance, but she humored Sai. He clearly needed the reassurance.

It took her a while to figure out that he was afraid because he'd never truly been on his own before. With ROOT there were orders and protocols to fall back on. A hirarchy and codes of conduct that made sure he knew how to behave and what course of action to take. Even out in the field and far away from home he had the mission objective, but now all of that was gone. They were simply two fugitives with nothing and no one but each other, and she was about to leave him without even that for a week.

Eventually Chikako had enough and cut him off in the middle of formulating the twentieth scenario of what could happen and how best to deal with the situation.

"Mission objective," she started, keeping her voice even the way Kakashi did when relaying information from a mission scroll to the team. "Complete the contract if you can. Meet up at the agreed up location after seven days even if you can't. Do not reveal any shinobi skills to others if you can avoid it without putting yourself in danger."

His posture had been far from a slouch even before she'd spoken, but he still managed to stand straighter at her words. A soldier at attention. The change was sudden and all encompassing. He'd immediately calmed down at the familiar procedure of receiving orders, and even though she didn't like treating him like a subordinate it clearly helped, so Chikako continued.

"Your top priority is to stay safe. Don't draw unnecessary attention, and if you can manage get information on passage over the ocean," she concluded. Sai actually saluted, left arm behind his back, right hand in a fist above his heart.

"Understood," he snapped in a manner that sounded well practiced. He vanished the second she waved him away and Chikako slumped against a nearby tree. This wasn't right. She shouldn't have to give him orders. Not like this at least. In the middle of a battle, when there was no time to discuss things, was one thing, but this was just wrong.

She didn't know any better than he did, didn't have any more experience in the field. They were both in an unfamiliar situation and without rules or people to guide them. Chikako shouldn't have to lead. To take responsibility for herself was hard enough, yet she also had to take responsibility for him. She couldn't even be angry about it because it wasn't like he expected her to do it. He hadn't even asked it of her, but that didn't change the fact that he was practically helpless when left completely to his own devices.

Sai had chosen to protect Chikako and he would do whatever was necessary to ensure she stayed out of harms way, but other than that he seemed to have no motivations to drive his actions. Instead he trusted her and made her goals his own. The perfect tool indeed. How ironic that the person he had decided to serve stood directly against the man that had made him what he was.

When the time came, if at all possible, Chikako would put Danzo's fate into Sai's hands, and she would make damn sure that the man knew that it was his own soldier who had brought him down in the end.

. . .

The contract she'd picked was for a man named Tokichi. Apparently he'd once been a bladesmith, but then slaughtered a family and disappeared. It took her almost three days to ferret out that he had changed his name to Sazanami and was working as a bounty hunter himself now. Tracking him down after that became a lot easier though.

He was only civilian and she'd learned from one of Konoha's best trackers and the head of T&I. The skill set Ibiki had imparted made people practically throw information at her. Granted her target was low priority and she certainly wasn't interrogating shinobi to get at state secrets, but the success still gave her a boost of confidence. Even away from home the people she cared about were still with her in some small way.

Playing mind games with street thugs, would be thieves and hopeless drunks was surprisingly fun. She'd never liked the torture aspect of Ibiki's job. Inflicting pain on others wasn't something she found joy in, but tricking lowlifes into helping her might just become a new hobby.

It reminded her somewhat of the old man from whom she'd learned about Naruto, only this time she wasn't putting herself in danger by learning classified information. Instead he was hunting and closing in on her target.

She found him on the afternoon of the fifth day in a dirty bar. The town was closer to Frost than it was to Sound, which suited her just fine, but the manners of the locals left something to be desired. They didn't take kindly to strangers at all. Chikako suspected the only reason they mostly left her alone was because she'd broken the arm of the first guy that had tried to give her shit when she'd arrived two days prior.

It had been a gamble, but well worth it in the end. Not fighting back would have made her seem like easy prey, but too much violence would have made her a threat that had to be dealt with. Apparently she'd managed to strike the balance just fine. People grumbled when they saw her, but they also made sure not to get in her way. She certainly wouldn't be making any friends here, but then that wasn't her goal.

She'd chosen to sit at a table in the back and watch her target to make sure her information was accurate. A big guy with dark brown hair and a scraggly beard joined her after a while. He wore a muddy red cloak that barely managed to hide half of the large mace he lugged around as a weapon. The man introduced himself and Gatsu, and judging by the way he was eyeing Sazanami he was there for the same contract as her.

"Fox," she replied, keeping her voice quiet. She'd been sitting with her back to the door, and using the reflections in the windows as well as her water glass to watch the room behind her. In civilian clothes he probably wouldn't have been able to guess why she was there, but while her cloak and mask hid her identity they weren't exactly inconspicuous.

"Of course you are," Gatsu chuckled, glancing at Sai's handiwork.

She smiled, not that he could see that, and inclined her head. They were technically rivals, but he wasn't a shinobi and she didn't feel particularly threatened by his presence.

He was just about to say something else when her eyes snapped to the door and she held a hand up to stop him. It was very hard not to simply vanish in a Body Flicker, but that would draw too much attention. Chikako had gotten too confident and not alert enough it seemed, but at least she hadn't slacked when it came to her stealth skills. Staying put was her best bet.

"Drinks on me," she told her new companion. He looked surprised, but agreed easily enough, ordering something for both of them after she handed over some money. He'd just sat back down across from her when Naruto, Hinta and Kiba entered through the door, throwing it open with a bang.

Of course the blond completely ignored the disgruntled looks of the customers and walked straight up to the bar man, asking for ramen, while Kiba ordered a hamburger. Unsurprisingly, the barkeeper wasn't particularly happy with the newcomers, but it was one of the other patrons that spoke up.

"Who do those kids think they are?" He laughed nastily. "Coming into our city and demanding to be waited on like they own the place."

He was obviously exaggerating, spoiling for a fight. The three other men at his table agreed in gruff voices. They all looked rough and were already more than a little drunk.

"Get out you spoiled little brats!" The barkeeper shouted at them and instead of taking a hint Naruto held up his frog purse, so full it threatened to burst at the seams, and declared he could pay.

"That's not the problem," the man told him. He was angry and nervous. It became obvious why a moment later when one of the drunks walked up and grabbed Naruto's wrist. Gatsu wanted to step in, but Chikako stopped him with a look and a hand on the hilt of her wakizashi. A few civilian thugs were no match for her former teammate and it wouldn't do to draw their attention.

The other bounty hunter only shrugged as if he couldn't care less, but she saw the tension in his body. He underestimated them because they looked like children. In his line of work he should know better though. She didn't tell him that they were shinobi and would be fine. The hitai-ate were obvious and he'd see soon enough. Enlightening him a little early certainly wasn't worth the risk that Kiba or Akamaru might recognize her if she spoke.

Chikako could hide her chakra and scent from them without a problem, especially in a place that reeked of booze, and when they didn't expect to run into other ninja, but the same wouldn't be true for her voice. It wasn't very likely, seeing as they didn't know each other well, but then she was friends with Hinata and the Inuzuka payed special attention to anyone involved with the members of his team. There was of course also a possibility that the Hyuga heiress would hear her even with the argument going on, and Chikako had no doubt that Hinata would know who she was.

"It's dangerous for little boys to carry that much money. I'll take care of it for you, since there are so many bad men in this town," the guy in front of Naruto said and tried to take the purse from him. It didn't work very well. In fact all he got for his trouble was a fist to the face. The punch was hard enough to sent him stumbling backwards and into Sazanami's table. The wobbly thing toppled over with a crash. Glass and porcelain went flying, the shards skidding over the floor when bottles and plates hit the ground.

"What are you doing?" The barman shouted, but nobody payed him any mind. Naruto and the thug were growling at each other, which soon escalated into a fight. People pulled swords or daggers, fists collided with heads and Shadow Clones exploded into smoke. the whole thing was a mess, but only lasted a few seconds before Sazanami decided it was time to intervene.

Her target was a surprisingly good swordsman. He wouldn't be able to hold a candle to someone like Zabuza, but he was definitely better than her when it came to wielding a blade. The man looked a little more unkempt and dirty than he did on the wanted poster, but that didn't keep him from kicking ass. The thugs didn't stand a chance. He knocked them out with his free hand or the pommel of his sword in a mater of minutes, not spilling a single drop of blood.

The Konoha team looked suitably impressed and followed him out of the bar when he left.

"How badly do you want that bounty?" Chikako asked, challenge in her voice. She was half tempted to just leave and avoid another run-in with the three, but Gatsu didn't know that.

"We could always share the bounty," he offered as if he was doing her a favor and she laughed, focusing a little killing intent in his general direction.

"And why would I do that?" She said with a smile he couldn't see, but no doubt hear in her tone. His shoulders tensed at the insinuation that he wasn't even a threat worth considering in her opinion.

"Hey, look," he hurried, holding up both hands in a placating gesture. "I don't want any trouble. Sazanami isn't a big fish. Hardly worth your time. You'd be better of going after Gosunkugi. The bounty on his head is three million ryo."

It was an obvious attempt to distract her, but she'd seen the wanted posters all over the town and he wasn't lying. This Gosunkugi was a thief from Stone (wherever that was). People called him the Nail for some reason Chikako hadn't been able to figure out yet. It might just be because his name meant fifteen centimeter nail, but she rather doubted it. S-rank pay started at one million ryo, so this guy was probably bad news and while Chikako had fun teasing Gatsu, she wasn't stupid enough to just take that guy on. Still, no point telling him that.

"And do you have some actual information on that or are you just repeating what's on the posters?"

At that Gatsu perked up, probably hoping she'd let him have the bounty on Sazanami.

"He's an art thief. Ruthless and willing to kill whoever stands in his way. Racked the bounty up over the years. Slippery fellow," the bounty hunter told her. "They say he fights with nails. Like shoots them out of his mouth or hides them underground and stuff."

"Nails?" She asked a little skeptically. "How odd." Of course it made sense with the name and sounded like ninjutsu, but he was either severely limiting his techniques for the sake of his image or he didn't have any actual shinobi training.

"What was the initial bounty?"

"Don't know. Ten or fifteen thousand ryo I think. Why's it matter?"

It mattered because in terms of missions that was a low priority D-rank. If the guy had actually been as dangerous as the current bounty suggested he would have started out with a much higher amount. It seemed the real reason the price on his head had gone up was the amount of artwork he'd stolen over the years. Not that Chikako shared that theory. If she was right Gatsu might decide he'd much rather take the three million, and she liked him much better when he was working with instead of against her. Maybe she was making a friend after all.

"Fine," she told him. "I'll take Gosunkugi and you can have Sazanami."

"Really?" He called out, obviously surprised, but then eagerly shared anything else he knew about her new target. In turn Chikako offered him assistance with his hunt should he need it. Bounty hunting could be very lucrative and it was a lot better than having to take dubious contracts from shady people, and hope that they wouldn't just pull a Gato and decide to kill the shinobi when the job was done instead of paying. Having a contact who'd been in the business for years couldn't hurt, even if he was a civilian and only after small prey.


	23. VI - A Piece of Home

**A/N:**

I apologize in advance for this chapter. It's quite late and short, but I barely have any time to write at the moment. I hope the next one will make up for it.

. . .

 **VI - A Piece of Home**

Chikako spent a few more hours prying information out of Gatsu. He didn't know a lot more about their respective targets than he had already divulged, only that Sazanami was apparently after Gosunkugi, but she was more interested in the general business of bounty hunting. Who to talk to, who to avoid, where to find Bingo Books.

Her new acquaintance was like a never ending well of knowledge on the topic. At first he'd been a little tight lipped about his contacts, but Chikako kept bribing him with free alcohol. He never even noticed that she didn't drink anything herself, instead occasionally swapping their glasses when she got him a refill.

By the time night fell Gatsu wasn't exactly sober anymore, but he also wasn't drunk just yet (the man could put away a surprising amount of booze). He could still walk more or less in a straight line, which was good enough for her purposes. After all, his only job would be to draw attention away from her.

Sazanami and the Konoha team had gone north earlier that day, but Sazanami had come back without the Leaf shinobi a while later and then milled around town, passing the bar several times. His chakra was that of a civilian, and ordinarily tracking it in a sea of other civilians would have been hard, but then that wasn't actually what Chikako was doing.

Jiro would have been a nice scout, but Sai's ink mice did just as well. One of them had attached itself to Sazanami shortly after he'd left the bar. As familiar as she was with Sai's chakra tracking the little mouse was incredibly easy. It also meant she could keep an eye on Sazanami without even having to get up.

Now that it was dark he seemed to have finally found what he'd been searching for and was heading out of town, which meant it was time for her and Gatsu to follow him. They stayed well out of sight. Gatsu asked her several times how she could possibly know where she was going, but she only ever told him to be quiet. The degree to which she could sense chakra was unusual enough that it would draw attention from all the wrong people. It was better if the bounty hunter didn't know about it, even if he likely wouldn't understand just how rare it was.

Sazanami stopped after only about fifteen minutes, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Chikako soon learned why. On the road with him were five men. Four just stood in a line, blocking the way, but the fifth was Gosunkugi. They all wore the same outfit. Sleeveless, dark blue shinto robes over sand colored garments.

It was a good place for an ambush. The road ran along the bottom of a ravine and they'd waited right behind a curve. Only one way for Sazanami to approach them without climbing several meters of rock, and nowhere to run except back to the town.

He looked surprised for a moment, but quickly recovered, unsheathing his blade and taking a fighting stance. Sazanami and his opponent were talking about something Chikako couldn't understand from her position. Then Gosunkugi fished something out of a satchel and threw it into the air.

Metal glimmered in the moonlight, and at first she thought the things were senbon, but then she remembered what people called him. Dozens of nails hit the ground and then sank into the earth as a tiny amount of wavering chakra gripped them. Sazanami ignored them, rushing Gosunkugi and the nails promptly pierced his feet, apparently holding him in place.

It was an odd technique, but it seemed like he'd made it up himself without any actual shinobi training to help him, so it was actually kind of impressive.

"Grab your target, I'll take care of mine," Chikako told her temporary partner. She waited until after Gatsu had almost reached Sazanami before using a Body Flicker to cover the distance.

At least two dozen nails bit into her skin the instant she arrived. Gosunkugi had used a second technique to shoot the nails from the ground forward and at his opponent, only she'd gotten into the way. The chakra barrier formed almost instinctively around her, stopping any more projectiles from hitting her, but the damage had already been done.

She bit down on the pain and anger at her own carelessness, instead focusing her gaze (and a healthy dose of killing intent) on Gosunkugi.

"That wasn't nice," Chikako told him in a voice that was deceptively calm. "The bounty for you is dead or alive. I'd prefer alive, since you're worth more that way, but I'll leave the decision up to you. What will it be?"

"I don't have time for games!" He snarled, then turned to his four companions. "Finish them off!"

Chikako cursed. The four henchmen were rushing her, which wasn't really a problem since all of them were civilians. What annoyed her though was that Naruto and his current team had managed to sneak up on her for the second time that day. They were on top of the ravine's wall to her right, so far up that she hadn't sensed them earlier because she only concentrated on what was on the ground and at tree height. It was another stupid mistake, and she really needed to get a handle on that or she wouldn't last long outside of the village.

Moments later at least fifty Shadow Clones looked down on them, nothing but dark silhouettes in front of the moon. It was more than enough to make Gosunkugi decide he was outnumbered and run for it. The bastard was fast, but not nearly as fast as Chikako. At least ordinarily. Right now she was more of a fancy pincushion than anything else. She'd be able to catch him, no doubt, but the movement would make the nails tear through her muscles. It wasn't worth the pain and recovery time, so she stayed and let him go. Gosunkugi had business in the area, she could find him again later.

What demanded her attention right now was the Konoha team. Naruto let his clones dispel, slowly walking towards her. She couldn't see Kiba or Hinata, but their chakra signatures were close.

"This one's mine boy," Gatsu growled, struggling to hold Sazanami in place. His eyes were flicking between her an the newcomer as if he expected another fight to break out any second.

Chikako ignored all of them. Naruto would never attack without being provoked first, so there was no need to throw him suspicious glances or stay on her guard. Instead she started to pull the nails out of herself. It hurt quite a bit, but at least Gosunkugi took good care of his weapons, no matter how odd. The metal was clean and free of rust or other obvious substances that might cause infection, which was good because she'd need quite a bit of chakra to speed up her healing as it was. At least one of the stupid things had pierced her lungs and that just wouldn't do.

"Hey, Foxlady, you tell that guy to leave," Gatsu grumbled after a minute or so. Naruto was trying to get a look at Sazanami, but Gatsu kept dragging him backwards.

She sighed. Her former teammate hadn't noticed yet, but the other two would have by now. The scent of her blood was in the air, she'd used chakra and Hinata had seen her.

"Oh, for fucks sake, will you just let him go?" She snapped at her temporary companion. "They're not here for him and if he tries to run I promise to knock him out for you."

That seemed to be assurance enough for Gatsu. He shot Naruto a triumphant look, but the blond was staring at her now, completely ignoring the other two.

"Chikako?" He asked. His voice was quiet and his eyes wide. He seemed incredibly uncertain, which was so unlike himself that it made her flinch a little. Naruto shouldn't sound like that. "I though you left with Sasuke?"

Chikako sighed again and took her mask off slowly.

"You breath a word of my name or appearance to anyone and I will find you and hunt you down," she snarled, turning around to pierce Gatsu and Sazanami with a look. They just blinked at her stupidly, so she raised an eyebrow and laid a hand on the hilt of her wakizashi. "Understood?"

"Yes mam!" Gatsu said with a laugh and salute. Sazanami followed a moment later with a lot less good humor. They both understood the threat though and that was what mattered, so she faced Naruto again.

"Sai and I had to leave for our own reasons," she started and then held a hand up to stop the blond from interrupting her. "We can't come back Naruto. At least not yet. I promise I have good reasons, but I can't share and the less you know the safer you are. Please just trust me on this one."

"You're not with Orochimaru?" He asked, a little skeptically.

"Of course not," Chikako huffed. "Do I look stupid to you?"

She didn't expect an answer, but she also didn't expect to be bowled over by forty kilos of orange genin. Chikako actually managed not to fall flat on her ass, but just barely. It seemed like Naruto was trying to squeeze the life out of her, and he had absolutely no regard for her injuries or the fact that she needed to breathe. He was laughing though, so she waited a few seconds before wriggling out of his hold.

Before Chikako could say anything else Hianta was at her side. The girl looked royally pissed as she started pulling nails out of her, but didn't say anything. Too polite to voice her disapproval, but perfectly willing to be rather rough about the first aid.

"Ouch," Chikako complained sullenly when the fifth nail was dislodged with considerably more force than necessary.

"Oh, did that hurt?" Hinata asked, her voice perfectly calm and polite. "I'm very sorry," the girl told her, right before plucking two more nails out in the same manner. Chikako kept her mouth shut afterwards. Passive aggressive Hinata was scary and she had every right to be angry.

. . .

They spent the rest of the night in a small wooden hut. Sazanami told them that he used to be a smith, at which point Gatsu happily provided a bounty letter with his picture and the name Tokichi on it. Apparently Gosunkugi had killed a family several years prior and framed Tokichi for it.

The smith had decided to become a bounty hunter and track down Gosunkugi to prove his innocence and he'd changed his name to hide his identity. By now he was quite a competent fighter, and his sword was of the highest quality.

Gatsu wasn't at all happy with his explanation though. It wasn't even that he didn't believe Sazanami, quite the opposite actually. He was too good a man to bring someone in who he knew was innocent, money be damned. From a moral standpoint it was a good attitude to have, but it didn't do his wallet any favors.

Still, Chikako was glad she wouldn't have to go against him. There was no doubt about the fact that Naruto would do whatever it took to help the smith turned bounty hunter, and Chikako wouldn't turn against her former teammate for a stranger, no matter how helpful.

And then there was of course the little complication that both Naruto's current team and Chikako where after the same target.

"But can't we do all of that?" The blond interrupted her and Kiba in the middle of a heated debate about who should give up the mission and why. The Inuzuka was of the opinion that since Chikako didn't actually have a contract she could just let it go. She on the other hand argued that their mission wasn't to bring Gosunkugi in, but rather to keep him out of Fire, which would be no problem if she took care of the guy.

She needed the money and it wasn't very likely that another job this convenient would come along. The target was barely more than a civilian, yet capturing him alive would result in payment equivalent to that of an S-ranked mission. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

"What?" Kiba asked, huffing in exasperation.

"Well," Naruto shrugged, one hand scratching the back of his head and a confused half smile on his face. "Chikako could help us bring Gosunkugi in so we keep him out of Fire and she gets the bounty, and then Gatsu can bring Sazanami in, get that money and they can clear his name afterwards when they interrogate Gosunkugi. So everyone gets what they want ... right?"

Chikako blinked at him. The sentence was a a mess, and Naruto had talked so fast that she needed to go over it in her head again to make sure she'd understood him right.

"That's actually a pretty good idea."

"Yeah, for an idiot," Kiba agreed with a grin, and then Naruto was on him. They were rolling around on the floor shouting insults at each other not two seconds later. Chikako slowly, but deliberately, moved out of the way and closer too the room's other occupants.

"Works for me," Gatsu told her with a grin of his own. He and Sazanami had bonded while she'd been arguing with Kiba, and Hinata had watched them all like silly children.

The kunoichi had grown up a lot since Chikako had last seen her. It wasn't even all that long ago, but now Hinata seemed a lot less like a young girl and more like the clan heiress she was. Her posture was straight, her movements sure, and she hadn't stuttered once so far.

"You okay?" She whispered.

Hinata smiled at her, sad and full of the knowledge that the world was a very dark place.

"I always thought I knew what being shinobi meant," the heiress told her, just as quietly. "Follow the rules, represent the village and bring honor to the clan. I knew that shinobi kill and die in battles. That we are tools of war. But I always thought of Konoha as a home, a safe haven."

She didn't elaborate afterwards, Chikako didn't need her to though. She wasn't sure what exactly Hinata knew, but it was something bad enough that she wouldn't say it out loud, even this far away from home.

"It will be alright," Chikako told her friend, squeezing her hand. "Whatever it takes, I'll make it alright."

Hinata offered her another smile, but this time there was hope in it. Just a tiny spark swimming in the sea of an uncertain future. It was enough though. One spark was all it took to light a fire, and no matter what anyone else said, Hinata was one of the strongest people Chikako knew. Not in body maybe, but certainly in mind. She was kind and patient, and her spirit had never so much as threatened to break, even beneath all the pressure and expectations the Hyuga forced on her.

. . .

Catching Gosunkugi was surprisingly easy. He was trying to steal a massive golden bell, but never even got close to it. Between Hinata, Kiba and Chikako there was no way for him to hide and a myriad of Shadow Clones very effectively kept him from running.

Naruto's plan to bring him in an clear Sazanami's name went off without a hitch as well. Kiba gave him quite a bit of shit for secretly being a genius of unlikely ideas, or something like that. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to Chikako, but watching them bicker and laugh felt like home, so she stayed out of it. At least until they started breaking things in their exuberance.

They had both watched when she had used a lot of killing intent and some of Ibiki's mind games earlier that day to help with Gosunkugi's interrogation, and were suddenly very calm and polite when she asked them to tone it down a bit. Apparently T&I tactics looked a lot scarier than she thought. Then again, Hinata hadn't been impressed at all, so maybe the boys were just being idiots.

Gatsu and Sazanami had decided to travel together, at least for a while. Bounty hunting was often a lonely occupation and having someone to watch your back was always nice. Chikako understood that well. She missed Sai terribly and was constantly worried something might have happened to him. Jiro was supposed to find her if they were in trouble, and that he hadn't should mean they were both perfectly fine, but being away from him when the threat of Danzo hung over their heads still made her nervous.

"You should head to Tea," Hinata told her when they hugged goodbye. "The Wasabi family hires a Konoha shinobi every year to protect their representative in a race. Not this year though. I overheard father saying that the order came from the head of T&I himself."

Chikako knew of the race. They had talked about it before because the shinobi hired was always from the Hyuga clan. It was a prestige thing more than anything else and their kekkai genkai allowed them to easily find potential threats long before the contestant came across them.

It was a little curious that Hinata brought it up now, but it was even weirder that Ibiki would get involved with something like that. The man had a mean streak and loved to annoy arrogant clan shinobi, but that didn't seem like enough of a reason to risk personally offending the head of the Hyuga clan.

The family was more than influential enough to make Ibiki's life hard and interfere with his departments work. Most of them were also very proud and felt so entitled to respect that they carried grudges for generations. There was no way Ibiki would draw their ire for nothing but his own amusement.

Hinata didn't say anything else on the matter though. In fact she went so far as to pretend the topic had never even come up in the first place, which made Chikako even more suspicious.

She bid the boys farewell with a smile and the promise not to be a stranger (however unlikely that was), but her mind was racing. One unlikely theory chasing the next. She trusted Hinata with her life, and the girl clearly understood that Chikako was being hunted. So why send her to Tea?

Sai and her would either have to risk crossing the sea in Water's territory and hope Hidden Mist's shinobi took no offense, or they would have to travel through Fire. Either way, the trip would be dangerous and they would have to stay well within Danzo's reach for a lot longer than Chikako was comfortable with.

It felt good to have an actual goal though. Her vague plan to get away from Danzo was better than nothing, but in the end they were only chasing a mirage. There was no safety or magical solution at the end of the rainbow. As long as the man lived they would always have to look over their shoulders, no matter how far they ran.

Whatever Hinata knew or suspected was enough to make her afraid, and despite that she had still advised Chikako to head towards Tea. There had to be something there.


	24. VI - The Worst Kind of Trash

**A/N:**

 _lilith-thetiny-monster & Scarease_

Thank you both.

 _navatr1x_

I understand what you mean and I personally don't like it either. Remember that the ROOT agents were suspiciously incompetent? It's not like her and Sai took out elites. The thing with Naruto was actually meant to show that Chikako is out of her element and has a hard time coping, but I see I didn't do a very good job. I hope this chapter puts things into perspective a little.

. . .

 **VI - The Worst Kind of Trash**

Chikako didn't linger after collecting the bounty for Gosunkugi and saying goodbye to her friends. It was time to meet back up with Sai and continue their journey.

She ran most of the way, only making short stops to rest for a few minutes at a time. Splitting up had been a bad idea and she should have known better. It might throw pursuers of the trail or it might not, but it most definitely left her and Sai more vulnerable.

Chikako had gotten overconfident with this mission. Sure, the target hadn't been particularly dangerous and Hot Water's shinobi were rather pacifistic, but of course that didn't stop anyone else from sneaking through the country the same way she did.

It was a stroke of luck that the people she'd run into were her friends. Her focus had been completely off, which was something she couldn't afford anymore. Especially now that she couldn't just wait for Kakashi to wake up and take over. Leading her team in Wave had been hard, but she'd managed because there hadn't been another choice. On one hand she had had to be strong and protect her sensei because he hadn't been able to do it himself, but on the other his presence had been a safety net.

Chikako was so used to knowing that he was around and willing to protect her no matter what that she'd let her guard down when she really couldn't afford to. He wasn't lurking in the shadows anymore, and he wouldn't appear out of nowhere to safe the day. If it hadn't been Naruto in the bar, but a ROOT team she would be dead or worse now.

Of course she'd recognized her mistake then, and promptly proceeded to make the next one. After not paying enough attention she'd focused so much that she'd missed the Konoha team a second time because she hadn't taken into account that tree height was by no means the limit for an aerial attack. It hadn't seemed like a bad thing in Rice because it had allowed her to sense their pursuers well ahead of time, but if they had attacked from above the canopy she would have completely missed them.

Now, on top of the fact that she was paranoid and had a hard time balancing her focus between too much and too little, she was also alone and too afraid to sleep without someone keeping watch. It was a good thing that getting back to their meeting place took her a less than two full days because Sai had all of Choji's soldier pills.

The boy was already waiting for her when she arrived, his features an odd mixture of anger, confusion and suspicion. Chikako was so relieved however that she merely flung herself into his arms and babbled apologies like a mantra.

Sai very hesitantly hugged her back. When she finally let go after a few minutes he frowned at her.

"Did you decide I was still useful after all?" He asked, voice deceptively calm. It didn't sound like more than a casual question, maybe even a joke, but it stopped her dead in her tracks.

"You thought I wanted to get rid of you?"

Chikako's incredulous tone seemed to surprise him enough to take the wind out of his sails. He actually opened his mouth several times to say something, but then closed it again, never uttering a single word.

"Why the hell would you even think that?" She almost shouted. "I know splitting up was stupid, I ... I didn't think. I'm no good at this Sai."

Chikako clenched her hands into fists to keep them from trembling and bit down on her tongue to distract herself from the tears that suddenly threatened to spill. It likely looked quite combative, but she didn't care. She couldn't afford to fall apart like this. It was bad enough that she was a lot less competent than she had thought, turning into a crying mess would only make things worse.

Sai sighed, slow and heavy, and then he pulled her close again. It was a really awkward hug, but Chikako wouldn't trade it for the world. They were both adrift on an ocean of uncertainty, with nothing to cling to but each other. Sai was her rock now and she had to be his. Falling apart wasn't an option.

"It seems we were both stupid," was all he said.

They didn't talk about it afterwards. Chikako didn't tell him how badly she wanted Kakashi to call her an idiot and take over. She didn't mention that she was half tempted to just go back and offer herself up in exchange for Sai's freedom. Didn't breathe a word of how much not knowing what would happen to them frightened her. In turn Sai didn't say that he'd been afraid they weren't actually friends. That he'd thought she might just have turned and used him to keep herself safe, and that he was so desperate for someone to trust in that he'd followed her orders like an eager puppy anyway.

The silence weighed heavy though. By now they knew each other well enough to guess at the unspoken words.

Sai trusted her, he was merely insecure, and yet Chikako couldn't help thinking that he might have been right. That maybe if things became too hard she would leave him behind to fend for himself. It was easy enough to rationalize. After all he wasn't a helpless civilian and she wasn't actually responsible for him. Shinobi were considered adults, no matter how old.

Chikako shook her head violently, startling her companion. He didn't ask, and she didn't volunteer an explanation. He'd dealt with enough of her idiocy for one day, and telling him that she had even entertained the idea would do neither of them any good.

. . .

Sai was actually enthusiastic about going to Tea. She had expected complaints and a list of all the reasons why going was a dangerously bad idea. Instead he'd smiled and told her to get some rest when she'd recounted her conversation with Hinata.

Apparently he shared her belief that the Hyuga heiress wouldn't have mentioned the annual race unless it was important. They did have some differences on how to get there though.

Sai wanted to go by ship and take his chances with the Kiri nin. In his mind Danzo was the far greater threat, and he wanted to simply sail past Wave, cross Noodles by land and then sail towards Tea without ever setting foot into Fire. He assumed they would never even see a shinobi from Water because they wouldn't get close enough to the country.

"Oh, you're absolutely right," Chikako told him with the sweetest smile she could manage. "We won't see them, because we will be dead before we even know they are there."

"Why would they be patrolling so far from their home?"

"Why wouldn't they be?" She huffed, throwing her hands up into the air. "Finding people in open water is a lot harder than simply watching the harbors. Kiri is an island nation, knowing who is sending ships where seems kind of important. Not to mention that they are practically legendary for having the stealthiest assassins. I haven't had the best track record of noticing other shinobi in time lately and I'd rather take my chances in familiar territory."

The last part was half mumbled. It had been an important lesson to learn, and the fact that it was Naruto who had taught her and not the kunai of an enemy shinobi was very fortunate, but it was also very embarrassing. The blond was almost the opposite of stealth.

"Your incompetence is hardly my fault," Sai quipped and Chikako threw Jiro at him. The little tanuki transformed into a fluffy pillow mid-flight, but the boy dodged regardless.

"Careful, or I might leave you behind after all," she shot back and then glared at him when he flinched. She'd known he would and almost kept her mouth shut because of it, but if Chikako had to be strong so did he. They couldn't dance around each other like frightened deer.

Having each other's backs when an outsider attacked wasn't enough. They needed to be able to stand up to each other as well. Otherwise her next shitty idea might get both of them killed if Sai didn't feel like he could tell her no, without risking that she would abandon him.

He hesitated a moment, but then picked up the Jiro-pillow and threw it right back at her.

"Fine, but how is walking straight through enemy territory any better, and why would Kiri shinobi even attack us on sight? The chance that someone could recognize us in Fire is a lot higher than anywhere else. Team 7 and it's shitty luck drew a lot of attention and at least half of ANBU has watched you at one time or another to make sure you weren't a plant."

"I might be a little biased because of that first fight against Zabuza," she admitted. "I mean he's actually not a bad man, but he's also really scary when he wants you dead."

They bickered for a while longer, but in the end Sai won that argument. Chikako wanted to go through Fire because it was familiar, not because it was a good idea. As far as they were aware there was no bounty on their head's, which meant there was no reason for Hunter-nin to come after them.

. . .

Sai's little bounty hunting mission had been a lot less eventful than Chikako's. It had also not payed nearly as well, but he'd had a lot of time to gather information on which ships left Hot Water when and from which port. Granted, he'd concentrated on the ones headed towards the eastern countries past Water, but what he already knew still made finding passage towards the Land of Noodles a lot easier.

There wasn't a lot of direct travel between the two nations. Wave was too poor to warrant a trading route on it's own, and both Noodles and Hot Water mostly bought their goods from, or sold them to Fire.

Even when they didn't, merchants preferred to travel along Fire's border, as it was well patrolled. The shinobi were under orders to protect civilians. The free security caused an extra influx of traders into the country, which in turn was good for Fire's economy.

The only merchants that risked the direct route over the sea were the one's that were pressed for time. Since Konoha's patrols stopped at the shore and Mist's generally couldn't care less about foreign civilians - unless someone hired them to - nobody kept the pirates in check.

Or at least that was how it used to be. Apparently things had changed a little now that Gato was no longer in charge. Sai's information suggested that most of the pirates had been his, and the few traders that regularly used the sea routes had either smuggled wares for him or payed to be left alone. Now however at least three of his former employees were fighting for rights to the hunting grounds.

On one hand that meant traders had a better chance of making the journey unscathed because they were no longer the only targets. On the other hand, the pirates were desperate for any kind of advantage and would frequently resort to excessive violence to make a name for themselves.

Initially Chikako and Sai had simply planned to pay for passage and be done with it, but instead they'd been hired as guards for a trading vessel. The ship's captain was a rotund little man with a massive mustache, and a penchant for sudoku. He was absolutely delighted by their presence, which had likely more to do with their fee than anything else. Chikako had the distinct feeling that they had charged far less than was currently standard, but since they weren't exactly pressed for money at the moment she couldn't bring herself to care.

The sailors were a grumpy bunch. Overworked, underpaid, and having to suffer the worst sake in the Elemental Nations - or so Jiro had declared. They also couldn't seem to decide whether to be afraid of their new guards or not. Sai didn't make it easy for them either. He would spent half of his time with the cook, learning more about how to best prepare food and improvise in the kitchen. The other half was spent standing around like a masked statue and staring at seemingly nothing.

Even Chikako thought it was a little creepy, but he insisted that he was working on a new technique, and not in fact sleeping with open eyes. It took her a while to figure out that he was trying to create ink beasts that didn't simply disintegrate underwater. She'd known that rain was bad for the creatures and made sustaining the technique harder, but she hadn't realized just how dangerous Water Release could be to her friend.

In turn she spent her time in the crow's nest or on top of the mainmast, meditating and trying to stretch her senses in all directions equally. She'd also instructed Jiro to throw things at her in random intervals, so she wouldn't lose track of her immediate surroundings.

On the first day she managed to either monitor all of the crew members or catch whatever came flying at her head, but never both. The little tanuki had been reluctant at first because he didn't want to risk hurting her, but he'd quickly decided that he actually really liked testing his stealth skills against her. His projectiles were mostly small things like nuts, that wouldn't do much harm when they inevitably hit her, but once in a while he would get creative. At one point he'd actually slapped her in the face with a life fish - after which Chikako had decided it was time for a break and chased him around the deck.

Sai generally ignored their antics. At least until it was time for dinner, then he commented on everything they had done during the day in a mixture of actual criticism, borderline insults and bits of dry humor. She often had a hard time not bursting into laughter when the sailors began to stare at the odd turns of phrases he sometimes came up with. As far as she could tell he was trying to be funny and helpful at the same time - for practicalities sake. It didn't work very well, and certainly didn't help the crew's peace of mind, but he seemed to find it amusing all the same.

By day three Jiro had switched to targeting both of them with surprise attacks, to keep things fair as he claimed. She had the sneaking suspicion that he had started to enjoy having the upper hand a little bit too much. Apparently Sai was under the same impression because soon enough a tiny army of ink mice was scattered all over the ship and ready to intercept the tanuki whenever he came up with an especially creative projectile.

At that point Chikako could sometimes sense the fish in the ocean around them, but the more signatures there were the harder it was to keep taps on all of them, so she still frequently got hit. Day five had her so frustrated with her inability to successfully split her attention that she almost blasted Jiro into the ocean with a wave of chakra when he chucked a jellyfish in her direction, and then things finally clicked into place.

Of course her sense of chakra worked just like all of her other senses, and she almost never actively tried to concentrate on those to keep track of her surroundings. Kakashi had taught her to listen to her instincts. To move when she felt that she should, even if she didn't know why. The subconscious was much faster than the conscious mind, and by trying to actively monitor her surroundings the way she had, she had only slowed herself down to the point that the task became impossible.

After that they changed the rules of the game. Chikako would simply watch the water without concentrating on anything, and Jiro would either throw things at her or ask her about the location of one of the crew members. It took her a few more days until she got the hang of simply answering without thinking about it first, but then her accuracy was uncanny, even if she could never tell where someone had been before or how long they had been were they were now. She also sometimes found herself dodging attacks that weren't attacks at all, like when she noticed a leaf on the wind or a reflection on the water in the corner of her eye, or when a fast moving school of fish crossed the ships path.

It made her feel pretty silly, especially when it ended up with the sailors staring at her as if she was some frightened animal that might kill them all in it's terror to get away. Chikako wondered if Kakashi had had the same problems when he was younger, but then he was a genius who had been forced to grow up fast, so probably not.

. . .

They got attacked on the last day before they reached shore. The pirates tried to sneak up on them a few hours before sunrise, and Chikako suddenly snapped out of sleep. The unexpected movement startled Sai so badly that he almost greeted her with a kunai. It took them several minutes to figure out what had woken her, but they still had ample time to warn the crew.

After making sure that there was only one other ship around, both Sai and her decided that a good offense was the best defense. They moved on the water like wraiths, silent and unseen. The pirates never even knew what hit them as Fox and Owl danced over their deck, leaving nothing but death in their wake.

The civilians didn't stand a chance against two ninja that specialized in assassination, and the whole thing only took a few minutes. While Chikako took a look around to search for anything interesting, Sai painted the markings of their masks on the foresail and rolled the bodies into the sea.

"Creating the legend of a ghost ship?" She asked with a chuckle when she saw his work.

"It seems reputations are very important when one bears no village symbol, and I would rather we decide our own instead of waiting until someone else does it for us," he told her in a weirdly formal manner. It was the tone he'd reverted to lately when he wasn't sure whether or not he had overstepped his bounds.

"Well then, come on," Chikako shouted, jumping over the rail and onto the water. "Last one back has to help unload the cargo!"

Of course Sai couldn't beat her when it came to speed, but his new ink fish constantly leap into her path and generally made a nuisance out of themselves. The impromptu race ended up being a lot closer than it should have been, and both of them were drenched by the time they made it back to the merchant ship.

Jiro had a field day mock scolding them for their childishness, but nobody else seemed to mind. The crew was so grateful that they had taken out the pirates before they even became a problem that someone produced a bottle of high quality sake out of nowhere to thank them. Neither Sai nor Chikako actually drank, the gesture was appreciated though - especially by the tanuki who got to keep the alcohol all to himself.

. . .

Crossing through Noddles provided no challenge at all because the country didn't have a shinobi village. The shipping lanes towards Tea were also a lot more quiet, and gave Chikako and Sai plenty of time to practice uninterrupted.

The winds hadn't been exactly in their favor though, so they only reached Degarashi Port one day before the annual race. The city's most prominent families were the Wasabi and the Wagarashi. Initially the race had been a tradition to determine who would have the honor of performing a ceremony that, according to an old legend, would appease the storms. It was supposed to be a festival, but had taken on a different form in the past few years.

The Wasabi and Wagarashi were constantly in dispute over the city boundaries. Over time the animosity had gotten so bad that they openly fought each other in the streets, to the point that even unaffiliated citizens got drawn into the conflict.

To avoid more bloodshed the daimyo had declared that the race would decide who ruled over the city. In the past both families had hired shinobi to ensure there was no outside interference, but when they arrived it quickly became clear that things were different this year.

Rumor had it that the Wagarashi clan's ninja had attacked the Wasabi delegation that was sent to Konoha, presumably to inquire why the regular contract had been refused. Afterwards the Wasabi family had tried to hire Suna shinobi, but apparently never even received an answer. It seemed they were unable to get word out due to anything from bad weather to outright interference from the competition.

By the time Chikako and Sai offered their services Jirocho, the head of the Wasabi clan, was so desperate that he never even mentioned the fact that they wore no hitai-ate.

Chikako still had no idea why exactly Hinata had wanted them to come here, but she figured the race itself was the best place to start looking for answers, and this way they wouldn't even have to hide. Things quickly took a turn for the worse however, when Jirocho introduced them to the young man they were supposed to guard.

"This is-" the clan head started, but got cut off by Chikako before he could finish the introduction.

"I know who he is," she growled, standing up. "We're done here Owl."

Sai was evidently confused by her sudden anger. He didn't argue though, simply got up as well and made to follow her out of the house.

"Wait!" Jirocho shouted, eyes wide with panic. "Please, I'm begging you. You have to help. The Wagarashi are not good people. They have been terrorizing the merchants for the past year, forcing them to pay protection money or even outright demanding their possessions.

"This cannot go on. Please. I will double your fee. Triple it!"

The man was almost sobbing by the time Chikako reached the door. Her hands were clenched into fists so tight that the knuckles turned white, and she felt the overwhelming need to punch something. Hard.

"Do you know who you're asking me to protect?" She snarled, voice laced with venom. She'd never actually met Idate Morino before now, but there was no mistaking that chakra signature, it was too similar to that of his older brother. This little piece of shit was the reason for most of her quasi guardians scars, and now she was supposed to keep him safe.

"He betrayed his village and his family for something as petty as his own pride," she told Jirocho, not caring in the least that she was blowing their cover in her anger. "You're lucky I'm leaving instead of cutting the traitor into ribbons."

It wasn't actually luck though. She was furious, but her brain hadn't entirely taken a leave of absence. Ibiki loved his little brother, always had. There was also the little matter of his interference with the mission approval.

Idate hadn't just left the village. He had stolen a secret scroll and the Sword of the Thunder God on his way out, and handed them over to Amegakure. There was a price on his head, and she had no doubt that the regular Hyuga guard would have tried to collect it.

"Fucking Ibiki," she muttered under her breath, at the same time as Sai declared they would be taking on the mission after all. She had no idea how much he knew, but it was clearly enough to read the situation accurately. Unlike her he also wasn't emotionally invested and thus free to make a logical decision instead of a reckless one.

Ibiki clearly knew that his brother was here and wanted to keep him safe. She could do that for him. She would do that for him, but she didn't have to like it. In fact, she planned to very vocally dislike it.

Chikako had expected Idate to fight back, to try and justify his actions. That wasn't what happened though. He was a few years older than her, but at that moment he looked like nothing more than a kicked puppy. Guilt and shame were practically radiating off of him in waves.

"Do not," she snapped, putting extra emphasis on the word, "expect sympathy. I will keep you alive because that is what your brother wants, but make no mistake, I despise you. You are the worst kind of trash."


	25. VII - Improvisation

**VII - Improvisation**

Sai raised a questioning eyebrow at her the second they were alone. At least she imagined he did, Chikako couldn't actually tell with the mask in place. She sighed and signed a brief explanation of what she knew about Idate Morino.

Ibiki had proctored the first part of his chunin exams, during which the boy got disqualified for lack of skill. If it had been anything like her own exams he had likely been under the impression that his only chance at a promotion was lost. Otherwise Chikako couldn't explain why he went and stole two valuable items from his village and defected together with another shinobi.

As far as she knew their plan had been to join Ame's ranks. They were also supposed to be promoted for the brave act of betraying their home. Chikako really needed to find a way to convey sarcasm via sign language.

In any case, Idate was clearly done playing ninja and had settled into civilian life. She had no idea how that came to pass. At the time he had defected, Ibiki had realized what was happening and followed his brother to bring him back, but Aoi Rokusho, the other traitor, had called in reinforcements from Ame. They captured and tortured Ibiki before something went wrong and the building they kept him in caught fire, allowing him to flee. The Ame nin had wanted information, but not Aoi. The bastard simply hated Ibiki and wanted to prove his superiority by inflicting pain on him.

Word had been that Idate died in the fire, and the only reason that there was still a bounty on his head was the fact that they simply never got removed unless someone brought back a body. Chikako wondered whether Ibiki had lied about his brother's death at the time, or if he'd only learned the truth later and kept it to himself.

Not that that changed anything. She was stuck protecting the disloyal asshole either way.

"I see," Sai said when she was done, and that was all he said. No comment, no judgment, and no reprimand for her behavior.

The race would start in roughly two hours, so he decided to stay with Idate until then, while Chikako took a look around. Usually their roles would have been reversed, seeing as Sai had more of an eye for detail and Chikako was better at detecting and dispatching enemy shinobi. This time however, she was almost as likely to throw Idate to the wolves as she was to protect him. She needed at least a few more minutes to get a grip on herself.

With the race coming up Degarashi Port was especially busy. People wore colorful clothes and bright smiles as they wandered around, drifting from one location to the next. There were some stalls for entertainment here and there, but mostly vendors sold food and souvenirs for the many tourists.

Their prices were high, and their friendliness, while not quite false, rang hollow. It took Chikako a moment to understand that they were afraid of something. With her mask, armor and swords in place she certainly didn't look like a fluffy bunny, but it couldn't have been her they feared. She wasn't deliberately hiding and people occasionally went out of their way to let her pass, but most of them never even noticed the stranger in their midst.

She found out what exactly had the locals anxious further down the street. Three rough looking civilians loudly demanded one of the vendors hand over his earnings and threatened to destroy his wares if he didn't comply. Apparently they belonged to the Wagarashi family and thought they could do whatever they wanted while they still ruled the city.

Chikako didn't particularly care about the people of Degarashi Port and it wasn't like her job was to protect all of them, so she stood to the side and watched. It was always good to know who the enemy was after all. She would have left it at that too, had the Wagarashi thugs left after getting the money. Instead they kept insulting the vendor, a balding man in his fifties, and shoved him to the ground. When one of them drew back his fist, presumably to prepare for a punch, she had enough.

Chikako bodyflickered right into the man's path, catching his wrist. She pressed down hard, using a little chakra to give herself more strength, and letting a tiny amount of killing intent leak into the air. The Wagarashi thug instinctively struggled to get away from her before he had even realized what was happening. When she let go he lost his footing, stumbling backwards and falling over.

"Leave," she told them, voice completely inflectionless. She'd contemplated yelling at him or maybe even growling to get her point across, but being outwardly emotionless worked rather well for Gaara. The redhead was one of the scariest people Chikako knew and she didn't really feel like fighting anyone at the moment. So quietly menacing scare tactics it was.

The thugs were suddenly very eager to get out of her way. She had no doubt they would tell the head of their family about the foreign shinobi. Probably making her a lot taller and adding several kilograms of muscle to justify their hasty retreat.

"On it," Jiro said before she could even ask him to follow them. The little tanuki had her half convinced he was secretly a mind-reader, but then maybe they just thought alike.

. . .

The official start of the festival was marked by fireworks. Red and blue bursts of color lit up the sky while the villagers and tourists cheered. Chikako had no idea what exactly they were expecting to see though.

Both runners would have to cross the water to reach the Modoroki Shrine, where they would have to pick up something called Ryuko Treasure Balls and then race towards the Todoroki Shrine to dedicate them. Both shrines were about equidistant from each other and Degarashi Port, forming a slightly skewed triangle. That meant the spectators would see absolutely nothing except the start of the race, including who won. Unless, of course they themselves traveled directly towards Todoroki Shrine to wait at the finish line. Chikako had the suspicion that quite a bit of the money Degarashi's inhabitants made during the festival was exclusively due to ferrying tourists around.

The race itself was pretty straight forward. Simply: go from A to B to C. There were no other rules either. As long as the contestants themselves made the journey they could do as they pleased to reach both shrines. Taking shortcuts, intercepting the competition, and even hiring foreign shinobi to interfere were all allowed. It would only have been more ridiculous if they had hired the ninja as contestants instead.

As it was however Idate was the one that would be running, and, after hearing from Jiro about the Wagarashi family's dealings, Chikako had every intention to protect him until he reached the finish line. They couldn't hold a candle to people like Orochimaru, Danzo or even just Gato when it came to shady business, but that was only a matter of time, resources and opportunity. There were certainly no morals involved. She had no doubt that, given half a chance, the current clan head would be more than willing to supply anyone with anything, provided the price was right.

That didn't mean she actually wanted to deal with Idate though. Luckily Sai was more than qualified to stay with their charge and ignore his derisive comments about shinobi in general and them in particular. He'd dialed it down somewhat after their heated introduction, but she still had the urge to smack him every time he opened his mouth.

Instead she would be moving ahead of them to intercept any attackers before they came in range. At least that had been the plan they had agreed on with the head of the Wasabi clan. Idate of course, in his infinite wisdom, had decided to take a different route without telling anyone.

Chikako almost crushed the little ink bird Sai had sent to inform her.

"Scout the route he was supposed to take," she told Jiro before following the ink beast to it's master. Sai was far enough away that she couldn't exactly pinpoint his position, otherwise she would have noticed the deviation on her own. The little creature would be able to find him easily though. Letting it take the lead was the fastest option, and since they were essentially in enemy territory now that the race had started time was of the essence.

There had been three shinobi ahead of her when she had left the port. They wouldn't be aware of what was going on yet, but there had also been a much stronger fourth among the spectators. It was incredibly unlikely that he had only come to watch the race and now, while Sai was on his own, was the perfect opportunity for him to attack.

It didn't take long for Chikako to feel the surge of chakra in the distance, that meant she was already too late. By the time she actually arrived Idate was a shivering mess on the ground. Skin shiny with sweat and tiny spasms cramping his muscles every so often.

Sai was in front of him, using his tanto to deflect a volley of senbon. Poisoned, probably. Ame generally preferred the ones that hurt the most, not necessarily the ones that killed fastest.

His clothing was torn in places. Oddly clean cuts with singed edges. Chakra Flow using a fire transformation would do that, but all Sai's opponent seemed to have in terms of weapons were the senbon and an umbrella. The latter of which was likely rigged with needles as well. Typically Ame.

Then she heard the crackling and her head whipped around. Chikako had never seen the Sword of the Thunder God before, but there was no mistaking it. She could tell by his stance alone that their enemy was no swordsman. Zabuza would have laughed himself silly had he been there. Not that one needed to be very proficient with a blade, when said blade was made out of pure lightning chakra.

Steel charged like that could cut stone in the right hands. This sword however was an entirely different beast. It was said that nothing could stand in it's path and survive.

Chikako didn't believe that. In the end chakra was just energy and every technique had it's weaknesses, but the mere thought that it might be true terrified her. The air around them already felt charged with electricity and the Ame nin hadn't even attacked yet. If that weapon was half as powerful as Konoha claimed they were royally fucked.

"Don't look so surprised," the guy said, smirking at Idate. "You should know what this is-"

The rest of his sentence was cut off when two of Sai's liondogs charged him. He barely moved, just swung the blade in a wide, horizontal arc that shouldn't have done anything, considering it didn't connect. A moment later both creatures exploded into sizzling ink and chakra smoke anyway.

"Aoi Rokusho I presume," Chikako gritted out, because Idate couldn't possibly know any shinobi from Amegakure other than the former Leaf chunin that had defected with him. She hadn't been exactly subtle about her approach, so there was no point in hiding. Not even a fresh genin would have missed her arrival, and while the green haired shinobi looked like an idiot, Chikako had seen him shift as she'd gotten closer. She'd been a lot more concerned with speed than with stealth, a decision she now regretted. The man might not have deserved his promotion at the time, but by now his chakra levels put him firmly into jonin territory, even if his judgment didn't.

Rokusho laughed and started in on a monologue that she didn't even try to follow. He seemed to like the fact that she knew his name almost as much as the sound of his own voice. It wouldn't buy them a lot of room to think though. Chikako had no idea how long he could keep the sword activated or if time even was a factor at all. The way his chakra flowed into and out of the weapon seemed odd and for all she knew it was converting natural energy, essentially giving it an infinite supply.

Sai's ink beasts were apparently completely useless at the moment, except maybe as a distraction, and his tanto wouldn't stand a chance against their opponent's weapon either. Neither would her chakra blades, or any of their gear for that matter. They needed to end this fast, preferably without ending up as fried corpses.

Chikako signed a countdown to her partner, making sure to keep her own body between her hand and the threat. She didn't even turn to see whether Sai had noticed or not, instead trusting that he was quick enough on the uptake even if he hadn't.

When she reached zero she send a burst of chakra through her body, claws manifesting just as the Body Flicker landed her directly in front of Rokusho. His eyes widened in shock, but no matter how incompetent of a swordsman he was, the man was also a jonin. He ducked out of the way, letting her attack sail over his head and then slammed the elbow of his left arm into her stomach hard enough to send her flying. By the time she hit the ground Sai had thrown at least two dozen shuriken. Most of them simply flew past their target, and the ones that didn't got obliterated by the sword before they even came close to doing any harm.

"And here I thought we were having a friendly chat," the traitor sneered. He clearly didn't think they were a threat, and normally Chikako would have been delighted to play along, let him fall victim to his own arrogance. Only this time he was right. Rokusho wasn't some great tactician that had outmaneuvered them, he certainly wasn't the most powerful shinobi they had ever fought either. In fact the way he handled his chosen weapon was atrocious at best, but the weapon itself was formidable.

Lightning chakra gave it's user speed they normally wouldn't be capable of reaching. That paired with the ability to stop any attack in it's tracks, simply by cutting through it, was an incredible advantage. One Chikako had no idea how to get around. They couldn't even overwhelm him because Sai could only create and control so many ink beasts, and those didn't do anything other than entertain their opponent.

Rokusho, apparently done talking, threw his umbrella into the air. Chikako knew what was coming before the senbon started raining down on them, but still had to use chakra to get out of the way in time. Both her and Sai dodged the projectiles, putting distance between themselves and the jonin, and dragging Idate further away from the fight in the process.

"Your turn," she told her friend in a whisper, while she pulled Ibiki's little brother away several more meters and out of sight. She didn't cut her chakra off immediately, instead letting it recede slowly as she masked her presence.

Rokusho took the bait, assuming she had run away in hopes of finishing the mission.

"Don't worry, killing you won't take too long and then I'll go after that disloyal little friend of yours," he crowed as if it was a foregone conclusion. Maybe his arrogance would be what killed him after all. Chikako circled him until his back was to her. She didn't have much time before the Camouflage jutsu failed, and she'd have to make her move before then.

Sai knew it too, and so instead of staying at a distance, the way he normally would have, he charged. It was a stupid move and she wanted to shout at him for not using his ink beasts, but that would have given away her position. Sai couldn't compete with her speed. He also didn't have Sasuke's ability to change direction at a moments notice, seemingly ignoring the laws of physics in the process. He was just fast enough to force Rokusho to react. Just fast enough that he couldn't quite overcome inertia and dodge the lightning blade trying to slice him in two.

Chikako didn't wait until it was over. She rushed forward the second Rokusho started to move. His lack of skill meant the motions were slower than they needed to be, swings arcing too wide. And still, when her wakizashi skewered her opponents chest, the smell of burned flesh clogged her nose. A biting stench that had her scrambling to get past him so she could get to Sai. She didn't even notice that the jonin wasn't dead just yet until after blinding pain raced through her body, making her muscles contract all at once and sending her hurtling towards the ground like a lead weight.

She was vaguely aware of the taste of blood and dirt in her mouth when a panicked Jiro came rushing through the underbrush. He gesticulated widely, pointing at something behind himself, but her vision was going dark at the edges and she had to fight to stay conscious.

. . .

Chikako blinked several times and then Jiro was suddenly standing beside her head, rubbing some nasty smelling salve into the skin of her back, left shoulder to hip. The tanuki grumbled something under his breath while he worked, but her fuzzy mind was too distracted by the three dead bodies in front of her. Judging by the light she couldn't have been out for more than a few minutes, but that was apparently more than enough time to miss another attack.

Two of the Ame nin were on the ground, arrows sticking out of their head and neck respectively. The third didn't die as quickly. His corpse got pinned to a tree by four arrows, stomach, thigh, shoulder and chest.

"Your aim sucks," she slurred, only to get a: "So do you," thrown back in her face. Sai's voice was tight with pain and the scent of charred meat made her wince.

"You gonna live?"

"Yeah," he huffed out in what sounded too much like defeat and not enough like exasperation. Chikako didn't have to turn in his direction to know that it was bad. Even with that warning in mind the damage was worse than she had feared.

Sai's right leg was a bloody mess, skin blackened and molten in places. Some spots seemed completely dry, like mud cracking under the sun's heat, while others where almost slick with a mixture of ichor and sweat. Jiro had clearly cleaned it, cut away the fabric where it had been in the way. Judging by the color, mint green with a hint of ocher, Sai rubbed the same stuff into his wound that Jiro had used on her. The only difference was that Sai also used bandages to cover his skin afterwards.

"My back look like that?" She asked, the words almost clear.

This time Sai's huff was amused. There was even the hint of a wry smile playing around the corners of his mouth, that had her gaze flick to the discarded masks, right next to his bow. He looked a lot more like a fox than an owl at that moment.

"Don't worry, you got a pretty scar," he told her, going so far as to hand her a small mirror so she could see for herself. It had to be Rokusho's Chikako mused as she held it over her shoulder, twisting awkwardly to get a better view.

She could make out dark red lines that started in an almost purple bruise on the base of her neck and spread out like roots over the left side of her back. It wasn't nearly as bad as her friend's leg, but she wouldn't call it pretty either. The color would probably fade to pink and then white given enough time, but it would be a constant reminder to make sure the enemy was actually dead and not just mortally wounded.

"What happened?" Chikako asked, poking at her skin to test if that would help with the burning sensation. It didn't.

"It looked like the blade formed into a bolt of lightning, but whatever he was trying to do backfired," Sai informed her. "You only got hit with a tiny part."

She glanced over at Rokusho's smoldering corpse. Someone, likely Jiro, had dragged him off towards the side and partly covered him with earth. What Chikako could see of the rest reminded her of burned wood. Not quite coal, but close enough.

The hilt of what used to be the Sword of the Thunder God was cracked and still tightly clutched in what was left of the traitor's right hand. It was probably for the best. Neither her nor Sai had the right chakra nature to wield it anyway and she was decidedly not in the mood to get near any lightning in the foreseeable future.

"The kid is alive by the way," Jiro piped in after several seconds of silence, completely ignoring that Idate was older than any of them. "One of the three genin had antivenom on him."

"Good for him." Chikako didn't particularly care either way at that moment, but Jiro wouldn't let it go.

"The race is still in progress," he insisted with all the fervor of a plushy furball.

"Are you serious?" She groaned, not at all amused, but already heaving herself up.

Jiro actually went on a rant about how letting the Wagarashi family win would spell certain doom as well as some other overdramatic nonsense. Idate had been quietly standing around in the shadow of a tree so far, but it seemed Jiro's attitude was infectious. The former genin was still pale and somewhat shaky on his legs by the time Chikako had made it to her feet and gotten Jiro to agree that he would wait for her return with Sai. She fished around in their things, decidedly longer than she actually needed to just to annoy him, and then handed over a soldier pill after taking one herself.

Idate looked almost constipated when he swallowed, but bit back a comment at her raised eyebrow. This probably counted as cheating, even in a competition with practically no rules.

. . .

They ran in silence the whole way. Both to conserve energy and because they couldn't stand each other. Idate had this ludicrous idea that ninja were somehow inherently evil, that made her want to lock him in a room with Naruto for a day or two. He was afraid, angry and frustrated, and of course he blamed all of it on her because that was the most convenient course of action.

Chikako's fingers were itching with the need to smack him into the closest tree just to get it out of her system. She hadn't been nice to him sure, but her and Sai had come a lot closer to dying than she was comfortable with to keep the ungrateful little shit alive. She almost hoped that there was another shinobi they had missed, simply to have a distraction, but of course no such luck.

By the time the finish line came into view Chikako was so fed up that she stopped dead in her tracks and let Idate run on ahead. The other contestant was almost there, and still the crowd started to cheer when they saw the Wasabi representative, as if he would somehow manage to win by a hair's breadth against all odds.

She sneered, putting her hands up into the Snake seal, followed by the Rat seal. Genjutsu was far from her specialty and she really only knew this one, but it was always nice when she got to use the technique Kakashi had taught her by accident.

The demonic illusion was weak, but more than enough to fool the Wagarashi contestant. He stumbled over his own feet, hitting the ground face first and giving Idate the edge he needed to win. A confused silence hung over the crowd for a moment, but then the cheering started again, even louder than before. All the while the head of the Wagarashi roared his displeasure as if the heavens would open up and fix things if he was just loud enough.

Nobody even noticed Chikako's presence, and with her job done she headed back towards her team.


	26. VII - Instinct

**A/N:**

 _Scarease_

I'm not sure what Konoha would want with a broken sword, but then who knows. Maybe they can throw it at Danzo or something.

 _The Plague Doctor_

Thank you and welcome.

. . .

 **VII - Instinct**

They stumbled their way back into town the next night under cover of darkness. Sai insisted he could walk, but in reality he barely managed to stand. One of his liondogs carried him most of the way and then Chikako played crutch because that technique was just too recognizable to risk being seen.

Jirocho Wasabi was more than happy to offer them rooms instead of the agreed upon money and after Chikako cornered him in a room, kunai to his throat, Idate agreed to keep his mouth shut about their abilities and faces. She'd made sure to focus every last bit of killing intent she could muster on him until he'd been so afraid she thought he might have a heart attack if she didn't let up.

The safest solution would have been to kill him. Naruto, Hinata and Kiba were the only other people who could match their masks to their identities, and even though Idate didn't know their names he could easily give a description of their appearance and the techniques they had used. The problem with killing him was that Sai badly needed rest. There was no way Jirocho would let them stay if Idate suddenly had an unfortunate accident, and even if he did, she couldn't do that to Ibiki.

Chikako couldn't for the life of her understand why the man loved his little brother, but he obviously did so she'd have to find another solution. Scaring someone into compliance was far from her favorite. She was generally against torture, physical or mental. It wasn't a reliable way to get information and it bred resentment. She didn't have much of a choice though. Idate wasn't someone who could be bribed, not that she would have trusted his word any more if he was. In fact, she didn't trust him at all, which was why she made sure to occasionally remind him that he lived because she allowed him to. He didn't need to know how untrue that statement was.

At some point he'd be sick and tired of the constant threat and when that point came he would rat her out or send people that asked the wrong questions her way. A calculated risk. Chikako didn't plan on staying in Degarashi a day longer than they needed to for Sai to heal, but considering how badly he was injured it would take weeks before he could walk again, much less run. So to buy themselves a little more time Chikako, with a little help of the Hell Viewing Technique, made sure Idate had a vivid understanding of what she would do to the Wasabi family if he betrayed her.

It was another lie of course. Killing the clan wouldn't do her any good, especially in the gruesome way she had shown him. The genjutsu she'd used only showed the victim one of their own fears, but it drew on what was closest to the surface. In order to make him see what she'd wanted him to see Chikako had first described several of the things she'd been witness to in Orochimaru's care, simply swapping out the people involved. After that Idate's own imagination had supplied everything else.

He'd known it was a genjutsu immediately, even if he had needed two tries to break it. It didn't matter though. After all, she hadn't been trying to trap him and that little display had gotten her point across marvelously.

. . .

They ended up staying in Degarashi Port for the better part of two months. At least Sai did because his leg had been burned so badly that he would never completely recover, even with the help of chakra and the salve. He hated every second of it, constantly telling Chikako that they needed to leave and that he would be fine.

He was right of course, at least about the fact that staying was dangerous. She could almost feel ROOT closing in on them with every day that passed. In fact she'd left Degarashi multiple times to lay false trails, even going so far as to track down bandits and paying them to spread rumors about Fox and Owl.

Chikako had no idea if any of it worked and the uncertainty drove her slowly but surely insane. Sai wasn't up to running again just yet, but he could walk for more than five minutes at a time. They had bought passage on a merchant ship that left for Wind in the morning. That was almost exactly the opposite of where they wanted to go, but the sooner they got out of Degarashi the better and beggars couldn't be choosers. Not to mention that Sai was ready to crawl up the walls, had been for weeks really. He probably would have agreed to accompany a caravan headed straight for Konoha as long as it meant they could start traveling again.

Idate stayed well away from them at all times. Sometimes he went so far as to leave not only a room, but the clan compound when Chikako was there. She didn't mind and Jiro kept an eye on him to ensure he didn't talk to anyone, which was really all she cared about at that point.

They would never be friends or even reluctant allies and meeting Chikako certainly hadn't raised Idate's opinion of shinobi any. She hoped he didn't hate his brother for her actions, but if he did then that was his loss. It was also Ibiki's fault for getting her into this mess in such an underhanded way. She had no doubt the man kept tabs on his brother and knew of his attitude towards ninja. He had certainly known, and completely disregarded, how Chikako would react to meeting the traitor.

Of course it was entirely possible that he hadn't orchestrated Hinata overhearing that conversation about the race. In fact the meeting between her and the Konoha team had been a coincidence, so maybe this whole mess was as well. But then Ibiki was the head of T&I and the way things had gone down seemed just a little too convenient, so Chikako was going to blame him regardless to be on the safe side.

He might not be happy with the way she'd handled things, but he would understand when he heard about them, if he hadn't already. Even with all the precautions she'd taken they had spent too much time in Degarashi and she was more than relieved that they could finally start traveling again.

This particular night was the last one before they would head out. Chikako was meeting up with one of the contacts she had made in the area to ensure there would be a sighting of two strangers with and Owl and a Fox mask somewhere on the other side of the continent.

Sai and two liondogs were in the woods several kilometers north of her position and slowly making their way towards a different port. Meanwhile Jiro was pretending to be Sai and would leave with a trading caravan at first light. He would also die a horribly drawn out death due to poisoning and then slip away as soon as possible to join up with them again. It was another attempt to confuse the trail. One that made her uneasy because Sai would be completely on his own for several hours, but that couldn't be helped.

Chikako had stayed out of sight as much as possible, but her companion had been in no shape to hide. Their odd journey from Rice to Tea would have bought them some time, as would the masks, but their luck wouldn't hold forever. The head start that strange encounter in Rice had gotten them was long gone. She could practically feel the hounds snapping at her heels, eager to take their pound of flesh.

It took her a moment to realize that that wasn't just her imagination. There were literal hounds behind her and she really should have paid more attention to the uneasy feeling in her stomach. Chikako knew a few shinobi that hunted with dogs, but there was only one that could hide from her.

The ninken didn't have a lot of chakra and they were moving fast, so keeping track of them individually was more of a distraction than anything else. The real problem was their master. Kakashi was elite even among ANBU and he specialized in tracking and assassination.

The fact that she couldn't sense him either meant he wasn't with his pack, which was so unlikely that Chikako snorted at the idea, or that he was deliberately staying hidden. She could think of precisely one reason for the latter.

By now moving silently while keeping her chakra, body heat and scent suppressed was practically second nature to Chikako, but a few sharp turns quickly let her know that the dogs were not just coincidentally on the right trail. She had no idea how they were tracking her, but there was no doubt that that was exactly what they were doing. They were also rapidly gaining ground.

Either she had gotten slower in the past few months or Kakashi had gotten the pack back in shape. Not that it mattered because the result was the same. There was no way she could run from them, so instead of wasting any more energy trying to escape Chikako slowed down and waited in the first clearing she came across.

She'd deliberately stayed away from the nearby river because while the water might have helped her loose the pack, there would have only been two directions to go and her pursuers could have easily split up to find her again. There was also no guarantee that it would have worked and Chikako distinctly remembered the confrontation against Zabuza. She had no intention of fighting someone with an affinity for Lightning, who could also manipulate the other four elements, anywhere near water.

So instead she'd picked her clearing, where there was nothing but dirt and grass. It wouldn't do her much good if things were as bad as she thought they were, but then it didn't make the situation any worse either.

Chikako took several deep breaths to try and get her racing heart back under control. She'd been in a constant state of alertness for weeks and weeks on end, and it had left her nervous and exhausted. Jiro had occasionally forced her to rest and recover, but she certainly wasn't at her best. Her nerves were completely fried, but not quite so much that she didn't notice three shinobi trailing the dogs.

None of their chakra signatures seemed familiar to her, but judging by their affinities, Fire, Fire and Earth, she was willing to bet they were from Konoha. If those three assholes had been ahead of the pack or even just run with the dogs, instead of trying to hide behind them she would have had more than ample warning. As things were however Chikako was surrounded by what should have been her family and whoever the unknown shinobi were. Their job was either to provide backup or simply observe because they made no move to come any closer. Curiously neither did the pack, seemingly content to guard the perimeter now that their prey was boxed in.

They kept well out of her range, something Chikako was grateful for. She didn't want to have to face them. She was half hoping that Kakashi would appear behind her, tell her that she was a horrible excuse for a shinobi that sucked at hide and seek, and maybe hit her with his little orange book just because he could, but the continued silence didn't bode very well.

She knew he was there, somewhere. The storm that was his chakra crackled like electricity over her senses. It was nothing but the barest of touches though and she might not even have noticed had she not been so familiar with it. Yet Chikako couldn't pinpoint his position.

Whatever he was doing to his chakra worked incredibly well and she highly doubted that she could find him like this. Not unless he actually used a technique and by then things would be over. ANBU Hound was more than capable of taking an opponent out with a single attack. In fact his only original technique was specifically designed for exactly that purpose. Sure it was loud, but it was also incredibly fast and about as destructive as the Sword of the Thunder God had been.

"I'm getting sick and tired of people trying to electrocute me," Chikako muttered under her breath and then, closing her eyes, focused on her other senses. If she couldn't locate him by sight or the feeling of his chakra she would just have to do it another way. He'd taught her well and whatever else she had done, she wouldn't disappoint him by just rolling over.

She couldn't smell well enough to track him that way, but her hearing was fine and she'd learned to pay attention to and focus on individual sounds. Footsteps, the rustling of clothes and clinking of weapons were the most obvious. Kakashi wasn't an amateur though. The man could move without making any kind of noise if he wanted to, but because of her sensory abilities he had to do it without the help of chakra and that meant slowly.

He clearly didn't want to confront her outright, so he had to get so close that she wouldn't have time to react to an attack. Chikako would know were he was the instant he used chakra and over short distances she was faster than him. Her muscles wouldn't thank her for the strain a Body Flicker with that kind of speed would cause, but she could live with that if it meant avoiding a Chidori to the chest.

She spread her chakra out around her like a fine mist. It wasn't visible, but would be obvious even to a non-sensor. If he got within it's range it would be like pulling on the string of a spider's web. Not that she actually expected him to fall for such an obvious trap. It was mainly to ensure he stayed farther away.

Chikako wasn't quite certain just how close he had to get, but she couldn't afford to err on the side of caution because her chakra reserves were quite a bit more limited than his and if she spread the mist too thin it would be useless.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," she singsonged, drawing out the pauses between the syllables. Echolocation wasn't really one of her skills, but Chikako was getting more desperate to find him with every passing second. No matter how slowly he had to move, time wasn't on her side and they both knew it.

She almost whipped around when she heard the telltale whistle of steel cutting through air behind her and slightly to the left, but fought the impulse at the last moment. Kakashi knew better than to think she would miss such an obvious sound, which meant it was deliberate, a distraction. That in mind her next instinct was to dodge towards the projectile rather than away from it, expecting him in the opposite direction, ready to strike from behind when she got closer.

Chikako didn't quite manage to curb that reaction, but instead of stopping herself again she put an excessive amount of chakra behind the motion, turning it into a Body Flicker and overshooting her initial target by several meters. She landed almost on top of Kakashi, which clearly took him by surprise. He still managed to dodge the volley of senbon she released at his back with a simple Replacement, reappearing in the middle of the clearing. It didn't speak well of her chances that she hadn't even managed to nick him when he wasn't expecting the attack, but at least she'd forced him out into the open.

The minor triumph was short-lived at best. Dead on arrival, really.

Chikako's heart nearly stopped, eyes widening in shock when she actually took a second to look at him instead of just throwing pointy things. He was in full uniform. Body clad in the harsh black and gray of ANBU, and face hidden behind a bone white mask, empty but for a few crimson markings.

She'd thought about his skill as a black ops operative earlier, but she hadn't actually expected to see him in anything other than his customary jonin outfit. Even his posture was different. There was no hint of the lazy slouch he liked to affect. No orange book in his hand and no half closed eyes to tell the world how bored and utterly uninterested in company he was. Instead he stood tall, the blade most ANBU carried on their backs in his right hand and the blood red of the sharingan gleaming at her from behind the mask.

This wasn't her friend and mentor Kakashi, come to lecture her for her idiocy and bring her back home. This was ANBU Hound, and she was his prey.

For a moment it was like the world had stopped. The air froze in her lungs while her muscles strained with tension and she would have sworn her heart skipped a beat, unable to handle the sudden onslaught of panic, and then he moved and she bit her lip bloody in an effort to rip herself out of the shock and match his speed.

There was no time to freak out. No time to think. No time to do anything but act, and so she let instinct guide her. Her mind was overwhelmed with the need to get away. Runrunhide! Her body however was fueled by adrenaline and it knew this dance. Had learned it at the hands and blade of the Demon of the Mist.

Chikako drew her wakizashi without even noticing, it was just suddenly there, an extension of her arm. Then her world became, dodge, block, counter, repeat. On and on they twirled in their little dance. She kept her steps light, fast, precise.

 _Never fall into patterns. Never become predictable. Never show an opponent your back, Dodge when you can, block when you have to. Make every movement count. Don't hesitate. Don't rush in like an idiot, but don't play defense either. You can't let an enemy decide where you go. Know your surroundings and use them._

Zabuza's lessons all around her like, an ocean of experience that guided her even when her own mind wouldn't. And still it wasn't enough. Before long her clothes were littered with cuts, blood soaking the fabric. She was coated in sweat and dirt, from the exertion and rolling on the ground to get out of his way when she couldn't afford the chakra for another Body Flicker. As yet he hadn't resorted to using any jutsu other than the occasional Replacement and she took great care not to look into his eye. Normal illusions she could shrug off, but those empowered by the Sharingan were quite a different matter and she had no breathing room as it was.

Kakashi himself didn't look pristine anymore, but he wasn't nearly as bad off as her. It was a wonder she had gotten any hits in at all. Her best option would be to tire him out, to wait until the kekkei genkai that wasn't his took it's toll. The only problem with that tactic was that she had no hope of lasting that long.

He was stronger than her, had more stamina and when she couldn't use a Body Flicker to dodge he was faster as well. He knew a thousand jutsu she had never even heard of and had likely killed more people than she had met in her life.

And yet, she'd somehow managed to keep up so far. Landing a lucky hit on him was one thing, but he was better than her at practically everything that mattered for this fight. The man was a genius forged in the fires of war, tempered by grief and time. By rights she should be dead.

So why wasn't she?

Chikako's eyes widened minutely when her brain finally kicked back into gear, thoughts no longer drowned out by fear and her survival instinct. She stumbled backwards as the most obvious conclusion hit her like the tide, ice cold and with so much force she couldn't have fought it had she wanted to.

A heartbeat later she found herself neck-deep in the ground, earth pressing in on her and keeping her prisoner. Kakashi had instantly capitalized on her mistake and she had to wonder how much he had been holding back and how much fighting her had actually been a challenge. He'd had to deal with the added complication of making sure not to accidentally hurt her too badly, still she couldn't help a tiny flicker of pride that she'd managed to force him into an open confrontation at all.

He didn't give her much time to celebrate. The moment she felt the three other shinobi move closer a powerful area genjutsu washed over her. Chikako didn't even try to break it. It wasn't meant for her, and while he would have outlasted her, Kakashi's chakra reserves where low enough that she worried. His control was exceptional, but he wasn't a genjutsu type and something this strong would drain him fast.

He seemed to agree with her because he didn't waste any time on small talk, merely raised his blade and then brought it down in a clean swipe. The steel passed millimeters in front of her neck, so close that she could feel the wind in it's wake and then the earth was coated in a river of illusory blood.

Chikako sensed a dull sort of satisfaction from their observers when cold fire consumed her corpse, leaving nothing behind but a hole in the ground. Kakashi didn't linger, didn't acknowledge her or the hidden observers in any way.

They left shortly after he did, but the genjutsu stayed in place a long time after that and so did Chikako, too afraid to ruin Kakashi's work.

He'd been sent to kill her. An elite black ops operative, called back into service to hunt down a mere genin with no crimes to her name, other than leaving the village. This wasn't how ANBU operated. They also didn't have observers to make sure they actually did their job. Someone had sent those three after Kakashi without informing him. Danzo, no doubt.

Had Kakashi volunteered for this job? Maybe because of personal ties? It wasn't unheard of, and his stance on traitors wasn't a secret so no one would doubt his word when he told them he'd burned the body.

The explanation didn't feel right though. There was no reason for him to volunteer unless the Hokage had actually made her a high enough priority that she would be actively hunted and there was no reason for that. Chikako hadn't stepped on anyone's toes. Well, except for Danzo, who's operative she'd technically turned and stolen, but he could hardly take something like that to Tsunade, seeing as he wasn't supposed to have operatives of his own in the first place.

Of course that didn't mean he couldn't have fabricated other evidence. According to records from the First Shinobi World War his team and Hiruzen Sarutobi's had fought side by side on several occasions, which meant Danzo had a long history with both Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, the sole members of Tsunade's council. They couldn't actually give the Hokage orders, but they could certainly make her life a lot harder.

Chikako hated when she didn't have all the information to figure out what was going on. It felt like someone else was pulling her strings and all she could do was dance to a tune she couldn't hear. A good little puppet, forced to play a part without being able to see the bigger picture. At this point she wasn't even convinced she understood the small picture.

Kakashi clearly hadn't wanted her dead, but that stupid stumble still could have cost her her life. Just because he didn't like the idea of being her executioner didn't mean he wouldn't take her head if ordered to, not after she'd abandoned the village. But once that thought had hit her, that he didn't want to kill her, she'd just stopped. Ready to give him the lead like she always did. The possibility that he might just be sad about what he had to do didn't even occur to her until several seconds later and by then it had been more than too late.

He could have cut her actual throat just as easily as he'd cut the illusion's. The only reason she was still alive was because he'd decided not to kill her, and suddenly Chikako regretted the way she'd treated Idate. Being at someone else's mercy sucked.


	27. VII - Sand as Far as the Eye Can See

**A/N:**

 _heyits me_

Thank you.

 _QuantumZero_

Thank you for the expansive review. I'll only answer a few key points here that might be interesting to others as well, but if there is anything else you want to know just tell me and we can do that via pm.

The problem with Chikako using jutsu is that holding them is very hard for her because her chakra differs from the regular chakra these techniques were created for. She is however good at simply shaping raw chakra, which is why things like chakra claws and masking scent are no problem at all. Chakra Flow simply means flowing chakra through an object and is therefore no challenge for her. Body Flicker is similar in that the user only enhances their muscles to achieve extreme speeds over short distances. Only the latter even falls into the category of ninjutsu and is merely a D-rank technique. The only actual jutsu Chikako ever uses besides that are the Hell Viewing genjutsu (also D-rank) and Camouflage (A-rank). The latter, much like everything else she does, only involves shaping chakra and using it to reflect light in a certain manner, which I'm pretty sure I mentioned at some point when she learned it. Chikako also had quite a bit of trouble with that jutsu and can still only hold it for a short duration, which I've also mentioned a couple of times.

So you see I didn't just say she has trouble with ninjutsu/genjutsu. Chikako barely ever uses any techniques except for those mentioned. As for how much chakra a chakra construct needs: I didn't actually find any information on that, but I don't see why the ones she uses would need a lot of chakra. The claws are merely that, longer sharper nails, and the barrier while wide doesn't have to be thick. The only thing the amount of chakra used for either would influence is how solid they are, which is why her shield breaks if she can't put enough chakra into it, and that has happened several times. I'm certain I mentioned that around the time she first used one of those constructs, but in essence they work by simply shaping chakra (Yin Release). There's really nothing more to it. Every shinobi can shape chakra, Chikako is just really good at it because she has not only the necessary control, but can also sense chakra better than normal, so it's easier for her to tell what she's doing.

I mostly don't explain the techniques of other characters because Chikako generally doesn't know how they work, but you have a point when it comes to taking the show don't tell approach too far.

I personally enjoy not being told every little thing and figuring out how everything works by observing, but as the author I also know a lot more about the characters, their abilities etc. so I tend to overlook that a reader would need more information. Add to that the fact that details are easily forgotten between chapters and I understand perfectly were you're coming from. It's something I'll have to work on.

I can't find the chapter were I talked about her chakra nature right now, but she essentially doesn't have one. Chikako can do Yin and Yang Release, but that's it. Sai's nature hasn't played a role so far because he doesn't use any techniques that require a specific chakra nature. According to the wiki he can use Earth, Water, Fire and Yang, but I may or may not change that depending on what fit's the story.

. . .

 **VII - Sand as Far as the Eye Can See**

Chikako started to dig herself out of the ground the second the genjutsu faded, and then ran. Ran without pause or second thought until she reached Sai. He looked a little startled by her sudden appearance, but the expression quickly morphed into worry.

"What's going on?" He half asked, half demanded. Chikako didn't bother answering, still out of breath and spooked from her encounter with Kakashi. Instead she grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the harbor. Sai had waited for her only a short distance from the port town, so getting there only took a few minutes, but their ship wouldn't leave for several hours yet.

Chikako didn't think she could wait that long, so she approached a group of sailors that played cards on one of the docks and threw a pouch with all of her money in it at them.

"You can keep that if you set sail for Wind within the next thirty minutes. No questions and no blabbing your mouths to anyone," she told them.

The men stared at her, taken completely off guard and seemingly stunned into inaction. Chikako had no idea what threw them off most, the masks, the fact that her clothes were dirty and crusted in blood or maybe simply the demands themselves, but she didn't particularly care. Sai and her needed to get out of Tea and they needed to do it yesterday.

She was mentally halfway to simply stealing a rowboat and hoping for the best when a portly woman stepped out of the shadows. Her skin was several shades darker than that of the men and judging by the cut of her clothes she belonged to a different crew. The enraged shouting that started when she snatched the money only confirmed that suspicion.

"That's what yer get fer bein' lazy basterds," she laughed in a voice so thickly accented that Chikako had trouble understanding her. Then the woman weighed the pouch in her hands expertly and her grin became impossibly wider.

"Yer got yerself a deal lassie," she bellowed, smacking a fist to her chest in salute before making a gesture that Chikako didn't recognize with her other hand. A moment later there was the telltale whistle of projectiles cutting air and she instinctively pulled up a chakra barrier in front of herself and Sai. The thing was weak, would likely shatter if anything hit it, but it would also slow any attack down and give her more time to react. Then the sailors slumped over, blow darts sticking out of their necks.

"Ah, dina mean te scare ye lassie," the woman chuckled and when she noticed the weapons both Chikako and Sai had pulled added a little more seriously: "Just takin' care of the no blabbin' rule."

Chikako eyed the sailors for a moment. They weren't dead, but would be in twelve hours or so. What little chakra they had was weak and growing weaker with every passing second.

"Paralytic?" She asked, just to make sure. The woman nodded and Chikako stepped closer to the men, ramming her tanto into each of their skulls. They might look peaceful because the paralytic prevented them from moving a muscle, but the actual death would be drawn out and painful. These men hadn't done anything to deserve that, other than react too slowly. The woman was right that they had to die to ensure their silence, but that didn't mean they had to suffer.

Suffocation was never pleasant, but that particular poison was one she recognized all too well. A neurotoxin that had been artificially perverted. It acted in two stages. The first caused nerve damage in a manner of seconds, while the second acted at the pace of an asthmatic sloth. Initially it was severe enough to rob the victim of deliberate motor functions, but not so much that the heart or lungs would fail. They would give out eventually, but that could take up to twenty-four hours in extreme cases.

Orochimaru admired it's ingenuity. She knew because she'd seen him use it dozens of times. As far as Chikako was aware it was meant for interrogation. Specifically for those interrogators that relied on genjutsu or could directly access another's mind, but the snake had liked to use it as punishment. A drawn out death that made the victim completely helpless.

At a different point in time she might have cared enough to find out why that was these people's weapon of choice. Right then however, all she wanted was to get away fast, consequences be damned.

. . .

Later that day Chikako found herself in the crow's nest of the most peculiar ship she'd ever seen. Then again, the vessel itself wasn't actually the odd thing. A simple wooden construction with more patches than original parts, but otherwise rather mundane. The decorations however looked like they had sprung straight out of someone's fever dream. Brightly colored ribbons with bells or coins on them were wrapped around anything and everything. Masts, railings, chairs, tables, the rudder and even people. If a ribbon could fit around it, then there was a ribbon on it.

It didn't stop there either. Fabrics and shawls in darker colors, but with silver and gold embroidery hung from every wall and lay on every surface, other than the floor itself. The crew, all female, was dresses in a similar manner. Rich colors, lots of fluttering cloth and jewelry made from precious metals. One of the women was so old that her dark skin looked like dried out leather, while another was so young she could barely walk.

They flitted around each other in a chaotic dance, like a swarm of colorful birds, yet every single one seemed to know exactly where she was needed at all times. The ship had left the harbor in less than twenty minutes and could have been at sea even sooner if Chikako hadn't sensed Jiro and made them wait so the little tanuki wouldn't be forced to track them down. She hadn't thought about how her furry friend would find them in her mad rush to escape Tea as soon as possible and was glad that luck hadn't entirely abandoned her.

Jiro too immediately knew that something had happened to spook her and, unlike Sai, he was a lot more insistent on getting answers, which was why she had fled to the crow's nest in the first place. The big lady from the harbor, Madame, had kindly distracted him with food so Chikako could make her escape. His belly was stuffed now though and she let out a defeated sigh as both of her companions joined her.

"They sent Kakashi after me," she told them, a pitiful, broken laugh clawing itself out of her throat without permission. The response was a beat of shocked silence, then Jiro's fur puffed up, but Sai clamped his hand over the tanuki's mouth before he could say anything. The ex-ROOT operative gave her a look that said more clearly than words could have that he would accept whatever she was willing to share and not press any further. He clearly knew what it meant to face a friend on the battlefield, when it was kill or be killed and you had no choice but to fight for your live.

Her encounter with Kakashi hadn't been like that, not really, but she hadn't known that when the dogs were on her tail. Chikako had been scared out of her mind until there was nothing left but instinct, to survive and to protect her companions. With Sai still far from recovered they depended on her more than ever.

In that clearing, she would have killed Kakashi to keep them safe and the only reason that she hadn't, was that she wasn't good enough. For the first time in her life she was glad to be too weak, too slow and too stupid to outmaneuver her opponent. Chikako had seen and done horrible things in her past, but she didn't think she could have lived with herself if she'd actually managed to do Kakashi permanent harm. She refused to even entertain the possibility that she might have been the cause of his death. It was ludicrous. He was a living, breathing legend and yet, greater men had been felled by nothing more than bad luck. It was naive to think that he hadn't been in danger.

No battle was over before it was over and even then poison, sickness or simply the wounds sustained during the confrontation could still claim the victor. She might not like it, but she knew better than to think of humans as anything other than fragile. They were such complex creatures that the slightest disturbance to their system could spell their end. Some, like Chikako herself, were a little tougher than others, but in the end they were all just one step ahead of death.

"Pack does not fight pack," was what she said out loud. Her voice was still brittle, but the words weren't a request, they were a declaration. One she would write in her own blood if that was what it took. Pack was family, pack was home and pack was what she lived for. There was no point if they turned on each other.

"Pack does not fight pack," Sai agreed easily, then glared at Jiro until the tanuki swallowed his questions, nodded and repeated the words.

Chikako didn't tell her friends anything more other than that Kakashi had spared her and tricked the watchers. She had no doubt that Sai had come up with the same theories as her, but without being able to contact anyone in Konoha there was no way to know what was going on.

The only thing she did know for certain was that she had to do better, to be better. Being able to survive wasn't enough. She had to be strong enough to protect her pack, and not just Jiro and Sai either. It didn't matter whether Kakashi was playing Danzo, Tsunade or both, his game was dangerous and at some point there would be no moves left to make. Then there were Ibiki and Hinata, who both knew too much for their own safety and had nothing to protect them but the fact that the worst monsters weren't paying attention to them. Yet.

And Itachi of course. A man with secrets so dark and bloody that he seemed willing to break even the people he loved to keep them safe. How many more horrors was he keeping at bay so the rest of them could live in the light instead of getting overwhelmed by what waited in Konoha's shadows?

Chikako had let fear rule her all her life. It had been a constant from the day she had been torn from her childhood and been thrown into the lab of a mad genius that lacked even the hint of a moral compass. Fear of darkness, fear of hunger, fear of pain. She had been a good girl to avoid the suffering, she had plucked her ears to avoid the screams and she had closed her eyes so she could pretend there was no blood on her hands. She had become a killer to save herself because she was too afraid to find out what would happen if she didn't. She had honed fear into a weapon that would push her forward in the face of danger. If she was too terrified to turn her back on an enemy then all there was left to do was to to fight and win.

But in the end fear was nothing but a crutch she had clung to, like a child that wouldn't let go of it's mother's hand. Her first reaction was mistrust because she was afraid of betrayal. Fight because compliance might end in chains. Kill because only dead enemies couldn't come back for more. Run because there was no telling what Tsunade would do or how many assassins Danzo had.

She'd lost her first friend because she'd been too afraid to press him for answers, her home because she wouldn't put her life on the line and almost herself because she couldn't trust that Kakashi would value her more than an order.

"How stupid I am," she chuckled to herself, nothing more than a whisper on the wind. Fear had it's purpose, but she was done blindly following it's lead.

. . .

The journey towards Wind was pleasantly uneventful. Nobody spoke to them and they spoke to nobody. The crew completely ignored their presence, which had Jiro huffing and puffing until Chikako explained the demands she had made. When he learned of the circumstances of their departure his attitude completely changed. Suddenly the little tanuki had nothing but praise for the excellent customer service and professionalism of all the wonderful ladies.

Chikako was half convinced he mostly enjoyed the fact that nobody tried to keep him out of the kitchen, the liquor stores specifically. She'd seen a few ships on the horizon that flew a black flag with a skull and bones on it, or even no flag at all, but not one approached their vessel. A ship so bedecked in wealth that the riches seemed to spill over and not a single pirate showed any interest at all. She wondered more than once who exactly she had hired, but never enough to ask.

The agreement to keep secrets didn't go both ways, yet Chikako had a feeling that the Madame wouldn't offer her answers unless she did the same and that just wasn't going to happen.

The nights came and went until one blurred into the next and then one day, when Chikako opened her eyes with the morning sun, it wasn't the ocean that greeted her but the desert. A sea in it's own right, made up of sand instead of water, but no less magnificent or endless. They would both devour careless travelers and hide the remains in their depths, never to be found unless a storm ripped them into the light again.

The desert was a terrifying beast, but this time Chikako wouldn't let fear be her guide. She already knew the monster that ruled the sand and if a lonely little boy with a broken heart could best the dunes then so could she.

"Suna?" Sai asked. He didn't approve, but that was just as well.

"No, it's been months," she told him. "If Danzo didn't have spies in Suna before the chunin exam he surely does by now."

"Where to then?"

"Anywhere," she shrugged. It really didn't matter as long as they kept moving.

. . .

They traveled along the coast at first, where the weather was less harsh and food easy to come by. Chikako and Sai quickly learned how to regulate their body temperature with chakra to stay reasonably cool, whereas Jiro spend most of the day transformed into an object to avoid the worst of the heat.

Once they felt secure in the knowledge that they wouldn't burn in the sun they followed the next river they came across to it's origin. It started out wide and teeming with fish, but soon vegetation grew sparser and so did the wildlife. Jiro picked the next lesson up quickest.

The little tanuki would eat anything in a pinch, be it grass, insect or bark. Unlike Chikako he also considered scorpions food, not that she didn't change her mind as the days went by. Hunger would do that to a person, and she certainly didn't have the luxury to let her body devour itself when there were other options. After all the first thing it would draw energy from was sugar, but once that was gone and a few days had passed without food, the next thing that burned to fuel the brain were muscles. Those she couldn't afford to lose. So little crawly things, snakes, lizards and the occasional small mammal or bird became fixtures on her meal plan, right next to prickly plants, roots or dry grass if the pickings were especially slim.

Sometimes, when it rained or they came across a water hole, the desert was suddenly full of life and other times they went days without seeing a single living soul, animal or plant. They mostly traveled from shortly before dusk until slightly after dawn, navigating by the stars. Once in a while though Sai made them walk in the heat of the midday sun because only the light of day could bring out all the colors of the sand, or so he claimed.

Chikako didn't understand his fascination. To her what surrounded them were simply stones ground so fine that a simple breeze could pick up the grains. Sure, there were red, yellow, white and even black deserts in Wind, but in the end they were all hot, dry and not very hospitable.

She never complained though. She had her fascinations and he had his, as long as they were safe it didn't matter. So instead of grumbling, like Jiro was so fond of doing, she treated it as a chakra training exercise and tested how low she could keep her body temperature and still maintain her usual stealth techniques.

Chikako had been miserable in the beginning. The desert had been a place she endured because the shifting sands would erase any trail and the lack of people meant no one could report that they were alive after all. Then the desert had been an adversary to struggle against in order to survive, and finally it had become a teacher.

She had adapted with time. Instead of talking to fight boredom she kept her mouth shut to conserve moisture. Instead of eating her fill whenever there was food she only consumed what her body demanded because with food came thirst and water was worth more than gold in the endless sand.

Conserving energy was so important that even their sign language got leaner. Wide gestures became small, common phrases received their own signs and some things they learned to communicate with nothing more than a look. However most of the time was spent thinking.

Chikako contemplated the few books she possessed and the notes she had taken. She read and reread them all until she had memorized every single word. Then one day, when she could recite them without stumbling even once, she burned every last piece of paper.

Ibiki liked his codes, and so did she. They were useful if one needed to share information but keep it away from prying eyes. The only thing safer than a good code was not writing things down at all. She did not intent to leave her knowledge lying around for anyone to find. Words on paper were what cost people like Gato their lives and gave those like Danzo leverage. Chikako would be better. She used the quiet nights to train her mind. One sense at a time she learned to take her surroundings in and commit them to memory until she knew the position of everything around herself at all times. Until the slightest change in smell, light, sound or temperature was so obvious to her that she hardly needed her sense of chakra to find animals.

The further inland they traveled the more severe the difference between night and day became. She learned fast that keeping a body cool was a lot harder than keeping it warm, but at some point both tasks were nigh impossible. When the sun stood highest the air heated up so much that it flickered and distorted the world, sometimes to the point that it created mirages.

When the moon was in it's zenith though the world was drastically different. Where before clothes seemed like a burden they suddenly became a necessity as the temperature plummeted. Sweltering heat turned into freezing cold and the empty blue sky became a black ocean dotted with millions of tiny lights.

Konoha was never asleep. There were always people on the streets, be they civilians going about their days or shinobi patrolling the roofs at night. Someone was awake, and so lamps were lit and candles burned. Out in the no man's land of Wind however there was no artificial light to pollute the night. Chikako had thought they'd been far from civilization in the wilderness of Rice, but she'd been wrong. She'd never known just how many stars glowed in the night sky before and she'd never forget it's beauty again.

The first time she mentioned the band of subtly colored clouds that seemed to stretch across the darkness Sai smiled so brilliantly at her that she was momentarily stunned. He later explained that it had been the first time she'd looked at the world like an artist and not a survivor.

It was a humbling thought, that one's perspective could so fundamentally change the way one perceived reality. It also caused her to look at her sealing knowledge from a different angle. She'd always assumed the symbols used had inherent meaning, that copying the lines perfectly would give the same results every time. If that were true, however, a crooked character had the potential to completely ruin a seal and that two different seals couldn't possibly produce exactly the same outcome. Neither of which was the case.

No two seal masters worked with the same seals. There were dozens of designs for Explosive Tags alone. Her view had been tainted by her knowledge of ciphers and her expectations of secrecy and while she hadn't been completely off the mark those things didn't paint the whole picture either. Seal masters were individuals and they had subjective concepts of meaning and beauty.

Sai gladly sacrificed the last of his chakra laced ink for the cause, more than happy to leave colored drawings on stones instead. Her theory had been fuzzy at first but after days and days of experimentation Chikako finally figured out that a seal was nothing more or less than what the one creating it thought it was. All the symbols, characters and lines did was help focus ideas and give concepts a tangible representation.

Something that sounded a lot simpler in theory than it was in practice. Merely wanting things to go up in flames and then drawing a circle on them did absolutely nothing, but then if it had been that easy seal masters wouldn't be so rare.

To make something burn one needed to understand why things burned in the first place. That energy was required to heat an object up and how hot a certain material needed to be before it ignited. Then that energy needed to be directed because gradually warming a log to make it go up in flames all at once was a lot harder than focusing a precise amount of chakra into a single point. Speed was also an important consideration. Too slow and energy was wasted because systems always strived for equilibrium, thermal or otherwise. Too fast and the sudden change might cause an explosion.

Chikako wouldn't even know where to start with something like storage scrolls and seriously wondered if there wasn't another way to create seals. One that didn't involve actual knowledge and relied on luck instead. The symbols she drew acted like hand seals, giving chakra direction. It should be possible to experiment with random combinations and record the results, to then reform them into something else. She did not understand how pocket dimensions were created, but she could activate a storage scroll all the same, so it shouldn't matter. As long as she drew symbols in a configuration that shaped her chakra the same way the scroll did the result should be the same.

Once that thought had crossed her mind Chikako spent countless hours activating the single storage scroll in her possession, memorizing how her chakra flowed whenever she did. Her two travel companions were clearly confused by the odd behavior. Sai even went so far as to remove his mask so she could see the raised eyebrow and she hit him in the shoulder for his trouble. Neither of them ever asked though. The desert had taught all of them patience and as one day flowed into the next time seemed meaningless.

When the ink ran out and she still hadn't managed to reproduce the way the scroll shaped chakra Chikako was so frustrated that she used her blood to draw instead. Or at least she tried. Liquid was precious and Sai crushed her wrist in a vise-like grip before she could waste any. Then he glared at her until she explained what she was trying to do.

"Can't you just," Jiro yawned, "just use chakra?"

He spoke when he was tired and didn't feel like getting anyone's attention by waving his arms. Chikako usually reprimanded him for it, but just then she was glad. Tone didn't translate well to signing and his had been so confused, as if using chakra and nothing else to achieve her goal was the most obvious thing and he simply couldn't understand why she bothered with ink at all.

Chikako actually stopped dead in her tracks and stared at the tanuki with wide eyes. He got so flustered thinking he'd done something wrong that he started to apologize for all manner of things, including a dream that involved summons taking over the world and letting humans fight each other for sport.

She was too distracted to pay much attention to his rambling though. Instead she picked up a stone and then concentrated her chakra around it in exactly the brilliant manner Jiro had unwittingly proposed. It was there one moment and then gone the next. Not even a trace of chakra smoke left behind as proof that it had ever been there at all.

"You brilliant, brilliant little idiot," she whispered fondly, while a wide smile stretched her mouth. Her voice had a somewhat raspy quality to it, from disuse no doubt, but she was far too happy with her success to care about anything else.

It took weeks before Chikako felt confident enough in her ability to seal things away and retrieve them before she dared place something other than stones in her pocket dimension. She'd lost several at first and wasn't willing to risk her gear in the same manner until she was absolutely certain that she could get it back.

It turned out that even minuscule variations in the way she shaped her chakra would open a different dimension. Or maybe it was another part of the same dimension. Chikako didn't actually understand what she was doing, but the theory would certainly explain why two scrolls with the same design could function like two separate containers instead of acting as access points for a single container.

The medium, ink in most cases, stabilized the seal. So while no two seals were identical, the tiny variations were made permanent by writing them down, whereas Chikako essentially created a new seal every time she used it.

Even after she knew she could reproduce this one seal perfectly every single time she still wasn't willing to risk the blades. She had to talk herself into it over the course of three very long and unnecessarily stressful days before she actually did it. Sai's reaction the next time she sparred with him was well worth the trouble though.

They only trained when there was water in easy reach, but then they barely held back, only making sure not to inflict permanent harm. He'd noticed that she'd finally sealed her blades away and thought to used it to his advantage, engaging her in melee combat with his tanto instead of staying at a distance like he usually preferred. Without ink to create more beasts he heavily relied on his bow and throwing weapons, which put him at a distinct disadvantage when Chikako managed to get close.

This time though he relied on the extra range his blade gave him over her. The stunned look on his face when, from one moment to the next, she held her wakizashi in her hand was priceless. Her fretting over being able to recreate the storage seal exactly the same every single time came with the neat side effect that she barely even had to think about doing it anymore. That incidentally also meant there was no warning whatsoever when she used it. Her hand was empty right up until it suddenly wasn't and she actually had to abort her movement, as not to accidentally injure Sai.

She might never get the hang of how to create actual storage scrolls, at least not without a teacher, but this was more than adequate compensation.


	28. VIII - The Start of a Legend

**A/N:**

 _Scarease & sukondis_

Thanks to both of you, I'm glad you liked the chapter.

. . .

 **VIII - The Start of a Legend**

After spending more than three months traveling through Wind's desert Chikako had become quite familiar with the land. Her and Sai had elected to stay away from people for a while, keeping their distance from villages and the odd caravan alike.

It was easy enough to do because only few souls ventured as far into the desert as they had, and with the general lack of flora and fauna humans felt like beacons to Chikako. She could sense their chakra from such a great distance that, even if someone had spotted them, they would have been nothing more than smudges on the horizon.

She thought it was comforting to know someone was approaching that far in advance and she would miss it once they left the desert again. Sometimes though, the knowledge that there was no one other than herself Jiro and Sai as far as the eye could see made her feel lonely, isolated from the rest of the world. She knew the other members of her pack were out there, somewhere, but while staying away from civilization kept Chikako and Sai safe, it also kept them cut off. News didn't travel this far into the baking sands and the only reason she knew how long they had been out there was because Jiro had made a game out of counting the sunrises.

Chikako had no idea what the rules were, and still the tanuki had been loudly complaining for the past two weeks that the only reason she was winning was that she cheated. Sai would often argue with him over how he awarded points, but she was almost certain that the artist was just needling him and didn't know how the game worked either.

Jiro would usually inform them of their scores come dusk, a few hours after they woke up, yet offer no explanation of any kind. He'd taken the longest to get used to a largely nocturnal, rather than his natural diurnal existence. Sai on the other hand only required two days to shift his sleep cycle to whatever suited him best and Chikako had long since learned to grab sleep whenever she could.

For the first few weeks they had kept someone on watch at all times, but as they moved further and further away from any settlements they had started to rely on the fact that both Chikako and Sai were very light sleepers. Jiro had taken great joy in trying to sneak up on them and after the third time he had startled Chikako awake by making suspicious noises she had decided to take solace in the fact that at least there were no fish he could throw at her head.

She reconsidered that attitude when she opened her eyes to a snake dangling in front of her face. The animal didn't survive that particular introduction and she threatened to turn it's hide into a leash for Jiro if he didn't stop annoying her, but never followed through.

The tanuki usually stayed closer to Chikako when he was up to shenanigans because her sensing abilities meant she would instantly know it was him upon waking up. One time he'd gotten careless though and Sai had pelted him with a dozen shuriken before he'd realized what was going on. Jiro had gotten away mostly unharmed, except for his right ear, which was missing it's tip, and a small scar across his forehead. That was also the day he'd grandly declared them sufficiently competent and no longer in need of his extraordinary training regime. Sai's only reaction had been to roll his eyes and go back to sleep.

Jiro tended to be a little dramatic at times, but Chikako supposed he did keep them on their toes and made sure they stayed vigilant

. . .

"We're almost back!" He exclaimed happily one night, clapping his tiny paws together in delight. Sai didn't bother to remove his mask to better convey how unimpressed he was, but Jiro seemed to know anyway. The tanuki pointed accusingly at both of them and then started in on a rant about how they could finally start talking again now that they had completed their tour of Wind.

They had never actually discussed how long they were going to stay in the desert, but Jiro wasn't wrong. They'd more or less ended up making a round trip, a very crooked oval really, but the point stood. So when Sai glanced at her she just shrugged.

"Might as well."

He was about to answer, but then cut himself off and switched mental gears as her head whipped around. He didn't ask if there was trouble, merely fell in step with her, trusting that she would tell him whatever he needed to know. By now even Jiro had learned that exited curiosity wasn't the way to go in the face of danger, at least not until after it had been evaluated. Instead the tanuki flanked her other side and stayed completely silent.

Chikako had to smile at how well they moved together. They hadn't specifically trained any kind of tactics, like she used to with Naruto and Sasuke, yet her two companions were more attuned to her and each other than her original team had ever been. maybe Kakashi should have thrown Team 7 into some wasteland or other for a few month and chased them around with the dogs. Something like that seemed right up his alley and would have made for a better bonding exercise than simply ignoring that he was supposed to train them.

"Gaara is somewhere close to the ocean and he just used a massive amount of chakra," she informed the others.

"So best case scenario he' training and worst case Wind is under attack," Sai concluded, without skipping a beat. "That sounds like something we should move away from, not towards."

"You might as well stop trying," Jiro shouted, bounding off at an angle to scout. He seemed uncommonly exited, but then the desert had bored him to tears after they'd learned how to live in it.

Sai made a disgruntled noise, when Chikako ran ahead laughing, but easily caught up again. Gaara would never be his favorite person, but in the end Chikako would go wherever she wanted to go and Sai would accompany her because pack was home. No matter how insane or inconveniently fond of monsters.

. . .

It was almost new moon and still a while until dawn, so the only thing lighting the beach was a bonfire that cast everything in tones of red and orange. The flames licked high into the dark sky, but all they really achieved was to severely limit everyone's night vision.

Suna's shinobi, most in flowing white or beige robes, were easy enough to make out, but Chikako felt many more chakra signatures than she could visually match to people. It took her a moment to realize that the moving shadows in the distance were actually soldiers in black armor that perfectly blended into the darkness. Their chakra had her frowning. It didn't feel off exactly, but all of their signatures were oddly similar in a way that was usually only the case for close relatives.

Even weirder were the glowing red eyes and the fact that they seemed to get up again over and over, no matter how many times the shinobi struck them down. The only thing that seemed capable of taking them out of the fight were the massive waves of sand Gaara kept hitting them with. Chikako suspected their armor might simply be too heavy for them to dig themselves out before they suffocated.

She was just in range to close the remaining distance with a single Body Flicker, when the invaders started retreating and Gaara called for flares. By the time she reappeared next to the redhead the ocean was lit by an eerily greenish-yellow that revealed a massive warship. It was bigger than any vessel Chikako had ever seen, with seven masts and three chimneys. It also looked ancient and in bad shape. Almost half of the hull was covered in patches of rust or discolored in a way that suggested prolonged exposure to extreme heat. She was willing to bet it was also lined with dents and scratches, but couldn't make out any details from where she stood.

"You need a hand with that Panda Eyes?" She asked as cheerfully as she could manage in the face of that monstrosity. Several people, including Kankuro, jumped away, giving a good impression of spooked birds. Some startled so badly that they yelped in surprise and turned their weapons on her. Sand had started to sluggishly swirl around her before the words were even out, but she merely lifted a hand in a Kakashi-worthy greeting and didn't move otherwise.

Sai had elected to stay out of sight for the time being, which was probably a good call because Gaara stared at her for several seconds while more and more sand surrounded her. Chikako was about to take off her mask and make a snarky comment about his lack of hospitality, when the grating sound of metal rubbing on metal followed by several loud booms drowned out the noise of the ocean.

"Ah shit," was what escaped her instead. The flares had gone up higher, revealing two more ships in the distance and it seemed all of them had cannons abort as well as a crew perfectly willing to fire on their own soldiers. Well over a third of the retreating forces were still on the beach by the time the first cannonball was headed their way.

Chikako had half a second to hope she could dodge the stupid things, her chakra barrier certainly wouldn't be able to stop them, before sand rose up all around her and the Suna shinobi. Her eyes followed every dull thud as iron impacted with the makeshift walls, fists tightly clenched while she waited for one to give out.

She'd seen the kind of force Gaara could hold off during their fight against Kimimaro, but she'd also learned that his sand wasn't packed densely enough to act as a reliable shield. Certainly not at this scale, or so she thought.

Minutes passed at a snail's pace while the assault lasted and cannonballs pounded into their defenses like thunder, but not a single one made it through. And then the beach was quiet again, except for the sound of the rolling waves.

"You got better at this," Chikako stage whispered. She half expected some of the soldiers to start laughing or maybe cheering because they hadn't been crushed to death. Instead a grim silence stretched over all of them.

"We will talk later," Gaara told her and then added loudly: "Retreat and protect the villages along the coast!"

She didn't have to ask whether this was the first time they'd been attacked. The redhead had clearly earned the trust of these soldiers and he'd just as clearly had quite a bit of practice using his sand to shield people.

"You guys up for a round of Battleship?" Kankuro asked with a pained grimace. Chikako almost apologized at Sai's long-suffering sigh, but he just shot her an annoyed glance and she snapped her mouth shut.

"Please tell me you have a plan," he grunted.

"Distract them," was Gaara's flat answer. The whole beach was drenched in his chakra, which made it hard for her to sense anything else. She did however notice the way it slowly crept towards the shore and along the oceans floor.

"Can you reach that far?" She asked with wide eyes as his plan dawned on her. She wouldn't even have attempted something this ludicrous, but then she wasn't a jinchuriki with with absurdly large chakra reserves either.

"We will see," he told her and she couldn't decide whether the smile that pulled at the corners of his mouth should frighten her.

Jiro gave an exited whoop from somewhere to her left, that made her wonder if he had hit his head along the way. Sai, for his part, was a lot less happy and a lot more practical. He grabbed one of the flares that had been left behind and shot it directly at the nearest ship to blind the crew, then moved on to the next and repeated the process. Meanwhile Kankuro and Chikako made their way across the waves.

"This is a really lame way to commit suicide," he shouted at her over the clashing waves.

"Well, officially I'm already dead," she yelled back. "And this was your stupid idea!"

Chikako thought she heard him laugh in response, but it was hard to tell because the wind had picked up. The thought that this was all just an especially weird fever dream and she was really dying of thirst somewhere in the desert crossed her mind. She couldn't quite decide which option would be worse, but then shrugged it off and kept running.

Unlike her Kankuro had quite a bit of trouble keeping his balance on the churning ocean, so she drew ahead of him after only a few seconds. He, or any Suna shinobi for that matter, probably didn't spent a lot of time on the water. Chikako though had traveled by ship multiple times now and had had ample opportunity to test her control against the waves.

On the beach it seemed like Sai had run out of flares, so she hurried to reach the ship on her left before more cannonballs started sailing through the air. It was farther out than the one in the middle, but she'd leave that for Kankuro, he needed to get off of the water before he completely lost his footing and ended up drowning.

Once she was close enough Chikako attached her feet to the metal hull, like she would with a tree, and then ran up the ship's side, vaulting over the railing in one smooth motion. The people abort mostly looked like regular sailors with only a few of the armored guys mixed in. The latter barely reacted to her presence at all, while the former hurried to get away from her as fast as possible. Several made shocked or even disbelieving noises and she wondered if they'd ever seen a shinobi before.

She didn't get much time to think about it. A moment after she'd boarded the ship a pulse of something that might have been chakra shot through the air and then two dozen pairs of glowing red eyes snapped in her direction. The armored guys closed in fast, almost trampling the sailors as they advanced.

Chikako didn't skip a beat and hurled a volley of shuriken at them. Most glanced of the black armor as if they were nothing more than toys, but one sailed right through the eye-slit of her nearest opponent. The guy just kept on coming though as if nothing had happened and Chikako huffed in annoyance.

"Seriously?" She complained, getting no reaction at all. The armored idiots just kept lumbering towards her like awkward puppets, even though they were clearly living, breathing humans. Dodging them was easy for the most part, but once in a while one or two of them would suddenly move a lot faster and sprint or even jump to attack. The fluidity of their motions in stark contrast to the clumsy way with which the others handled themselves.

After several minutes a woman walked up from below deck. She wore armor in muted purple, with oversized pauldrons that looked silly on her bare arms and heeled boots that had Chikako laughing. The breast plate made no sense either. With the way it was shaped any blow would be directed towards the center of her chest instead of away from it.

"Are you for real?" She chortled. The incoherent shout the woman barked at her was the only warning she got before her chakra spiked out of nowhere and then blue lightning ripped up the ship's deck as it raced towards her.

Chikako had to hurry to avoid getting hit, but the attack seemed oddly slow when compared to every other lightning-based technique she'd seen so far. It was also a lot less precise and caused excessive destruction. Instead of a clean line of melted iron the lightning had practically shredded the floor.

Behind her metal groaned, a horrible sound that made her want to slap her hands over her ears, but she needed to focus. Gaara's chakra had almost reached this ship and it was time to leave. While the woman watched in disbelieve as a giant spike of sand pierced the middle ship, then wound around it like a tentacle and dragged it below the surface, Chikako used her distraction to vault back over the railing. She started to run the instant her feet hit water, unwilling to get caught in the vortex of a sinking ship.

She needn't have bothered though. As the third ship fled towards the horizon Gaara had apparently decided he wanted some answers, so instead of pulling this one under his sand towed it towards the shore. The hull made noises that would have worried her had she still been on it, but the sand only squeezed it tighter.

"That is fucking scary," Chikako whispered as soon as she reached the beach again. Kankuro easily agreed with her assessment and the slight shaking of his voice made her think this was the first time Gaara had tried something of this magnitude.

"You are the one insisting on being friends with him," Sai told her flatly and - well, he had a point. Still, Chikako felt like she should protest, just on principle, but then Jiro chimed in with a loud whoop.

"Wow!" He exclaimed. "That was so awesome!"

Chikako wondered for the second time in as many hours if her tanuki hadn't gone insane in the desert and she just hadn't noticed until now. Judging by his raised eyebrow Kankuro seemed to share that sentiment as well.

When the massive warship hit the beach like a stranded whale they all just stood there for a moment, admiring the damage it had sustained on the way. A good quarter of the hull was missing, two masts lay broken like toothpicks and a third splintered on impact.

As far as Chikako could tell most of the people aboard were dead, but just as she had that thought several of the armored soldiers spilled out of the wreckage. Gaara gave them a moment to acclimate to the change in light caused by the first rays of sunlight peeking over the horizon. Then he smiled and a wave of sand buried them like ants.

"Well," Kankuro said, making a pause for dramatic effect, "time to investigate." He flinched right after, as if he expected someone to hit him over the head, which was the first time Chikako actively noticed that Temari wasn't here.

Suna likely had the same problem concerning manpower that Konoha had to deal with after the invasion, only worse. One of the reasons tensions had been high in the first place was that Wind didn't have enough shinobi to take every mission and so many of them had gone to Fire instead. Suna lost a lot of money that way, which had always been a point of conflict between the two Hidden Villages.

"There are two more inside and a third is approaching from the north-east," Chikako cautioned before Kankuro could go too far ahead. "Make that two," she added with a frown. "The second signature seems familiar, but I can't quite place it."

She quickly recounted her fight against the peculiar Lightning user as she followed Kankuro. Meanwhile Jiro and Sai kept watch outside and Gaara went to inspect the hull. The redhead did however send a sand eye with them.

The interior was a complete mess. It looked a little as if a giant had picked it up, shaken it a few times and then carelessly let it drop to the ground, which, she supposed, wasn't that far from the truth. Cables were hanging free for the most part and the ground was littered with broken pipes, bent metal and a lot of shattered glass. The last didn't make a whole lot of sense to her until they found a cavernous room towards the back of the ship. A few round glass containers were still intact and inside of them, curled in on themselves, were naked humans in viscous white liquid.

Chikako had no idea how they were alive without even a tube to provide them with oxygen and she wasn't sure she wanted to know. This looked like a place Orochimaru would have felt at home in, which meant she really, really didn't. The thought of what exactly they were doing to these people sent a shiver down her spine.

"So, new face paint?" Chikako asked to distract herself, glancing sideways at her companion. Kankuro chuckled in a strangled sort of way, but then actually explained the new design and the change from purple to red. Apparently both of those things held meaning, but Kankuro got so excited detailing how the color was made that she regretted asking before he even got to the part she'd wanted to know.

Luckily the arrival of another soldier in shiny silver armor interrupted the impromptu torture session. He seemed completely unaware of his tail or the fact that he'd just passed two shinobi and was coming dangerously close to two more. The latter of which greatly amused Kankuro. Apparently he wanted to play games, but Chikako tapped him on the shoulder and then signed in an old Suna code she hope he recognized:

'Others approaching, surrounded soon.'

He raised an eyebrow at her, but nodded. This close she finally recognized the chakra signature of the other shinobi as Shikamaru's and so stayed out of sight while Kankuro ensnared the armored soldier with the many wooden limbs of his favorite puppet.

"Thought you could sneak up on us huh?" He drawled, looking past his prey and towards a battered fuel tank. Nothing happened for a moment while the soldier scowled, but then Shikamaru stepped out of the shadows with a yawn. He wore his chunin vest over the jacked with his clan's symbol, but that was the only change in his appearance. The customary Nara slouch seemed a little less pronounced than Chikako was used to, which was a good indication of his unease.

As far as she was aware the treaty Suna and Konoha had agreed to after the invasion was still in effect, but it looked like the relationship was a little more tense than she had thought. At least until Shikamaru grinned and lowered the kunai in his right hand.

"All yours," he said and then she felt a subtle tug forward. A glance down confirmed that the Nara had managed to connect his shadow to hers, using an amount of chakra so minuscule that it had escaped her notice.

"Not bad," she said, smiling behind her mask, as she snapped the link and left her hiding spot to join them in what was left of the corridor. "Did you know before or after you had me?"

He offered a grin of his own and then scratched the back of his head in what could reasonably be construed as embarrassment.

"I knew someone was there. I figured it was you when the Shadow Possession almost broke before it fully connected."

Chikako probably wasn't the only person who's chakra reacted violently to that of other people, but it certainly wasn't common either. Trust Shikamaru to recognize her with nothing but one little detail to go on.

He glanced at her for a few seconds longer, but then turned to Kankuro in hopes of answers. Apparently Wind had indeed been attack several times over the past couple of days. Whoever these people were, they had come out of nowhere and, instead of introducing themselves, immediately started attacking villages, leaving nothing but destruction in their path. No demands, no explanations, nothing. They just hit the shore somewhere, went on a killing spree and then left again.

"Noble sacrifices for the greater good," the soldier said as if he actually believed that. The puppet holding him in place squeezed a little tighter until the wood started to strain and Kankuro had to let up some of the pressure. The last thing he needed was to destroy his own weapon in a fit of anger.

Since the soldier didn't seem willing to contribute any more to the conversation Shikamaru jumped in. His team had been tasked with tracking down a runaway pet ferret and delivering it back to it's village. It made Chikako wonder who he had pissed of to end up with grunt work like that, but then knowing Shikamaru he'd probably done it on purpose to avoid something more troublesome. Karma was a bitch sometimes.

In any case, they found the ferret, but the village had been a smoking pile of rubble by the time they arrived. That was also were they ran into Temujin, the guy he had followed, and some of the nearly invincible, armored soldiers. Apparently both Shikamaru and Temujin had managed to fall over a cliff, so the Nara had no idea were the rest of his team was. He did however learn that the people Temujin was working for had no idea what chakra was, even though they could use techniques that resembled ninjutsu. They were also searching for something called the Stone of Gelel to create a utopia.

"I don't see how murdering people without rhyme or reason is going to make for a better world though," the Nara almost snarled in conclusion.

Temujin had been staring at the ground for most of the exchange, but then his chakra suddenly spiked and he threw off the pupped in one fluid motion and drew his sword.

"Those who stand in our way will be eliminated!" He declared as if he were reciting some kind of sacred law. Chikako ignored him in favor of silently alerting Kankuro to the fact that the other two soldiers had almost reached them. Shikamaru saw her form the hand signs, but clearly had no idea what they meant, so she repeated them in Konoha Standard.

Even with the advanced warning she still had to shove Kankuro out of the way as lightning shredded the wall at their backs. One of the two women that entered through the newly created doorway was the one Chikako had fought earlier. The other one wore similarly ridiculous armor in a turquoise shade.

The purple idiot was just about to launch another attack when Gaara decided to make his entrance. His sand practically cut the ship in half, shielding them from the electricity in the process.

"Nice of you to finally join us brother," Kankuro quipped. Chikako shook her head at him because she'd clearly felt the fear in his chakra when he'd thought he was about to get fried.

The two women chuckled, seeming quite excited at the prospect of a confrontation. one was hanging from a pipe, only holding on with her left arm and the other had jumped onto the floor above them through a hole in the ceiling.

"I suppose we can have a little fun," the one in turquoise said in a voice so high it made Chikako cringe. The other one agreed, tittering like some deranged school girl. Then both of them ran, Kankuro and Gaara hot on their heels.

Chikako glanced at Sai, about to ask which one he wanted, but her friend was still supremely annoyed with her.

"Go play with your pet monster," he huffed and then followed Kankuro and the turquoise soldier deeper into the bowls of the ship. Instead of going after Gaara - because seriously, that boy could handle himself and probably a small army besides - Chikako stayed with Shikamaru. The Nara was a genius, but he was also a lazy bastard and didn't exactly excel in close combat.

"Just stay out of my way and shout encouragements from the sidelines or something," she told him with a cheeky grin he couldn't see under her mask, but had no problem hearing in her voice. Shikamaru huffed in mock indignation, but then proceeded to do exactly as told. Well, minus the cheering.

Temujin for his part seemed a little perplexed when she rushed him without so much as a kunai in her hands, but then swung his sword at her anyway.

"Good call," she chuckled as her wakizashi appeared out of nowhere to meet his downward strike. His eyes widened in shock, but he didn't miss a beat. Zabuza would have had fun with this one, but she wasn't in a mood to entertain the fanatically insane. While Temujin spouted some more bullshit about joining his master in creating a perfect world Chikako gathered chakra in her left hand and then slammed an open palm into his chest, releasing the energy on impact.

She'd expected for her chakra to simply move through the metal and shred his insides, but whatever the armor was made out of completely absorbed the force. So instead Temujin ended up getting blown backwards and out of the ship. Chikako herself only avoided landing on her ass in the sand as well because Shikamaru caught her.

Above them footsteps clanged through the hull as Kankuro and Sai chased their opponent and further out in the sand she could see a hulking blue monster cloaked in lightning. A second later Gaara buried it under a ton of sand and the electric crackling stopped.

"You have to be kidding me," the woman in turquoise snarled from above before she jumped clear of the shipwreck and transformed into some half human, half bat monster. She spewed a cloud of noxious fumes at all of them and then took of with Temujin in tow.

Chikako quickly used a Body Flicker to get herself and Shikamaru clear of the poisoned gas. Kankuro and Sai, having been closer to an exit, were already waiting outside when they got there.

"What the fuck?" Chikako asked, pretty sure now that the thing Gaara had killed had been the other woman.


	29. VIII - Utopia is Nigh

**A/N:**

 _Scarease_

I have no idea what Suna does with corpses. I mean Sasori likes to make puppets, but I feel there was a distinct lack of mummies in the series (well, except for that one kage).

 _missfites_

Thank you.

. . .

 **VIII - Utopia is Nigh**

"Uh, guys?" Jiro asked, wrestling with a very disgruntled ferret. "I think this thing has been spying on us."

"Is that ... ?" Chikako gave Shikamaru a questioning look and he nodded before she even finished the sentence.

"Yeah, the thing has been following Temujin from the start. No idea why."

Sai could practically see the gears turning in Chikako's mind and glared at her, signing: 'You're not going to let this go are you?' He pointedly ignored all of the other shinobi present. Jiro was the only one besides the two of them who knew this particular code, so neither of them had to be too careful with the information they shared.

'We left Konoha seven months ago Sai, and both of us have been officially declared dead more than three months ago. There is no one looking for us and neither Kankuro, Gaara nor Shikamaru will tell anyone otherwise.'

'And what about the shinobi on the beach? Your entrance wasn't exactly inconspicuous.'

She huffed, because yes, he was right, but she was so, so tired of hiding. Chikako missed her friends and she missed not having to look over her shoulder constantly. These things wouldn't change until after Danzo was taken care of, but at least this right now was an opportunity to do something.

'I feel useless,' was what she signed because he'd understand that, if nothing else.

"Fine," he snapped, sounding more resigned than angry. Then he started following the ferret's trail without another word. Sai had become quite the tracker, with an artist's eye for details others missed and the single minded determination of someone trained for black ops missions to get the job done.

"Okay, what was that?" Kankuro asked, waving his hands around in a very bad imitation of their code. Chikako rolled her eyes at him, and took off after her partner. Shikamaru seemed equally unwilling to dignify that with an answer, she did hear him scoff at the silly question though before he caught up with her.

The Nara stayed silent at first, but she had no doubt that he could guess all kinds of things from the way her and Sai had acted. Consequently she wasn't surprised when, after several minutes of quietly running by her side, he started mentioning a number of seemingly unrelated topics.

"Hinata has begun an apprenticeship in the intelligence division, Kakashi-sensei has almost completely dropped off the map and Morino-san spends so much time in the archives instead of the interrogation rooms that there are rumors he wants to retire.

"All three of them also very dutifully visit the unmarked gravestone Choji placed in the Nara Forest for you, but Neji is the only one who ever brings flowers. He's very creative with those too. Almost gives the impression he pulled that Hyuga Stick out of his ass."

"They're that obvious?" Chikako sighed. Shikamaru shrugged at her.

"Nah, not really. I made most of that up."

She shot him an incredulous look, barely avoiding a misstep that would have ended with her face in the dirt. His muscles tensed for a second and his posture changed subtly, ready to catch her if necessary, but he kept staring straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge her surprise.

"One might almost feel left out," was all he said. A murmur really, so quiet that she wasn't certain he meant for her to hear. She slowed down a little to minimize the risk of crashing into anything after all, then grabbed his hand and didn't let go even when he reflexively tried to jerk it away.

"It's too dangerous. I didn't tell Hinata either and I have no idea what she or Neji know. I only left a note for Kakashi and Ibiki because they were already involved."

Shikamaru groaned, but he didn't once use the word troublesome when he promised to keep an eye on the two Hyuga, so they didn't get themselves killed. He also let her know that what he'd claimed about Ibiki was just a shot in the blue and that the head of T&I hadn't drawn any attention at all.

Kakashi however was the talk of the village, or at least it's jonin population. Apparently he hadn't taken any missions for a while, yet was often nowhere to be found for days at a time.

Chikako flinched at that last part and, judging by Shikamaru's expression, squeezed his hand way harder than was comfortable. The only reason Kakashi wouldn't receive regular missions and still be absent over prolonged periods of time was if he was exclusively taking highly classified jobs. Or in other words: black ops and probably the wetwork kind.

With all of his student's out of the village, because by now Naruto would have left with Jiraiya on their training trip, he had no reason not to fall back into his ANBU life. Behind that bone white mask he was Hound and accountable to no one but his Hokage. As a former ROOT operative he also knew perfectly well how to convince himself he had neither emotions nor a conscience.

Had the mission to kill her been the tipping point or just another step on the way?

"Do me a favor," Chikako pleaded as her tanto materialized in her right hand. She could see the curious gleam in Shikamaru's eyes. He wanted to know how she'd done that and he just couldn't figure it out. Yet, instead of pelting her with questions he agreed before he even knew what she was asking of him.

"Please make sure he gets this," she finished, lightly cutting across her palm so blood coated the metal and then handing it over. The blade would serve as a reminder of better days and the blood would prove where it had come from. She knew Kakashi well enough to be certain he would have questioned anything else and, in time, convinced himself that he was just imagining things. A message could get lost, be misheard or simply made up. Smell would fade, but her blood would stain that weapon until someone cleaned it. He'd keep it as something tangible to hold on to, something more than a simple memory, and if things got really bad he could always request a DNA test to get solid proof.

She had no doubt that Kakashi blamed himself for anything bad that had happened to her since she'd first met him. He generally avoided close bonds because once he considered someone a friend he felt responsible for their fate. He'd treat that blade like he did the memorial stone, to punish himself. It wasn't what she wanted him to do, but it would be better that way because at least he wouldn't forget that she wasn't just another ghost of his past. She was still alive and fighting, and one day she'd come back home.

"Maybe tell him he's an idiot, but I love him anyway too," she added after a few more seconds had passed in silence. "Just in case."

"Yeah sure, I'm going to tell the legendary Copy Ninja that he is an idiot while I hand him a blade coated in the blood of one of his students," Shikamaru said in a tone that suggested he was being led to the gallows, but too lazy to struggle overly much.

"It's probably better if you don't do it in that order," she amended with a grimace.

"Or at all," he complained, but they both knew he would.

Chikako bumped her shoulder with his and then let go of his hand so he could store the tanto in his pack. While they had talked, Sai had drawn quite a bit ahead of them, but Kankuro and Gaara had managed to catch up. Chikako hadn't really paid attention to their speed before, used to a relatively fast tempo because Sai generally had no problem keeping pace with her, but now that she heard Kankuro panting like a dog she felt a little embarrassed for leaving him in the dust. She also eyed Shikamaru suspiciously because for such a slouch he was surprisingly fit.

"Do you secretly sneak training sessions in so nobody notices?" She asked jokingly. Shikamaru didn't answer, but a faint blush spread across his cheeks and had her howling with laughter. "Oh my god! You do!"

He was so lucky that she wasn't on good terms with Ino. The blond would never let a discovery like that go. She'd probably insist on changing his image so he had a chance with the ladies or something similarly silly. Actually now that Sasuke had left she might decide that Shikamaru was a better candidate for her fangirl affections. Chikako couldn't do that to the poor guy, he'd probably suffer a coronary trying to avoid his teammate.

Of course he didn't need to know that.

She was just about to tease Shikamaru a little with her new-found knowledge when she felt a blast of Choji's chakra up ahead. They'd crossed into one of the few areas of Wind that were actually lush and green by now and with Gaara still lugging sand around and keeping it saturated with his chakra her perception was a little muddled. There was a second much weaker signature with Choji and Sai that she assumed had to be Ino, but that would imply the three were fighting each other.

"There might be trouble," she informed the boys and then left them behind to back Sai up in case he was actually in danger.

It only took her about two minutes to reach him and the scene that greeted her on arrival was rather odd. Ino lay sprawled on the ground, seemingly unconscious. Choji was dry heaving and an old man was arguing with an ostrich of all things.

'Did you learn genjutsu at some point and forgot to tell me?' Chikako signed, cocking her head in question. Sai wasn't in the mood for humor though. He just shook his head and then took a deep breath, praying for patience.

'Apparently they met Temujin earlier. When he told them I was trying to kill him they felt the need to attack me so he could get away,' he signed back.

'Did you, like,' she paused, glancing skeptically at the old man, 'try to tell them that he lied?'

'This seemed like the faster solution at the time,' was his answer. Chikako would have sworn he was pouting, but didn't dare take his mask off to check, lest she direct even more of his ire towards her.

"Shikamaru!" Choji shouted alarmed when the Nara joined them. "Be careful this guy is really strong."

Shikamaru glanced between her, Sai and his teammates, raising an eyebrow. Sai very pointedly ignored him and Chikako held her hands up, palms out. She trusted Shikamaru and by extension Choji, but Ino had to be Konoha's worst gossip. There was no way she'd reveal her identity where the other girl might overhear.

Shikamaru frowned at her, but then nodded in acceptance.

"Go on ahead, we'll follow once Ino's back to normal," he told them. Chikako figured the Yamanaka had tried to use her clan's signature Mind Body Switch Technique on Sai, which would explain her current state. Choji had probably just been hit in the stomach, but she had no idea what was going on with the old man.

"We need to go after Nerugui!" He shouted at the ostrich. The animal, however, completely ignored him, going so far as to turn it's head away.

"He means the ferret," Choji offered uncertainly. It seemed he'd decided they were okay, taking his cues from Shikamaru like he always did. "His clan has this really old legend about something called the Stone of Gelel and they've been taking care of the ferret for generations. Apparently the stone has been sealed away because only the members of some royal bloodline can destroy it and the ferret is somehow bound to that bloodline."

'Location?' Chikako signed in Konoha Standard, while staring at the old man, but then pulled her gaze back towards Choji after several seconds had passed without an answer. He was giving her an odd look and she couldn't tell if he was just confused or suspicious. The impromptu staring contest lasted until Shikamaru gave him an encouraging smile. Choji still didn't seem at ease with the situation, but he did relay everything the old man had shared about the stone and it's location.

Apparently the foreign invaders weren't foreign at all, or rather their ancestors hadn't been. They'd lived in the Elemental Nations before shinobi existed. The Stone of Gelel, as it turned out, wasn't actually a single stone, but rather a special type of mineral. Chikako suspected it bound chakra somehow and acted as a sort of battery, but all the old man's clan knew was that it could be used as a powerful weapon.

Naturally a war had broken out to gain control of the mineral. After countless people had been slaughtered and it seemed like Temujin's people would loose the war, the royal family fled across the sea. They also took the Book of Gelel with them that detailed how the mineral's power could be harnessed, thus leaving their enemies with the raw material, but unable to refine and use it.

Haido, the man in charge of the invaders, had come by the book somehow. He fancied himself some sort of religious entity, but to shape the world according to his vision he needed power. So he'd gathered a flock of believers around himself, turned them into fanatics and followed the clues in the book towards Wind. Only now he was at a loss because the landscape had changed over the years, which made the partial maps and references to locations that didn't exist anymore practically useless.

In Chikako's opinion the smart play would have been to obtain older maps and try to match those to the information he had, but then from what she'd heard so far the man seemed like a megalomaniac and those rarely bothered with logic. She wouldn't be terribly surprised if he didn't just fancy himself the religious leader of his little cult but rather a god in his own right. The abilities of his soldiers must seem fantastical to people that had never even heard of shinobi before arriving in the Elemental Nations, and if he was the only one who could bestow that kind of power it wasn't hard to see why people might think him divine.

She thought back of the naked bodies in the glass containers and Temojin's declaration that sacrifices had to be made for the greater good. The fool probably actually believed this whole utopia nonsense. According to Shikamaru and his team he had fought beside those soulless armored puppets that used to be people, fully aware of how they were created, and still called them loyal soldiers.

 _What an excellent liar_ , she mused to herself, _to not only ignore the truth when it is right in front of his eyes but twist it until it supports his world view._

Beside her Sai seemed impatient and the moment that Choji finished his explanation and pointed them in the right direction he was gone. Chikako followed a second later, shaking her head. She wasn't quite sure whether he just wanted to get this over with quickly or if he was actually starting to enjoy himself.

Unlike Jiro he'd never complained about being bored while they'd traveled the desert, but it had been some time since either of them had felt the thrill of a real fight. Their lives had been comparatively quiet these past few months. Chikako had missed feeling like a shinobi. Sparring just wasn't the same as feeling the blood sing in her veins like it did when her life was on the line. Not just in that vaguely distant way that reminded her of the price on her head either, but rather the immediate threat of someone holding a kunai to her throat.

It seemed a little ironic that she craved danger now, when the reason she'd left Konoha in the first place was to stay safe. People could get used to the strangest things. Kakashi's restlessness when he was in the village for too long certainly made a lot more sense to her these days.

He wasn't suicidal, but he'd grown up during a war and gotten used to having to fight for his life a long time ago. Then he'd spent far too much time as an assassin and now the world didn't feel quite right when no one was out to get him.

Chikako had thought she understood. After she'd been freed from Orochimaru's lab there had always been certain habits or expectations she couldn't shake. Kindness without an obvious selfish motive behind it made her suspicious, especially gifts. People that hid their true face behind a friendly mask were the worst in her opinion, which was why she'd never gotten along with the Sandaime Hokage.

The old man hadn't been evil in the way that Orochimaru was, but he'd done plenty of reprehensible things in his time. As far as she was concerned all his friendly grandfather persona had achieved was blind the people that could have made things better to the fact that there was a problem in the first place.

She'd always thought Kakashi had dragged unpleasant reminders with him, just like her. Things he didn't want to think of but couldn't forget. That was true of course, but now she knew that there was more to it. This borderline self-destructive urge to chase danger was new to her. It was almost instinctive in the way it influenced her behavior. Chikako even recognized it as illogical, and still she wasn't sure if she wanted to fight it.

That wasn't just her decision though. This invasion they'd stumbled into wasn't actually their problem and they owed neither Wind nor Fire their loyalty at this point.

"We can turn around," Chikako said out loud. Her words were hesitant because it wasn't what she wanted, but she'd at least have to make the offer. "We don't have to do this. We can just go back, get Jiro and then find another country to wander around in until it bores us."

Sai tilted his head to the side slightly, glancing back at her out of the corner of his eyes.

"No, we can't," was all he said. No justification or explanation, but she could hear the smile in is voice. It seemed his annoyance had been more for show than anything else, or maybe he was annoyed with himself for allowing his emotions instead of his mind to rule over his actions.

As far as Chikako could tell ROOT operatives first and foremost did whatever Danzo told them to and if they hadn't been given an order for a specific situation they logically weighed all outcomes and chose the one most in line with their master's objectives. It must rankle him to give in to something as illogical as the need to fight when doing so wasn't necessary, offered no benefits and could even be detrimental.

"I'd say some of the snake's crazy has rubbed off on me," she quipped, "but what's your excuse?"

He made a rude gesture in response, but otherwise didn't acknowledge that she had said anything at all.

. . .

They found the mine that held the Gelel Stone, or rather the mineral that could be refined into Gelel Stones, an hour or so after leaving Shikamaru and his team. The entrance was well hidden in the middle of an overgrown rock formation. Searching for it probably would have taken a lot more time if a bright blue light hadn't alerted them to it's exact location.

She hadn't been close enough to be sure at the time, but Chikako was willing to bet it was a signal Temujin had sent to his master. Haido's soldiers would no doubt be crawling all over the place soon. Hopefully not before Jiro had led Gaara and Kankuro to them though. Neither her nor Sai were particularly suited to fighting the armored puppets.

Accordingly they decided on a more stealthy approach. No point giving their presence away when they could observe things from the shadows first. Temujin had already proven that he couldn't tell when shinobi were nearby and with how long it had taken the two female soldiers to find them in the shipwreck, it stood to reason the others couldn't either.

The entrance to the mine was relatively narrow, but had a high ceiling. The walls were nothing but rough stone, damp or even mossy in places. After only a few dozen meters however the picture completely changed.

Gray rock abruptly turned into ocher as the winding corridor opened into a vast cavern. The walls here were completely straight, nothing but right angles. They weren't smooth though. Every last centimeter was covered with intricate engravings. In several places a number of square stone blocks were clustered together with seemingly no other purpose than to provide additional surface area.

Chikako was completely baffled when she realized that the whole thing was in fact one unbroken design that stretched across the entirety of the room and beyond. She couldn't find a single repeating pattern anywhere. Not in the first room and not in the even bigger one it led to.

The design wasn't completely irregular though. It was full of angles and sharp turns around the entrance, but the closer they got to the center of the second room the more rounded the lines became until they ended in three gigantic, interlocking circles. In their middle was a fourth, smaller circle that also happened to be the only thing not in contact with any other part of the engravings.

There was nothing else here though. No pickaxes that had been left behind, no carts or even debris of any kind and most certainly no mineral. If anything the place looked more like a forgotten temple than a mine.

Temujin was pacing around, the ferret on his heels, seemingly looking for something when a man in a blue robe entered. Haido she presumed. At his side was the woman in turquoise armor that could turn into some bat-thing and another one in dark blue armor. Behind him followed a little over two dozen puppet soldiers, their steps a lot lighter and more coordinated than Chikako had seen before.

'Think he's controlling them?' She signed.

'Him and the women,' Sai signed back after watching them for a while longer. Chikako frowned at first, puzzled by how he'd come to that conclusion, but then she noticed that the soldiers weren't quite moving at the same pace. The difference was very subtle, but there seemed to be three distinct groups.

'Good catch.'

The group of soldiers behind Haido was the smallest, so the best tactic would be for her and Sai to eliminate the women first. If their theory was correct that would significantly reduce the enemy's numbers. It was an obvious plan, but hopefully an effective one. So far it didn't seem like any of the newcomers had noticed they weren't alone.

'Backup's here,' Chikako signed when she sensed Shikamaru and his team approach together with Gaara, Kankuro and Jiro.

Sai nodded and they split up. He went along the ground, hiding behind the scattered stone structures to get closer without being seen. Meanwhile Chikako used Camouflage, quietly sprinted up the nearest wall and then released the jutsu again once she reached the ceiling, nothing but chakra holding her in place. There wasn't anything to shield her from view, but the room wasn't so bright that her presence would be immediately obvious if someone happened to look up and she was counting on the fact that humans, at least the non-shinobi kind, generally didn't look for threats above them. It would have been safer to keep Camouflage active, but the jutsu would drain her chakra faster than she could afford.

Below her the arrival of the five ninja caused somewhat of a commotion. It seemed Haido hadn't expected interference, which begged the question why he had brought that many soldiers with him. The man had spoken to Temujin before, but now his attention was fully trained on Gaara and the swirling cloud of sand that had entered with the redhead.

Chikako hadn't understood much of their conversation, but judging by the way Temujin distanced himself from the others in the room it probably hadn't gone well. She wondered if he even noticed he was doing it. Just a slight change in body language and a few steps further away than when he had greeted his master.

By now there was a lot of hand-waving on Haido's part and the two women had taken defensive stances, but whatever material this room was made out of, it seemed to swallow sound. Chikako could easily identify the voices, yet only a few particularly loud words made it up to her.

Choji sounded angry and so did Shikamaru and Ino, but neither Gaara nor Kankuro had joined the conversation so far. Even calling it a conversation was quite a stretch. Shouting match was probably more accurate. It looked like Haido was trying to convince the shinobi that they should be on his side. The phrases 'ruling elite' and 'new world order' had fallen at least twice each, but the others weren't buying his bullshit. In fact even Temujin was giving his master bewildered looks, as if he'd never noticed the insane implications of his sermons before.

"What good is a perfect world if you have to kill all your friends to get it?" Choji suddenly shouted. He was so angry his face had tuned red and his whole body seemed to be trembling with his rage.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back.

At the same moment that Temujin ripped the silver helmet from his head and declared that he was going to destroy the Stone of Gelel, Haido screamed at his soldiers: "Kill them all!"

Then he turned around, faster than Chikako's eyes could track. His formerly copper hair grew longer, the color leaching out until it was almost white and he ripped the robes from his body to reveal leathery, gray skin. The Book of Gelel was clutched in his left, but his right hand shot forward and a bolt of energy released, hitting Temujin in the chest.

Chikako instantly let herself fall, gathering chakra in her feet to make sure the landing wouldn't break her legs and then pulled her wakizashi from the pocket dimension. She'd positioned herself right above one of the female soldiers that had entered with Haido, so all she had to do was hold her blade steady. The woman barely noticed her in time to look up and take half a step to the side, but it wasn't enough. The wakizashi embedded itself between her armor and neck, shattering the collar bone and piercing her heart.

Chikako pulled the blade back out before the woman had even hit the ground. She spun around, expecting at least some of the puppet soldiers to be unresponsive, but no such luck. They stuttered for a second and then Haido laughed maniacally.

"You will not have what is mine!" He shouted, releasing more of the strange energy bolts. As she dodged she saw Gaara's sand slam several of the soldiers into walls until their armor was a mangled mess, but they seemed to reform somehow.

Then the humming started. A deep rumble at first that seemed to be coming from the stone around them. So low she couldn't be certain if it was actually there or just in her imagination.

Chikako shook her head like a dog might to get water out of it's fur and then rejoined the fight. It wasn't until she caught herself and the soldier who was trying to skewer her with his spear moving in time with the melody that she realized her mistake. She was so used to the fact that genjutsu couldn't ensnare her, least of all without her knowledge, that she hadn't even contemplated the possibility.

Her throat felt raspy and dry to the point that swallowing hurt. Her muscles were actually trembling with fatigue, a burning sensation pulsed in her left arm in time with her heartbeat and her chakra was so low that she wasn't quite sure how she was still conscious. Even her eyes felt itchy.

Just how long had they been here?

Chikako glanced around, noticing the sluggish movements of the people that, to her, had started fighting only moments ago and then she stumbled backwards in shock, trying to get out of the way of the female soldier she had killed. The woman's left side was completely covered in dried, flaking blood. One of her arms hung loosely at her side, no doubt due to the shattered collar bone, and her head was flopping around a little. Chikako couldn't tell whether she was breathing because of the armor, but the dull eyes said she was most definitely dead.

Not willing to risk another surprise, Chikako kicked the legs out from under the walking corpse, cut her head off and then kicked it across the room. Her eyes landed on the center circle, where Temujin lay, a gaping wound in his chest from which fresh blood was trickling to the floor. It formed into tiny rivers that neatly flowed along the engraved pattern in the stone. There was so much of it, it couldn't possibly have come from one person, yet Temujin was the only one not moving.

She glanced at the headless corpse again and, sure enough, it's fingers were twitching. The melody pounded in her head, louder and louder, demanding that she dance to it's tune. Haido seemed completely absorbed, his movements so fluid he could almost be called graceful. Ino on the other hand was staggering around the room, arms and legs jerking in one direction only to abruptly stop and change course.

 _She's fighting it_ , Chikako realized. She didn't bother engaging anyone else in combat, instead dodging past them to get to the blond kunoichi. Most genjutsu could be released with a simple Kai if the victim was aware of them, which Ino clearly was. If that didn't work pain cause by something other than the illusion would usually do the trick.

Chikako didn't try either. If the Yamanaka was in control enough to struggle against the compulsion she had already attempted both. Instead Chikako put her hands on the other girls temples and then released what she could spare of her pitifully low chakra reserves.

She winced, both because of the shrill scream that tore out of Ino's throat and because her own pathways were burned raw. Her vision went blurry around the edges for a second and she had to put her head between her knees until it cleared up again.

Ino was on the floor. Every breath she took was accompanied by a wet sucking noise and she coughed up blood more than once.

"Thanks," the girl rasped out as pink spittle dribbled down her chin. Chikako didn't answer, too busy deflecting the a sword that almost took her head off and then dragging Ino further away from the fighting.

"I'm pretty sure that's some kind of seal," she said, pointing at where Temujin's blood still followed the design engraved in the stone. They were close enough to the wall now that Chikako could see it flow upwards at a ninety degree angle as if gravity was merely a suggestion and not a law of nature. "Do you think you can walk? I don't have enough chakra to free anyone else and we need to get out of here."

Ino nodded, but couldn't even manage to stand up on her own, which had Chikako cursing a blue streak under her breath. Gaara alone didn't look completely exhausted, but the Yamanaka had been the only one even trying to get out of the genjutsu and Chikako hadn't been sure she could have freed anyone else from it's influence. After all if the nature of her chakra had been all it took she wouldn't have been ensnared in the first place.

"Crawl if you have to, just get out," she snapped and then crossed the room again to get to the redhead. Avoiding attacks was surprisingly easy when everyone was moving to the same tune. Chikako was grateful for that at least because her muscles had started to cramp painfully. She could force herself to walk, but there wouldn't be any jumping or running in her near future.

When she was only a few steps away from Gaara a spiky wall of sand appeared in her way, forcing her to stop abruptly or risk getting skewered. It reminded her of Sasuke's fight during the chunin exams and the way the sand had reacted almost of it's own accord at times. There were also the memories she had seen of a younger Gaara. The sand protected him whether he wanted it to or not.

"Shit."

Her plan had been to stick her sword through his arm and hope that was enough pain to jolt him out of the genjutsu. Unlike the rest of them he could easily recover from a wound like that and he was so unused to physical pain that the sensation would be especially disruptive.

Chikako pulled her mask off so she could pinched the bridge of her nose between forefinger and thumb, taking a few deep breaths in hopes of clearing her mind. The pounding headache wasn't going away anytime soon.

"Think," she mumbled. Gaara had to be awake and conscious or Shukako would have taken the reigns by now. She couldn't remember anything that had happened after letting herself fall from the ceiling and killing the woman, right up until she'd suddenly realized she was in a genjutsu and had simply stopped dancing to it's tune. Ino had also been aware though and still couldn't do anything about it. So what was different for Chikako?

It wasn't her chakra, or at least it couldn't be just that.

She slowly turned, glancing around the room to study it's occupants. Shikamaru and Choji were fighting back to back. Other than what the melody forced, there was no coordination at all though and neither of them were using their clan techniques. It was as if they didn't even notice the other one was close by, yet they never drifted more than a few steps apart. A subconscious awareness maybe.

Their clans shared a long history and they'd been specifically trained to work together, much more so than any other rookie team. The Yamanaka were also known for their specialization in mind techniques, which would explain why Ino had been able to avoid some of the genjutsu's effects.

Kankuro was mostly stationary while Sai slowly circled around the edges of the chamber. They too were fighting with nothing but basic hand to hand techniques and a tanto, respectively. Sai was quite a bit slower than she was used to, but his movements spoke of brutal efficiency that was likely the reason he hadn't completely exhausted himself yet. Kankuro on the other hand was breathing too fast and starting to drag his feet.

The puppet soldiers were perfectly in sync with Haido. Every motion fluid, but rarely aimed at anything other than empty air. It was probably a good thing that they had no capacity to make choices of their own.

Then there was the corpse Chikako had decapitated. It was still twitching on occasion and rolling around a little, but didn't present much of a threat to anyone at this point. The other woman was still on her feet, but she too was dead and held no weapon. If Chikako hadn't known better she'd declared her drunk as a skunk. Her lack of coordination probably had more to do with her broken neck though.

That left Jiro - whom she couldn't see anywhere. The air was thrumming with chakra and the strange energy Haido's men used, which made sensing particularly hard, but even after several minutes of actively searching for him there was no Jiro. She did however notice faint traces of his chakra circling her left arm.

Chikako quickly removed her forearm guard and pulled off her glove to inspect the skin. To her surprise five stark black bands of ink greeted her. The one closest to her wrist was about a centimeter wide, followed by half a centimeter of empty skin and then another ink band that was half a centimeter wide as well. The ones right below her elbow looked exactly the same, only there was a third band there that was about as wide as the other two combined.

The skin was neither red nor puffy or sore. There was no indication at all that she hadn't had a tattoo when she'd woken up that day. The ink was perfectly uniform, the lines clean and sharp. It stood in stark contrast to her light complexion and she had no idea how it had gotten there.

Chikako had the nagging impression that she should know what it was though. There was an image stuck in her head of thorny black lines that coiled around an incredibly pale arm. Like a snake. Orochimaru had a tattoo like this. She'd never seen him use it, but he'd told her once that it was part of his contract with the snake summons.

Forcing a summoning contract on someone like that would be excruciatingly painful. If that was indeed what Jiro had done it would explain both his absence and how she'd escaped the genjutsu. He would have had to use his own chakra which also meant he wouldn't have had enough left to sustain his presence here any longer.

A faint crunching noise, as if someone was literally walking on eggshells, drew her attention away from the tattoo. Chikako tracked the sound and discovered several long hairline fractures in the stone. Looking up revealed that the blood had reached the ceiling in some places and was still following it's path with no regard for the laws of physics.

"Shit," she cursed again. Chakra was out and for pain to work it apparently really had to be quite a bit worse than a simple slap or cut. Gaara was the only one who could quickly and reliably recover from severe injuries, but his sand would protect him.

What else?

In theory any sensation that was out of place should work. A strong smell, a shrill sound, something the genjutsu couldn't account for. Ino had screamed earlier, but that hadn't had any effect. She couldn't do anything about the smell either. A sudden drop in temperature would probably do the trick, that would also require the use of chakra she couldn't spare though.

Why did those things work?

Pain was true for almost everybody, but the other things weren't. People that had especially strong senses like the Inuzuka were harder to fool with genjutsu because their brains instinctively noted when sounds or smells were in conflict with the rest of their perception. Sensory dissonance.

What was so unusual that it would subconsciously provoke an averse reaction?

Chikako looked back at the, by now mostly disintegrated, wall of sand between herself and Gaara. She hesitated for a moment, but then grit her teeth and moved closer. She was shuffling her feet more than she was actually taking steps and still her muscles screamed at her to take a break. The slow approach and the fact that he wasn't completely unaware of his surroundings did, however, mean that she wasn't immediately blasted by sand so that was something.

It lasted right up until she stood in front of the redhead and put her arms around him. Her touch was deliberately gentle, even as she felt the grains rub over her skin like shards of broken glass. She was mostly too numb to feel the slight burn of fresh abrasions though. What she did feel was the shiver that went through Gaara. He wasn't just not used to physical pain, it was any kind of physical contact, apparently even now that he was on better terms with his siblings.

Chikako still remembered his reaction from when she'd hugged him after their fight against Kimimaro, but it wasn't quite enough yet. So she started to hum the melody of a lullaby she'd heard somewhere and lightly rubbed soothing circles on the back of his neck.

Another shiver and then he suddenly went completely rigid, just like he'd done so many months ago. She waited a few seconds longer to be sure, then took a step back as soon as the sand lifted from her skin. He seemed dazed and somewhat bewildered.

"You need to get us out," Chikako whispered and repeated it with a little more force behind the words when all he did was blink in confusion. Then there was a loud crack above them that finally managed to snap him out of it.

Not a second too soon either. Several more cracks followed the first, fissures spreading like spiderwebs across the ceiling. An eerie blue glow bled through the ever widening rifts in the stone until chunks started to fall.

Chikako didn't have to tell him a third time. Gaara's sand rushed forward, much faster than before. It wound around her friends, one after the other, and then proceeded to pull them out of the crumbling room. He snapped her up too after the second time she stumbled trying to keep up.

Behind them a maelstrom of brilliant blue light shredded first the temple-mine and then the stone surrounding it. By the time it stopped expanding and Gaara had gotten them a safe distance away there was nothing left of the overgrown rock formation.


	30. VIII - Left Behind

**A/N:**

 _Diehard gamer_

Hey, could you tell me what exactly bothered you about chapter 28? I personally would have thought 29 might be more confusing.

As for Chikako knowing that they were declared dead. She doesn't. She is simply assuming that's the case because Kakashi went to quite a bit of trouble to make it seem that way in her case, while Jiro was elsewhere staging Sai's death. It wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to send an assassin after Chikako but not Sai. They did flee together after all.

So in essence Chikako just trusts that Kakashi would have found whatever evidence Jiro had left behind and played along. She doesn't actually know anything though when she makes that statement.

. . .

 **VIII - Left Behind**

The maelstrom's melody was screeching in Chikako's head. A warped version of the original tune that became more dissonant with every passing second. She seriously contemplated sticking senbon into her eardrums and refrained only because she was ninety-nine percent sure doing so wouldn't actually help.

As the storm raged it's energy seeped into the land, pulling, pushing and twisting until every creature and plant was completely unrecognizable. Trees that had been lush and green only moments ago dried out, bark cracking and splintering. Others started to rot from the inside out, almost melting into puddles of black goo. Grass and brushes didn't fare much better, but the animals were the worst.

Most managed to run, the ones that didn't however could have come straight from one of her especially unpleasant nightmares. They lost all their fur or feathers as soon as the storm hit them and pustules filled with a thick yellow liquid started to form under their skin. Their bones twisted and broke, leaving a mangled mess behind, and still the things kept moving, tearing into each other or themselves.

All the while the clear blue of the storm got tainted by a darker red. The two colors swirled together, but instead of rich purple the result was an ugly brown. The energy in the air began to feel like an oily film to the point that Chikako wanted to strip her own skin from her flesh to get rid of it.

She was just about to plead with Gaara to get them further away when a second energy burst from the temple's center. This one was mint green. It fought it's way up and around the maelstrom, but instead of mixing with the ugly brown like the blue had, it stayed separate.

The two energies seemed to fight each other and as they did the land changed once more. Where the green touched it things began to mend. Even though destruction was reversed and wounds began to heal, this too didn't feel right to Chikako.

Things looked the way they were supposed to after the green had swept over them, better even. What she sensed however might as well have come from an alien planet.

Usually Chikako could tell plants and animal apart and even approximate their size or narrow down the species they belonged to. If something was especially familiar to her, like certain people, she could recognize them with nothing to go on but their chakra signature.

Here however, in this nightmarish landscape of opposites, nothing felt even remotely like anything she'd ever encountered before. Which was why it took her a solid ten minutes to notice the figures that stood at the center of it all.

On one side of the crater, that used to be the temples main chamber, stood Haido, hands stretched into the sky and a manic expression on his face. On the other was Temujin, alive and, even though his armor had several holes, completely uninjured. The cave-in should have turned both of them into bloody smears on the ground, but they didn't seem to care overly much.

For that matter, neither did the two female soldiers. The one Chikako had beheaded was back in one piece, the swath of blood down her front the only indication that she'd been involved in any kind of violence. There were also a bunch of disoriented naked people, formerly the armored puppets she presumed.

Haido and Temujin seemed to be shouting at each other, but the wind ripped all but a few words away. From what she could tell the priest was under the impression that Temujin had stolen part of his power and now trying to guilt trip the boy into compliance. Temujin on the other hand couldn't decide whether he wanted to crawl back to his master like a beaten dog or stand his ground for once.

There was a lot of back and forth that had no impact on the people in the center of the storm, yet was devastating to anything else. The weather got worse the more they argued and Gaara had to catch more than one uprooted tree out of the air before it could claim any casualties.

Haido got visibly more frustrated every time it looked like he might win the argument only for Temujin to glance back at the group of shinobi and change his mind. It seemed Choji and Naruto had quite a bit in common where talking enemies into submission was concerned. Of course they were both kind-hearted idiots that always saw the best in people so it wasn't that much of a surprise.

It wasn't quite enough though, evidenced by the fact that Temujin was still struggling with his beliefs. If Haido managed to say the right thing he might falter. Even if he didn't the thought that their fates were in the hands of a lunatic and a weak willed idiot had Chikako scared out of her mind. Neither of them should have that kind of power and no matter who won their little spat, the consequences would most likely be dire for everyone else.

Chikako, for her part, would have liked nothing better than to just jump in there and kill both of them, but simply remaining upright was almost more than she could handle just then. Out of their little group she was the only one that had just about completely emptied her chakra reserves. The others weren't off much better than her though. Gaara was really the only one in any condition to fight and he was too busy keeping them alive to do anything else. The second the redhead stopped using his sand to shield them they would get pelted by all manner of flying debris and shrubbery.

After a small eternity of screaming at each other and incessant arm-waving, Heido had apparently had enough. Whatever he said to Temujin had the boy flinch back so violently that the green parts of the storm flickered like a candle in the wind. The stupid priest looked incredibly smug at that reaction, but even in all this chaos Chikako could sense the wave of unadulterated rage a second before it hit them.

The world suddenly exploded, blasting all of them backwards. Gaara's sand wall was torn apart and scattered in the wind and even though he immediately tried to reform it he wasn't fast enough.

Chikako's head impacted with something hard and she could feel sticky liquid trickling down her back. Head wounds tended to bleed a lot so that wasn't too concerning, the same could not be said for the sudden onset of nausea and dizziness though. A concussion was just about the last thing she needed.

She got back up very slowly to avoid vomiting, and opted to crouch rather than stand. Her sense of balance seemed off and she wasn't willing to test it by stumbling over her own feet.

To her right Choji had been a lot less lucky. Where his left arm and shoulder should have been nothing but blood an bits of bone remained. It look like an especially unappetizing variation of minced meat. Chikako immediately regretted that last though when bile tried to work itself up her throat.

She couldn't concentrate and the first time she even thought that she probably should have tried to keep Choji from bleeding out was when Shikamaru stumbled past her and did exactly that. The Nara shouted something in her direction and had to repeat himself twice more before she got his meaning. He wanted the white length of cloth that held her haori shut, the one Gaara had given her so many months ago.

It seemed wrong to give it away, but Shikamaru was smart. If he said he needed it she should probably do as he asked. Fumbling the thing off was hard though and Sai had to come help her. Where had he come from anyway?

He didn't look healthy either, but Chikako had no idea why she thought that. There was barely any blood on him. Only a little in the corner of his mouth. He even smiled at her. That struck her as odd too. There was something about an owl she couldn't quite remember. Owls didn't smile did they?

Fuck, her mind was a mess.

She couldn't deal with reasons right now. She trusted Shikamaru so if he wanted her to do something she would just do it, and if Sai smiled that must mean he was okay. She'd just sit there and take deep breaths until something changed again. After all things always changed at some point.

Chikako tried to blink as little as possible once she noticed just how rapidly the scenery around her shifted. Every time she closed her eyes things were suddenly much different than they had been before.

On one such occasion there was sand all over the place. The thought that they were somehow back in the middle of the desert scared her for a second, but then she noticed Gaara's chakra was everywhere, smothering the twisted energy. It felt much better like that.

The next time they were in a sea of green and the image of a big lady in colorful clothes danced in Chikako's mind. There was no water though and that meant the lady couldn't be here.

Things got a little better after that. Chikako only realized that she had been stationary so far when Kankuro helped her up and nausea washed over her. On her other side Ino said something that sounded rather concerned. The blond used the words recover and healing a few times, so Chikako supplied the first thing she associated with them.

"Chakra."

There was more shuffling and talking. Chikako thought Kankuro wanted the other girl to do something, but she wasn't sure what exactly. Ino got really angry and then Kankuro jostled Chikako around. She almost thought she might vomit after all, but then the movement suddenly stopped and something was pressed against her lips.

It felt odd. She recognized the smell though and shook her head. Whatever it was tasted horrible. She didn't know how she knew, but was absolutely certain it was true.

"You said chakra," Kankuro supplied, voice deep and soothing. "This will give you chakra."

She hesitated a few more seconds, mostly because hearing that tone from the puppeteer seemed weird. Chakra was good though. Chakra would fix things.

The pill tasted just as horrible as Chikako had known it would. Kankuro hadn't lied though and with the increase of chakra the world slowly came back into focus around her. It took another five minutes or so until she was aware enough to purposely direct it towards her head to help deal with the concussion.

She almost regretted it when her mind cleared up because, while she no longer felt as if someone had wrapped her in cotton, she could have done without the pain of bruised muscles and cracked bones for a while longer. There would also be a price to pay later. Soldier Pills didn't magically make chakra appear out of nowhere. They merely stimulated the body so it produced more chakra faster. She'd probably keel over as soon as the effects let up.

"Heal him!" She heard Shikamaru demand, ripping her back to the scene in front of her. Haido was a sobbing mess on the ground. He was holding a book out to Gaara and saying over and over again that he hadn't meant to, that it had made him. Some of the sentences were broken up by hiccups until the words didn't make sense anymore, but he kept repeating them anyway. It was almost like a prayer.

Chikako barely managed not to snarl at him. The fact that she couldn't tell why she didn't believe a word of what he said proof enough that the concussion was worse than she'd initially assumed. Not that the why mattered. She didn't believe him and that was that.

Haido was far from the most interesting thing right then anyway. After all Shikamaru hadn't spoken to him. It was Temujin he wanted to do something and not just anything. He wanted Temujin to heal Choji's arm.

"Don't," Chikako whispered under her breath. Kankuro, who was still supporting at least half of her weight, noticed. He was the only one though. The puppeteer looked like he might step in for a second, but when she didn't repeat herself or try to do anything else to stop what was happening he stood down. She appreciated that his only comment was a concerned frown.

The healing was miraculous. No medic, not even Tsunade herself, would have been able to recreated the Akimichi's arm the way Temujin did. In fact most would have been hard pressed to keep the boy from bleeding out where he stood, which was why Chikako didn't try to protest any further, even though she could already feel the taint of Temujin's power in the recreated flesh.

Every fragment of bone worked itself back into place, like a grotesque puzzle. Tendons reattached, shredded flesh flowed together until it looked like fat and muscle again and when that was done skin grew to close it all up. Each layer looked a little better than the last until the arm was good as new.

To Chikako it felt like someone had blotted black ink onto white parchment and claimed it was clean again, but Choji seemed more in awe than anything else. He was most certainly alive and not in pain. That was all that mattered, for now. They could deal with the potential fallout later.

Shikamaru actually had tears in his eyes and a goofy smile stretched his face. It didn't strike Chikako as odd until she felt the same expression try to creep onto her own features and noticed the panicked spike in Ino's chakra.

Suddenly the melody was back in full force, strangling her brain and scraping against the inside of her skull. Temujin was happily talking to Gaara about how their people could bring peace to the world. The same people that had invade Wind without warning and raided villages, leaving nothing but death and destruction in their wake.

 _Shit_ , she couldn't even say out loud with the genjutsu's stranglehold on her body. This needed to end and soon or they'd be right back were they'd started.

She couldn't tell if Temujin knew what he was doing.

It didn't matter though, not really. If he kept going they would lose themselves in the melody again and this time there might be no going back.

Chikako slowly increased the chakra flow in her right arm until her abused pathways started to burn under the strain. It hurt, but it also allowed her to move the appendage freely, so she grit her teeth against the pain.

Her chakra was already running low again. In an effort to conserve the last dregs she just grabbed a kunai out of her pouch and, instead of forcing chakra into her legs as well to take a proper stance, she merely pulled back her arm and then snapped it forward again.

The throw was a little wobbly, but Temujin was only a few meters away and the blade hit it's intended target. It sliced deeply into the side of his neck, severing the carotid artery. Blood immediately gushed from the wound like boiling water from a geyser.

Temujin fell to his knees half a second later, the sudden drop in blood pressure more than his system could handle, and then Chikako was on him. She'd thrown herself forward as soon as the blade had left her grip, afraid that the boy might heal himself given enough time.

Her fingers were ripping into the wound before her victim had fully realized what was happening. She even tried to form chakra claws to cause more damage, but the things fizzled out again before they could ever take shape, very nearly causing her to black out in the process.

A howl pierced the air, making Chikako look up just in time to see that the second female soldier could transform into a wolf monster with black and white fur. The markings looked very much like those of a skunk and she had a moment to chuckle at that before a row of sharp teeth was all she could see.

Chikako heard them snap shut, crunch on cartilage and the wet sound they made when they pulled back, but she didn't feel a thing. Or well, she did feel slick blood on her skin, even smelled it's coppery tang, yet there was no sudden increase of pain.

She blinked stupidly at the sight before her. Her hands covered in gore from where she'd torn into Temujin's neck. The wolf, snout dripping red liquid in front of her, growling. And between them, on the ground, light rapidly fading from his eyes, was Sai.

It didn't make any sense. He'd been behind her She knew he had.

And yet there he lay, in a pool of crimson, while the wolf stood over him.

Chikako didn't know if the screamed. She might have, or maybe not. The moment felt completely surreal to her. She'd been so sure she was about to die. Hadn't even tried to doge because killing Temujin had already felt like more than she could handle.

She couldn't even remember seeing Sai move. He was just suddenly there, as if life had skipped a few seconds.

The moment might have lasted hours or it might just have been the blink of an eye. She couldn't tell, wasn't sure she cared.

Then a wall of sand cut her off from the rest of the world.

. . .

Chikako woke in a white, windowless room. It was small, with barely any furniture beyond the bed she lay in. The air was warm and dry, but not stiflingly so. Sunagakure most likely.

She could feel warm blood on her hands, but a look down revealed nothing but clean skin. An image of Sai's torn throat flashed in front of her eyes, making her flinch back. She didn't curl in on herself the way she wanted to, but hot tears were running down her checks anyway.

It might not have been his neck. Maybe it was only his shoulder and the blood had made it seem worse than it was.

He wasn't here though. No matter how far she stretched her senses, she couldn't feel him anywhere.

He was fast. Fast enough to dodge, and he hadn't been as exhausted as her either.

But he hadn't tried to dodge had he? In fact he'd done the exact opposite and thrown himself in front of the attack.

She knew better and lying to herself wouldn't change the facts. It would just make her as deluded as Temujin had been.

Sai was dead. She'd seen him bleed out and she'd felt his chakra dissipate.

Her friend was well and truly gone. She needed to accept that and move on.

Just ... not quite yet.

If Chikako saw someone shaking their head sadly and telling her they were sorry she might just break. So instead of testing whether the door was unlocked, announcing herself to the guard outside or doing any number of useful things, she grabbed her blanket and pillow and crawled underneath the bed.

There was probably a light switch next to the door, she mused. She felt entirely certain in fact that she'd seen one, but even though her body was recovered, her mind felt sluggish, so she ignored that thought.

Chikako had spent most of her childhood in confined spaces that were completely or partially plunged into darkness. While Orochimaru had been there and working on his little experiments there had always been bright lights and open spaces so he could see what he was doing and had room to maneuver. He hadn't bothered with any of that during his absences though.

Hiding underneath the bed, blanked pulled over her head, gave Chikako a sense of peace. It distanced her from the rest of the world and the pain raging in her chest. At some point she'd have to come out and face reality, but until then she was perfectly happy pretending that everything would be alright as soon as she woke up from this nightmare.

Death was so much easier to deal with when the people dying were strangers. That was why Chikako never made friend with the other experiments after that first time. Everyone died at some point, some just did it sooner than others. The specifics really didn't matter as long as she had no emotional connection to the person that did the dying.

Sai hadn't been just some nobody though.

He had a name and a face. She treasured the few moments she'd actually gotten him to forget his training and laugh openly. Or when he'd snarked at her for being more trouble than she was worth, but his tone hadn't matched the words at all.

The guard had entered the room at some point and if she'd any capacity to care she might have commented on his incompetence when he ran out in a panic, leaving the door wide open. She hadn't heard a lock click, so it was save to assume she wasn't a prisoner, but he'd been posted outside of her room for a reason and abandoning his post like that didn't make her think very highly of his intelligence. Neither did the fact that he hadn't even checked under the bed.

The timing made her think he was a sensor type because he'd come to investigate the second she'd clamped down on her chakra and employed the rest of her stealth tricks to vanish from all but the visual spectrum. He was apparently very sure that nothing could escape his sense of chakra when simply crouching down would have revealed her.

Gaara didn't suffer from the same case of idiocy. His sand snaked around the bedposts and pinned the thing to the ceiling almost before he had entered the room. Behind him the guard spluttered like the fool he was and Gaara barked at the man to get lost without even looking back. Instead his pale green eyes bored into her, the demand that she get up clear.

Chikako almost rolled over and pulled the blanket back over her head just to see what he would do. A pouting, stomping jinchuriki was just the thing she needed to lighten her mood, but it was more likely that she'd end up next to the bed, dangling from the ceiling. Still she got up at the speed of an arthritic snail to make a point. She wasn't entirely sure what that point was, but she took great care to make it anyway.

Gaara didn't comment on her behavior, which was just as well. He didn't deserve her attitude, in fact, she should probably be thanking him. That wasn't quite what came out of her mouth when she opened it though.

"What did you do to the body?"

"Burned it," he told her, in that inflectionless voice she remembered from the chunin exams. "Get dressed and meet me outside."

He didn't tell her why and she didn't ask his retreating back for an explanation. The only indication she'd irritated him was the bed that fell back into place from a greater height than he'd probably intended. There was a creak as part of the wooden frame broke and the mattress dipped several centimeters in the center.

Good thing he had more patience with her than the furniture.

Chikako got dresses as soon as she discovered the charcoal gray Wushu uniform at the foot of the bed. It was plain, but she could tell that the fabric was of high quality, light yet sturdy. Her original outfit, with the exception of her wakizashi, was nowhere in sight. but she did find a single shogi piece.

A pawn made of polished bone, deer's antlers to be exact. She recognized it as one of Shikamaru's, but string had been threaded through a hole in the base so that it acted as a necklace. Chikako wondered at it's meaning when she put it on.

Pawns were the weakest pieces, but they also had the numbers advantage and a promoted pawn or even just one that was well placed could turn the tide of a game. Shikamaru loved shogi and he was a brilliant strategist. If anyone could win with nothing but an army of pawns to protect his king it would be him.

Still what was he trying to tell her? That she was a pawn in someone else's game? That even the weakest pieces could become crucial? Or maybe it was just a reminder, like the tanto she'd given him to take back to Kakashi.

He'd told her he'd felt left out, hadn't he?

When Chikako had fastened the uniform's belt she placed the wakizashi back into it's pocket dimension and left the room. Finding her way outside wasn't particularly hard. She only had to walk down the hallway to the front of the building, where the idiot guard waited, eager to lead her the rest of the way. She wondered whether he was afraid of what Gaara might do to him if he failed again, but didn't dwell on in.

It wasn't her problem and she'd already shed all the tears she could handle.

Also she didn't really think he had anything to fear. Gaara might have turned him into bloody mush before the exams, but not now. She didn't tell him that either. He'd find out on his own and until then he'd just have to deal.

As they walked Chikako noticed how utterly not exhausted she was. She'd emptied her chakra stores completely, then taken a Soldier Pill and used that energy up as well. By rights she shouldn't be able to so much as crawl.

"What day is it?" She asked, suspicion lacing her voice. The idiot guard almost jumped out of his skin, clearly not having expected her to talk to him.

"Never mind," she cut him off before he could answer. Knowing the day would do absolutely nothing because she had no idea what day it had been when they'd left the desert. She should know on what day Sai had died.

"Actually, tell me the day, the date and how long I was in that room."

The guard gave her a very odd look but rattled down the information she had demanded anyway. Thursday, the 17th of April. His expression made a little more sense when he got to the last part.

Apparently she'd not only been in that room, but awake for almost a week. That seemed like something she should remember. The only images she could conjure up when she tried to, however, where the skunk wolf, teeth and then Sai in a pool of crimson. It wasn't long until she stopped trying.

The room hadn't been in any disarray, there were no wounds on her body and other than the giant, gaping hole in her chest she felt completely fine. A little numb maybe, but that was more of a defensive reaction she'd acquired while under Orochimaru's care than any cause for concern.

What did concern her was the expression on Gaara's face when they reached him. The idiot guard had led her through a myriad of back alleys until they were out of the village proper but still in sight of the walls. The other guards had let them pass with nothing more than a few curious looks, which made Chikako think Gaara had given them orders in advance. So why did he look surprised to see her?

"I didn't think you'd actually come," was his answer when she asked just that. It dawned on her then that today was probably not the first time he'd found her under her bed. That would certainly explain his earlier annoyance and that he'd immediately known where she was.

Chikako cringed a little at the thought, but then shoved it away. She'd lost herself so thoroughly that she couldn't even remember. What a failure she was. Sai had thrown himself in front of her and she couldn't even keep things together and make sure his sacrifice hadn't been in vain. He deserved better than that.

"Well, I'm here know," she snapped a little more harshly than she'd meant to. Gaara deserved better too. He'd protected all of them as best he could. The redhead didn't seem offended though. If anything he looked relieved. That alone told her more than he could have with a thousand words. She must have been a complete zombie if he thought this was better.

. . .

They spent the whole day training, only ever stopping to drink some water so they wouldn't dehydrate. Gaara send spikes of sand after her, trying to increase the speed with which he could move the sand instead of relying on overwhelming force. Chikako in turn dodged as late and with as little movement as she possibly could, only using a Body Flicker when she absolutely had to, to waste as little energy as possible.

It took all of her concentration and she still ended up with several burning marks on her skin where the sand had clipped her. She was grateful for the distraction though, it didn't leave her with enough time to think about anything else. It certainly kept her mind off of the fact that Sai was gone and Jiro out of her reach. At least mostly.

She'd tried to smear blood on the tattoo her tanuki had left her with, but to no avail. The Summoning Technique too did absolutely nothing and so all she could do was wait and hope that he'd make it back on his own.

In the meantime her fight against Gaara had drawn quite the audience. They'd seemed worried in the beginning, if the way they'd kept their distance was any indication. Even now, several hours later there was a minimum of two-hundred meters between the pair of them and the spectators at any given time. The only thing that had really changed was that the occasional cries of dismay and fear had turned into cheering whenever either of them landed a hit.

Gaara's attacks made contact more often, but they usually barely grazed her. Chikako on the other hand only ever got in close if she managed to make him loose sigh of her and employed a quick Camouflage, Body Flicker combination. By now he'd mostly gotten the hang of not letting his sand obstruct his line of sight, but when she did get a hit in it was devastating.

Her chakra fueled blows, a bad imitation of Hinata's Gentle Palm, had cracked his personal sand armor half a dozen times by now and twice he'd even had to substitute with a clone to avoid the attack. If they had been serious one of them would have long been dead at this point. Probably her, considering that he could always turn into a giant demon if things got too risky.

They were, however, only trying to get the stress of the past few days out of their systems and not actually trying to murder each other, so the fight had turned into great entertainment for Suna's shinobi population. They probably didn't get to see Gaara in action often without murder and mayhem ensuring. Then again, the ninja on the beach hadn't been afraid of him. It seemed Gaara's image was slowly changing. If seeing him not slaughter an opponent and maybe get whacked over the head a few times while he did it helped, Chikako certainly wouldn't object.

She didn't particularly want to hurt him, but the knowledge that she actually could was like a safety blanked she hadn't known she needed. He had been one of the monsters that lurked in the dark, during the chunin exams and the failed invasion. She'd let him go in the aftermath because of Naruto and the memories she'd seen. He'd still been dangerous though. Still a monster, even if it had been a friendly one for once.

Now though, knowing that if he ever turned against her she wouldn't be completely helpless, it made the whole world seem a little less scary. After all if she stood a chance against one of the monsters who was to say she couldn't best another. She still felt lost, drifting, without Jiro and Sai there to anchor her, but it wasn't quite as terrifying anymore.

Chikako had caught herself touching the pawn Shikamaru had left her every time Gaara had driven her into a corner though. It was oddly comforting. It was also quickly turning into a bad habit she had to quash before it took hold. A tell like that could easily get her killed if she wasn't careful.

By the time Temari found them and demanded they stop disrupting the peace and distracting the guards lunch had come and gone. Chikako was completely exhausted, but she also felt lighter, as if a weight had been lifted from her. So when Gaara asked her to eat with him and his siblings she managed an honest smile.


	31. VIII - Wraith

**A/N:**

 _to all of the people mad that Sai is dead_

I liked him too, but I'm not a fan of characters being safe just because they are liked or belong to the protagonist's group or what have you. The world of Naruto isn't a friendly place in which only bad guys and old people die. At least it shouldn't be in my opinion, you are of course entitled to yours.

Now don't panic, I'm not going to kill people left and right for no reason or anything. There are no planned deaths. I do, however, expect that Sai won't be the last of the good characters that dies. It really depends on how the story develops going forward. I have a rough idea, but only work specifics out while I write.

. . .

 **VIII - Wraith**

Dinner with the Sand Siblings was an awkward affair and it wasn't even because of Chikako's presence, at least for the most part. Gaara's demeanor had completely changed as soon as they had reached the house he shared with his brother and sister. He would paste on a smile whenever Temari looked his way. Something very fake that seemed almost painful. The blond would smile back, just as falsely, but a lot more practiced. She was used to placating him and she was still doing it, even now when he was so obviously trying to gain her approval.

Kankuro was doing a little better. He sometimes dared to snap at Gaara or made a sarcastic remark. But Chikako had watched their interaction on the battlefield, or rather lack thereof. Kankuro had a big mouth, yet he always kept Gaara in his line of sight, preferably in front of him.

Now though, at home, it became even more obvious that he was all bark and no bite. Whenever something he deemed too harsh or out of line slipped out he would immediately backpaddle without even waiting for a reaction. Consciously he was trying to give his brother a chance, to treat him like he did anyone else, but subconsciously he was too afraid to actually go through with it.

Temari didn't even do that much. The disparity in the way she treated Gaara and Kankuro wasn't immediately obvious, but if one bothered to look a little closer it was akin to day and night. Her gestures looked real and the words sounded right, but there was no emotion behind them. She might not hate Gaara for what he'd done in the past, but she didn't trust him not to turn back into that same monster at the drop of a hat either. To her he was barely more than a ticking time bomb.

She was the big sister, so she felt responsible for protecting Kankuro and handling Gaara. Everything she did was to keep the redhead complacent. If his glass was empty she refilled it before he could even notice. If he so much as indicated, even just by glancing at it, that he wanted for something she would offer to get it. If he smiled she smiled back and if he didn't she worried there was a problem. That last one was likely the only reason he bothered with those painfully fake smiles at all. Chikako certainly hadn't seen one of them before.

Of course Gaara didn't say anything either. He probably felt like he had to make make up for a lifetime of pain and was willing to take any kind of punishment or accusation that was thrown his way. He never complained about anything. He even moved slower at home because any fast motion had Temari flinching. The girl had it well under control, the motion was only tiny, but Gaara had fed on fear for years, he noticed.

So did Chikako, albeit for different reasons. She resented Temari a little for the way she behaved. But if Orochimaru showed up tomorrow promising to be a better man and right every wrong he'd ever committed? Yeah, Chikako wouldn't buy that either. Not even if he actually did it. She'd always wait for the other shoe to drop.

If anything Temari was the smart one, the survivor, while Kankuro was a trusting fool. But then nobody was born a monster, not even the snake. People were what life made them and for some it was far too late when they finally got to choose for themselves. Orochimaru was a power-hungry bastard. He didn't have a horrible childhood. He hadn't been abused or grown up poor or unloved. Granted he had lost his parent's young, but he was far from the only one and he certainly hadn't been off worse than any other orphan at the time. Orochimaru was a genius who had a loyal team and the Sandaime had favored him to the point that he'd almost made the snake his successor.

No, Orochimaru had chosen his path all on his own. There had been doors open to him, but instead he'd fixated on the idea of immortality. Benevolent reasons of wanting to help others had soon turned into excuses to justify increasingly inhumane experiments and then he hadn't needed any reasons that went beyond his personal desires at all.

Gaara was different though. He hadn't wanted to be a jinchuriki. The choice had been made for him before he was even born. His father, instead of caring for him, had tried to turn him into a weapon and spoiled him with material goods while, at the same time, completely ignoring the emotional needs of a child. Then, when it turned out that never establishing rules didn't make a kid very inclined to listen to orders, he'd tried to get rid of his mistake.

Gaara had been a frightened child with a death sentence hanging over his head and no one to turn to except for the demon in his head. Chikako couldn't blame Temari for her behavior, but she couldn't blame the redhead either.

Of course that was easy for her to say. She'd only known Gaara for a short time, long after he'd gotten control over his sand, and then she'd seen some of his memories, felt the emotions that came with them. It didn't take much to emphasize after an experience like that, especially not with her own background. Temari on the other hand had grown up with Gaara, she'd been a child herself and been taught to fear him. Had had a front row seat to how unstable and dangerous he'd been for years. He was even stronger and thus more dangerous now, and the only assurance anyone had that he wouldn't wash the sand in blood again was his word.

No, Chikako didn't blame Temari, but that didn't make it any easier not to snarl at the other girl. Especially when she could so clearly sense the pain and desperation in Gaara's chakra.

If she could get a second chance to keep Sai from sacrificing himself ... well, she couldn't think of very much she wouldn't do for that. Temari had that chance, right there. She could mend her family and let old wounds heal. All she had to do was give Gaara a chance to make amends. No complicated space-time jutsu, no great journey into the unknown, no war, or politics to overcome. No effort on her part at all. The only thing she had to do was give him the benefit of the doubt.

And she just. Wouldn't. Do. It.

The crunching and tinkling sound of ceramic breaking, followed by shards falling to the floor had three pairs of eyes starring at Chikako. Okay, so maybe she blamed Temari after all. Just a little. Mostly she was jealous because there would be no second chances for her. The person she was really angry with was herself, the blond merely made for an easy target.

"I used up all of his ink," she told the three Suna nin before she even realized she was speaking out loud, but then continued anyway. They'd taken her in, fed her and offered to provide a safe haven as long as she needed it. She couldn't just break their cups and give them nothing in return. "Turns out I didn't even need it. He might have been fine if there'd been some left. One of his liondogs could have-"

"Don't," Kankuro cut her off before she could really start to ramble. He gently pried her fingers away from the broken ceramic and while Temari started to clean up the floor he pulled shards out of her hand. "There's no point looking back. It's only going to get you killed and then all you did was waste his life."

She flinched back at that. His tone was soft, but the words still hurt. He was right though. She couldn't wallow in grief forever, not even this muted version. So instead she nodded and pulled her hand away before he could start trying to sew the deeper cuts shut.

"Don't bother. They'll have completely closed up in a few hours and in a day or two there won't even be a mark."

. . .

Chikako stayed in Suna for another week. During that time she trained with Gaara in front of the walls, every day from breakfast to lunch. One would think seeing the same fight day after day would get boring, but the crowd they drew got larger every time.

One of the spectators, a little boy with dark skin and darker hair, had gotten so curious that he'd actually toppled over the wall in an effort to see better. He was only a civilian and so had had absolutely no way to stop his fall or even lessen the impact.

Chikako had seen him go over. She could have made it there in time to catch him too, but Gaara's sand had beaten her to it. It completely enclosed the boy for a moment and the shift in the crowd was immediate. The sudden onset of fear gave her a headache, which in turn made her rather cranky.

Gaara had of course placed the boy back in his original position without harming a hair on his head, but the damage was already done. The people of Suna had very effectively been reminded of how quickly the tide could turn and the fact that the boy was crying didn't help any.

He had every reason to be scared of course, after all he'd almost fallen to his death. The rest of the spectators didn't have that excuse though, especially not after Gaara had saved the kid.

Chikako had given them a piece of her mind then. Approximately half of her little speech had consisted of cussing them out, which probably took away from the point she had been trying to make, but she'd been too angry to care at the time.

She'd almost started in on Temari as well when the blond arrived to get them for lunch. To her surprise though Temari had actually taken her side, or rather Gaara's side. The other girl was also a lot better at giving people disappointed looks and making them feel like they should be ashamed of themselves for their behavior. A talent that probably came with being a big sister.

That had been four days in and meals had gotten a lot more enjoyable afterwards. Temari was still tense at times or too quick to offer assistance, but she had actually started to make an effort. It was a small thing with a lot of impact. No matter what the boys may say, they both wanted their sister to be proud of them and with Kankuro's loyalties no longer divided between his siblings he became a lot more lively all of a sudden.

He also actively tried to include Chikako more, claiming she was practically family at this point and that he'd always wanted a little sister anyway. Temari generally huffed and puffed at that, but it was only for show. The smiles between her and Gaara became a lot rarer and more hesitant, but were all the more genuine for it.

In the evenings Kankuro would usually monopolize Chikako's time. He hadn't forgotten that she'd asked him about his face paint and took great joy in annoying her with every little detail, then seamlessly switched over to puppetry once he ran out of facts.

She'd tried to get him to shut up in the beginning, because everything he said that could even remotely be construed as having to do with art immediately brought up thoughts of Sai. She didn't just want to forget her friend, but thinking about him was painful. It got better though, the more Kankuro talked. Especially once she actually took an interest in what he had to say.

Chikako had initially thought that he was simply an insensitive ass, then that he was trying to make her face the loss to get over it, but while both of those things had some truth to them that hadn't been his point at all. It took her a while to pick up on it because of the disjointed way he gave her the information, but every last thing he told her was connected by a single red thread.

Paints that were non-toxic. How to get the best colors, rich and brilliant. Puppets with mechanisms so precise that they could sew or even embroider flawlessly. How he took care of his tools, kept them sharp and sterilized.

He wanted to tattoo her, but instead of outright asking like a normal person might, he threw all of the facts at her and then waited until she did the asking. The brilliant smile he offered her when she finally did almost made having to listen to his ramblings worth it. Almost.

The actual work most definitely did though.

It was small. On the inside of her right wrist where she could see it easily. Crisp black lines that depicted a stylized owl. He'd taken great care to match the red and blue markings on the head to Sai's mask. The whole process had taken several long hours and he'd done it over three days to give the different layers of color time to set. He'd claimed it prevented the lines from bleeding into each other and while Chikako didn't doubt his word, she did think there was more too it.

Most shinobi didn't have any tattoos. Something that unique was too much of a giveaway. Information that could be printed in Bingo Books and be used to identify targets easily. He probably didn't get to do this a lot, which was a shame because his work was beautiful.

It was certainly a fitting way to remember Sai by.

. . .

Chikako would have liked to stay in Suna a little while longer, but she'd already wasted too much time. Due to the strange energy from the Gelel Stone tracking down Haido and the two female soldiers that had gotten away would be easy. The trail they left was like ink on white paper, but it wouldn't last forever. She'd checked it every day for the past week and now that it was starting to fade it was time for her to leave.

There was also the matter of spies. Gaara had confirmed for her that she had indeed been declared dead several months ago, but that didn't mean she was in the clear. It wasn't likely that anyone would recognize her by sight, but she wasn't willing to completely discount the possibility either. After all if doubt was cast on her deceased status that might put Kakashi in danger, depending on whether or not he'd acted with Tsunade's blessing. Danzo wouldn't touch him but the Godaime could throw him in a deep, dark hole if she wanted to.

It was a good thing that the time on the run had caused Chikako's appearance to sharpen, making her seem harder and older. She'd lost what little fat she'd had and was more wiry now, a little taller too. Her cheeks had lost a lot of the baby fat she'd managed to gain back after being freed from Orochimaru's lab. She didn't look as bad as she had then, but different enough that seeing herself in a mirror was always a little odd. As if it took her brain a moment to realize that the person looking back was her and not some stranger.

Her hair had grown longer as well and she contemplated cutting it to change her appearance even further, but then decided against it. Long hair had annoyed Orochimaru, which was a little hypocritical in her opinion. The snake hadn't liked it when it got in the way though and so whenever the hair of one of his subjects got to about shoulder length he'd shorn it off completely.

It wasn't something she remembered fondly and so one of the first things she'd decided, after Ibiki had made clear she was actually allowed to voice an opinion on the matter, was that she'd grow her hair out. Chikako did keep it in a tight braid though because as much as admitting so annoyed her, hair blowing into her face or getting tangled in things was incredibly irritating.

Usually she opted for a simple ponytail because that was faster, but Temari had shown her how to work wire into the braid. Having an extra weapon at her disposal seemed worth the additional effort. Apparently hair was one of the things people tended to discount when searching for weapons on a person.

Chikako had told the Sand Siblings that she wouldn't be staying long the very day they'd offered her safety. She had not, however, given an exact time frame. It wasn't that she didn't trust them because they'd certainly earned that by now, but rather one of the habits Ibiki had drilled into her. Not having that information wouldn't hurt them and if they didn't know something they couldn't share it with anyone else, willingly or otherwise.

She'd like to say that sneaking out in the middle of the night and only leaving a note on her bed instead of saying goodbye had the same reason, but she'd be lying. Both Temari and Kankuro had offered separately to help her hunt down Haido and his remaining followers and she just didn't think she could handle traveling with someone else, for a while at least. It would feel too much like replacing Sai.

Chikako had told them as much, but Temari could talk just about anyone into anything if she put her mind to it and Kankuro was incredibly persistent. She actually felt bad every time she turned them down and wasn't willing to risk changing her mind at the last second, thus the nightly escape.

Of course she should have known that, no matter how stealthy, there was no slipping past Gaara in the desert. Hiding her own presence had absolutely no effect when he could simply place a few grains of his sand on her. Anywhere else she would have noticed the trace of his chakra but in Suna just about everything felt at least a little like Gaara's chakra.

In theory every little grain of sand she passed could be a tiny spy. It wasn't like the things could report back or anything, but he could feel were they were. So if he planted some on a person he could keep track of them within a certain radius and if he spread them out he'd get an idea of movement in the area.

She had sensed him waiting for her at the gate and could have changed course, but there was really no point when they both knew where the other one was. Chikako contemplated simply outrunning him for about two seconds. She could easily do it, he wasn't an enemy though. Avoiding Temari and Kankuro the way she was already screamed juvenile. This would just be ridiculous.

"You can't leave," she told the redhead when she stopped next to him. He knew it too, otherwise he would no doubt have offered to come with her as well. Gaara was the jinchuriki though and Suna was especially vulnerable right now. If he left Wind at a time like this it would all but invite an attack from one of the other Hidden Villages.

Suna had already been on the weaker side when it came to economic and military power. Their failed attempt to invade Konoha hadn't done them any favors in either department and made them look foolish on top of that. Even now, many months later and with a new alliance in place they were still recovering and Haido's army of fanatics had done further damage.

An attack that had ended in defeat was one thing, but if Suna gained the reputation that they couldn't protect their own country from people that weren't even shinobi ... that might just spell the beginning of another war. There was absolutely no way Gaara could leave.

"I'm aware," he told her with a annoyed look that made her smile. "My siblings have prepared a farewell gift for you. I thought it better you know in advance, even if you are sneaking out on them."

"Sorry?" She asked, sheepishly. The expression did nothing to placate Gaara in the least, but he held the present out to her anyway.

A little book. Freshly printed if the smell of ink was any indication. The page he'd opened it to didn't have a picture but she immediately knew that it was a Bingo Book entry.

An up to date Bingo Book would have been a fantastic present all on it's own. This particular one though had a wide grin spreading across her face. The entry described her appearance, especially the tattoos, in detail, but made no mention of her weapons or abilities. On the top it featured the name Wraith and below that in a smaller, bold font stood the word 'Ally'. No limitation of any kind, just ally.

Bingo Books were generally used for three things. First, to provide information about strong shinobi from other villages; second, to put out bounties and third, to give standing orders. Kakashi for example was in every single one that had been printed after the Third Shinobi World War. Only some actually put a price on his head though, and she'd seen at least one old entry about the Yondaime Hokage that read 'Flee on sight'.

What all of these things had in common was that they usually referred to current or potential enemies. Chikako had never even heard of a Bingo Book that declared someone an ally. It seemed incredibly silly, especially considering that neither her picture, actual name or even village of origin were mentioned.

Normally she would have thought it idiotic because with that description anyone could just pretend to be her, but over the past week many of Suna's shinobi had seen her fight Gaara. They would remember the girl that had traded blows with their jinchuriki and be able to recognize her later.

She'd been a little worried that someone would look into that, but a Bingo Book entry like this would draw far more attention. It would also divert curiosity from what she could actually do and where she came from. Those things paled against the fact that Suna had declared an unknown foreigner an ally in such a manner. Any spy worth their salt would be much more focused on finding out what this Wraith nobody had ever heard of before had done to get that status. She could almost hear the kinds of conspiracy theories intelligence operatives could spin from something this vague and seriously wondered how the siblings had managed to get the entry approved.

It would ensure shinobi from Wind would at worst not attack her and at best render aid if necessary. It would also make anyone else wary of what she might be able to do, which could give her quite an advantage. Overestimating an enemy was just as dangerous as underestimating one. And last, but not least, it was a genius prank.

Ibiki would have an absolute field day tasking the newbies in intelligence with analyzing the entry and then he'd play mind games with them until they were afraid of their own shadows because the Wraith might lurk there. Or maybe he wouldn't. It really depended on whether or not Shikamaru told him that he'd seen her in Wind.

"Who came up with the name?" Chikako asked, trying and failing to stifle her laughter.

"Kankuro thought it was funny because of the way you tend to disappear," Gaara told her with a deadpan look.


	32. IX - Blood for Blood

**A/N:**

 _Scarease & sukondis_  
Thank you.

. . .

 **IX - Blood for Blood**

The trail Haido and his soldiers had left behind them was like an oily film of alien chakra. A little disconcerting, but also very obvious and easy to follow. The mostly straight line lead north-west, past Suna, cutting straight through the desert. Chikako followed almost exactly in their path, only deviating from it to avoid being seen by anyone.

She didn't mind wandering through Wind's sand ocean again. After all she'd had more than enough practice surviving in the unfriendly environment. For Haido though it seemed like an incredibly stupid decision. He was in robes, but the two female soldiers had to lug heavy armor around that would behave like ovens during the day. They also didn't have any supplies as far as she knew. At the very least they should have stayed close to the few rivers along Wind's border.

As long as they ended up dead Chikako didn't really care how it happened, but it was always better to understand the enemy. Haido had know about the Stone of Gelel when no one else in Wind had any idea it existed. It wasn't out of the question that there might be other artifacts hidden in the desert and the way he maintained his initial direction suggested that he was heading for something specific and not just running away.

As an ally of Sunagakure Chikako should, in theory, be allowed to travel wherever she pleased within the country. In praxis however patrols would stop and question her, provided they didn't just outright attack. Then they'd question the validity of the Bingo Book entry and sent word back to the village for confirmation. It would take at least a few days until the new version was in circulation and a few more until people realized that it wasn't a misprint. Even then the entry was so unusual that some might suspect she was trying to trick them. In other words, there was really no point wasting time on bureaucracy when she didn't have to.

Not to mention that she intended to live up to the name Kankuro had given her. If she wanted to use the reputation of being the Wraith to her advantage at some point, she had to cultivate it first. In this particular case that meant vanishing from Wind without a trace. A lot of shinobi were gossips and they liked to embellish tales. They'd make her into something fearsome all on their own. All Chikako had to do was give them a little direction and then not fuck up by letting a measly patrol catch her.

Staying out of sight was made especially easy by the fact that Haido's group hadn't followed any road. Instead it looked like someone had taken a map, drawn a line from their start to their destination as the crow flies and decided that was good enough. Of course it was more likely that they too wanted to avoid discovery. Wind barely had any geographical features that would force someone to change course, otherwise, Chikako suspected, the path wouldn't have been quite so obvious.

She wondered were exactly they were going though. They clearly hadn't tried to make following them hard, so they'd either thought nobody would come after them or they'd decided to sacrifice stealth for speed.

Then again they might just have thought the constantly shifting sands would hide their trail, and, well they did, but no tracker worth their salt would be deterred by something like that. Shinobi could find their prey using a number of things and visual clues, while nice, weren't vital.

Of course most, including Chikako under normal circumstances, wouldn't have been able to pick up a two week old trail. Smell and chakra would have long faded, but the taint of the Gelel energy was only now starting to dissipate. Or rather it vanished as fast as chakra normally did, but even faintest traces were much easier to pick out because it was just so different.

It was comparable to a line of coal on white paper. You could smudge the thing all you wanted to make it less visible, but the paper would never be completely white again and the place were the line had first been drawn would always be slightly indented.

At some point Chikako wouldn't be able to tell the difference anymore, but she suspected that would take at least another two weeks, possibly more.

Haido and his people had already proven that they weren't familiar with shinobi or the way the continent had changed after their ancestors had left though. It was very likely that they couldn't even guess at any of that and weren't aware of the political climate either. All they seemed to care about at the moment was getting out of Wind and since their ships had been destroyed they needed to do it by land. But why would they go north-west?

As far as anyone knew Haido's people had come from the south. Chikako would have expected them to follow Wind's southern border in either direction. They could have stolen another ship, secured passage on one or maybe even tried to build a new vessel to go back home.

Was heading north simply an attempt to lose trackers?

All Chikkao had seen of their abilities suggested they were purely offensive. They wouldn't know that shinobi had specializations that revolved purely around finding and eliminating targets. The heavy armors and their general fighting style also suggested direct and open confrontation. It was entirely possible that they had no equivalent for Hunter-nin and therefore wouldn't know what to expect.

So far they had been the aggressors in all of their interactions with shinobi and from what Gaara had told her they'd come out on top more often than not before he'd gotten involved. Regular patrols simply weren't equipped to deal with seemingly immortal tin cans. At least not the ones in Wind. Earth shinobi probably would have had an easier time.

They could have crushed the puppet soldiers under a landslide or simply have the ground devour them. Earth also tended to favor quantity over quality. They let even genin patrol, but their teams usually were at least twice as large as common for villages like Konoha and Suna. Of course Iwa could afford that only because not only was their population the second largest of the major Hidden Villages, only behind Konoha, they also shared the position of having the biggest military with Kumo. In addition to that Iwa was surrounded by rocky mountain ranges that acted as a natural stronghold and allowed them to focus their attention outward, instead of having to worry about their defense too much.

Things would have been all around more pleasant if Haido had had the decency to invade Earth instead. As it was however he wouldn't even travel through the country now. If the group maintained it's current course it would either stop before reaching Earth or pass it on the western side, which most likely meant they weren't going to run into any trouble and Chikako had to take care of them herself.

She was mostly just glad that at least the puppet soldiers had been turned back. This way she'd only be dealing with the to female lieutenants and Haido himself. They could all transform, which would be a problem if Chikako couldn't take them by surprise, but it was still better than having to fight a small army.

She was a little mad that Gaara had allowed them to leave in the first place, but he'd understandably had more pressing concerns at the time. Like keeping her, his brother and Shikamaru's team alive. The idiot had even tried to apologize for not being able to save Sai as well. So had Kankuro for that matter.

Of course when she'd told them they were being stupid and that there was nothing they could have done they'd promptly turned the tables on her. She was half convinced that at least the puppeteer's apology had been a trap to verbally maneuver her into exactly that position. Then he'd made an incredibly bad joke and she hadn't been sure anymore if she wanted to give him that much credit. Kankuro was either a genius in disguise or a moron with good instincts. She just couldn't tell which.

There was one good thing about having to track Haido down though, she could track Haido down.

It gave her something to channel her grief and that persistent feeling of helplessness into. If Gaara had already dispatched of the soldier that had torn out Sai's throat Chikako wouldn't have known what to do with herself. This at least gave her a task to focus on.

She'd thought about shooting them with Sai's arrows, but, after reminding herself several times that she wasn't Sauke, decided against it. These kills didn't need symbolism. She wasn't trying to make a point. Chikako would hunt her targets down and she'd kill them as quickly and cleanly as she could.

She wanted them dead, but there was no need for dramatic gestures of any kind. Torturing them or making grand speeches wouldn't bring Sai back. All it would do was put Chikako in more danger and give her prey a chance to escape.

She wasn't Sauke. She wouldn't fly into a murderous rage and disregard logic for the sake of vengeance. Her revenge would be cold and calculated.

. . .

Chikako had followed Haido's group out of Wind, through Fang and Mountain and finally into Bear. She was fast and only ever rested to eat or sleep, but they'd had a two week head start and were either afraid or disciplined enough to cover great distances quickly.

Without the Gelel Stone's tainted energy, finding them would have been a lot harder, but as it was all Chikako had to do was catch up. And she finally had.

The little group was camped several kilometers outside of Hoshigakure. It had significantly shrunken in size since she'd last seen it though. Of the more than two dozen former puppet soldiers only ten were left and they looked half starved.

Chikako wondered what had happened to the others. The trail had never split so they couldn't have left the group to head somewhere else, but they were clearly missing now. Their energy was still there too, which was decidedly odd. If she hadn't known better she would have assumed they had an ability that allowed them to turn invisible. That couldn't be the case though or Chikako would have been able to pick out more than the thirteen individual chakra signatures that she could feel.

The whole thing puzzled her enough that she decided to watch them for a while before she made her move. She would have done that anyway to plan the best course of action, but now she did it from much closer than she normally would have.

The things she saw and heard during the next few hours were disgusting. If she hadn't wanted Haido dead before she most definitely would have after observing his group.

Chikako had always meant to merely kill the priest and his two resurrected lieutenants, but she would have had no qualms about taking the former puppet soldiers out as well had they gotten in the way, or even just as a distraction. After all, they had chosen to follow the man and willfully ignored his insanity and all that he was willing to sacrifice in the name of power.

Or at least that was what she'd thought. Maybe it had even been true at some point, but it certainly wasn't now. These people were still naked, after weeks on the run. They were dirty, half starved and their feet, covered in blistered, were so crusted over with blood and grime that the skin wasn't even visible anymore. Some could barely walk and they were all terrified out of their minds.

It seemed none of them had been fighters before they'd been transformed into mindless soldier puppets. They were completely dependent on Haido for their survival and that man fed on power. He also didn't mind in the least whether he got it through respect or terror.

Some of the former puppets showed clear signs of having been beaten. Chikako assumed those were the ones that had tried to run away. Now all they did was cower and stare at the ground while Haido waxed about some ancient power. Neither as old nor as strong as what had slumbered in the temple of their ancestors, but it would have to do for now, or so he said.

It didn't take Chikako long to figure out that he was talking about Hoshigakure's fallen star. The village was tiny and had only a few shinobi. It was also famous for it's chakra-enhancing meteorite. Someone tried to steal the thing at least once a year, but so far the Village Hidden in the Stars had been able to defend it's treasure.

It wasn't too surprising that Haido would have heard about it. After all he'd come here looking for something very similar, albeit much more powerful. As far as she knew no shinobi had ever heard of the Stone of Gelel before the invaders had arrived in Wind, but if someone asked about a stone that granted energy most would have pointed to Hoshi's meteorite.

As the mad priest talked, the woman in turquoise armor prepared a fire for the night and the one in dark blue watched over the group of naked people. They didn't carry packs of any kind and it didn't seem like they were going to hunt either, which was bad because Chikako had wanted to take them out one by one. It also didn't make a lick of sense. There was more than enough game in these woods that catching something shouldn't be a problem.

They needed to eat something and - her eyes widened in shock. They hadn't moved along the roads and only come across one village so far. Their trail had never, at any point, split up, which meant none of them had ever left the group to go hunting. They weren't carrying food. There were sixteen people missing from this group. Sixteen people whose energy was still there.

Chikako's disturbing suspicion was confirmed only a short while later. The crying started as soon as Haido declared it was time for dinner. She had thought the former puppet soldiers had been cowering before, now they were practically curling in on themselves, wailing and pleading.

Nobody tried to run though when the woman in blue advanced. She pulled her sword, picked one of the group at random and then slashed the man open from shoulder to hip. He fell to the ground with a dull thumping noise and as his blood died the grass beneath him red the rest of the group slowly calmed down. Once he stopped twitching the woman dragged him back to the fire were the other one took over, undressing the corpse, cutting it up and then starting to roast the pieces.

The smell of juicy meat filled the clearing they had chosen to rest in soon after. Chikako knew objectively that it was just that, meat, and thus had no reason to smell like anything else. The fact that she actually thought the scent was delicious made her want to be sick anyway. Those were humans eating other humans for no better reason than it was convenient. In the desert coming by food would have been hard and she knew that desperate people were capable of all sorts of atrocities, but this was pure madness.

They could have hunted something in the woods. Even if none of them knew how, the woman in blue was fast enough that she could killed any forest creature as easily as she had the man.

But she wasn't quiet was she?

The armor made quite a bit of noises when she moved and so far none of Haido's people had displayed any capacity for subtlety or stealth. Maybe cannibalism really was their best choice if they wanted to reach their goal was soon as possible. It still revolted Chikako on an instinctive level.

It got even worse though because malnourished as they looked, the former puppet soldiers had to have eaten something in the past few weeks or they would have collapsed by now. Haido wasn't only keeping them around as livestock for himself and his two lieutenants, he was making them eat each other as well.

And Chikako watched it all because no matter how badly she wanted to, she couldn't just storm in there. Both Haido and the woman in dark blue were faster than her when they transformed and the other one could fly. Fighting them one on one would be hard enough, three on one wasn't an option.

 _You're not Sasuke_ , she thought, trying to clamp down on the rage that threatened to overwhelm her. _Not Naruto either._

She had neither massive chakra reserves nor fancy eyes, the power of a Tailed Beast or even just techniques that could rip apart stone. Chikako wasn't a flashy in-your-face front-line fighter. She was stealth and speed and lethal accuracy. She wasn't a brawler like the boys, she was an assassin.

. . .

Watch for the night wasn't discussed, so they likely always had the same pattern. Which was good for Chikako because patterns made people careless, after all it was always the same, no need to pay special attention to anything. Turquoise had first watch and by the faint bruising under her eyes Chikako would bet that Blue took second and there was no third. Haido would be too proud and arrogant to take a shift himself. She was also sure that they slept seven to eight hours each night, which made the shortest shift three and a half hours long.

Once everyone had gone to sleep Chikako sat down and waited. She'd moved around before to stay out of sight, secure in the knowledge that any sound she made would be drowned out by the other people. Now being quiet was more important. She could always use Camouflage if it seemed like Turquoise might discover her.

The woman never did though. She barely even looked around the place. After three full hours she'd yawned seven times and her eyes stayed close a little longer than they should whenever she blinked. Blue, who had laid down on the other side of the clearing, was a little restless in her sleep, but not so much that Chikako worried she might wake up before the next half hour was over.

She slowly stood up, taking care to silently stretch so her muscles wouldn't cramp. Then she let Camouflage flow over her like a blanket, pulled her wakizashi from the pocket dimension she kept it in and walked up to the woman on watch.

There was an odd little tremble in her hands that actually forced her to stop halfway to her target and take a few deep breaths in order to calm herself. She'd killed before, more than once. She'd even murdered people that had no idea they were about to die. The only difference now was that this would be an outright execution.

Usually her own life was on the line. Even when she'd snuck up on opponents before, that was exactly what they were. People that wanted her dead. This time she'd pursued a group whose members had undoubtedly been enemies before, but only by circumstance. They'd never cared about Chikako one way or another and only fought her in the first place because she'd placed herself int heir path.

Should that really make that much of a difference?

She briefly closed her eyes, making sure her heartbeat was back under control. Once her breath had evened out and the muscles in her hands relaxed she continued. Chikako took position behind the woman in blue, poured chakra into her blade and swung.

There was absolutely no sound as steel glided through flesh and bone like butter. Less than a second later Turquoise had once again lost her head and Chikako had to hurriedly put her blade away again so she could catch both parts of the beheaded corpse before they hit the ground and alerted someone to her presence.

If her chakra had a lightning or fire nature the wound would have been cauterized and she could have laid the corpse down as if it was only sleeping, in case someone woke early. As it was there was a lot of blood, so that wasn't really an option. She didn't bother arranging head or body, merely made sure there was no sound when she placed them on the ground.

Haido became her next victim. As the most rested of the group he was also the most likely to be disturbed if she made any noise and Chikako really didn't want to deal with his weird energy bolts. She still remembered the backlash when she'd struck Temujin's armor with her chakra. Haido's attack on the other hand had ripped right through the material. Chikako wasn't particularly interested in finding out whether or not her barrier would be able to hold something like that off.

She took her time walking over to him, careful not to make any sound. Once she reached him though her movements were just as fast and precise as they had been with the female soldier before. His head was easily separated from the rest of him, but of course one of the former puppets just had to have a nightmare. An old woman that, out of nowhere, started to screech bloody murder, almost giving Chikako a heart attack and waking Blue.

Chikako jumped at her last target the instant she'd recovered, Camouflage still in place. She could hold the technique for a few more seconds, just enough time for a surprise attack before her opponent had fully realized what was going on. She wasn't close enough to use her wakizashi, but the handful of shuriken she threw at the soldier's head made for a good distraction as they seemingly materialized out of thin air.

As soon as Blue's eyes fixated on them Chikako used a Body Flicker to land behind the woman. Her Camouflage broke with the sudden movement, but she was already in position. Blue actually managed to whirl around half-way before cold steel bit into her neck. Her muscles slackened and she let got of the sword she'd managed to draw before it made contact with Chikako's side.

This last beheading wasn't nearly as clean as the other two had been, but dead was dead. To make sure they stayed that way this time Chikako rid them of their armors and threw the bodies onto their campfire.

Meanwhile former pupped soldiers had all woken up and were watching her witch a mixture of fear and hope in their eyes. Grateful to the stranger that had saved them and wary that they might end up blood corpses after all. Chikako ignored them while she worked. Innocent or not, they weren't her problem and she wouldn't be responsible for them. They were free now and that had to be good enough.

"There's a village north of here. Approach slowly and ask the first person you come across for help," she said when one of them walked towards her. He didn't stop moving and so she used another Body Flicker to vanish into the trees.

Chikako had no idea whether his intention had been to hug or attack her and it didn't matter. They hadn't been in control of their actions during the invasion, so she wouldn't kill them. That didn't mean she had to care for them though. Right now they weren't a danger to anyone and if they did as she'd told them to they might reach Hoshi were they could start a new live.

It wasn't much of a second chance, but it was all she was willing to give them.

It took almost another hour before they felt safe enough to leave. Chikako stayed behind, watching the flames devour the bodies of Haido and his two lieutenants. The smell of charring flesh was burning her nose, but she couldn't leave until she was certain that there was nothing left.

She didn't feel any lighter afterwards.

They were dead, but so was Sai.

She hoped Sasuke would realize that revenge wouldn't make him feel any better either before he found out first hand. Chikako had already known of course and it still hadn't stopped her from going after Sai's killers, but then revenge wasn't her whole purpose in life. She'd killed them because it needed to be done. Blood for blood, nothing more and nothing less. She hadn't even hated them. They'd merely been soldiers on the opposite side of a conflict.

Chikako had slain Temujin, Blue, whose name she'd never even learned, had killed Sai and now Chikako had taken the rest of them out and ended the conflict for good. It was over and done with. She'd remember Sai for the rest of her life, but Haido and his people were now the past and soon enough they'd fade into oblivion.

With Sasuke things were different. The great beast he wanted to slay was his brother, a major part of his life. He loved Itachi at least as much as he hated him and if he did somehow manage to kill his brother he'd kill a part of himself as well.

. . .

Chikako had moved a few kilometers to the east after the fire had burned out. There she'd found a tall tree and lain down in it's upper branches for the night. It hadn't been especially comfortable, but hid her well and an elevated vantage point was always nice in case someone unfriendly came by.

She woke suddenly a few hours after dawn, but remained completely motionless. This was something Sai had taught her. Awareness of one's surroundings even in sleep. ROOT operatives needed to have the skill because they were often send out on their own and even the best shinobi needed rest at some point. It had been an incredibly annoying ability in Suna because her heightened sense of chakra meant that even someone on a midnight stroll several streets from where she slept might wake her, but out here it was invaluable.

She couldn't immediately tell what had alerted her, which likely meant someone had used chakra in her range, but they weren't close enough yet that she could sense them otherwise. So she crouched in her tree and waited.

It took three more minutes before she could make out four very familiar signatures. Hinata, Shino, Kiba and their sensei Kurenai. They were headed straight for Hoshigakure and Chikako almost bolted. Their path would lead them right past her. She was absolutely sure that the latter two wouldn't notice her and the only way Shino's Kikaichu could find her was if they accidentally bumped into her. Hinata was a different matter though.

Chikako could blend her chakra into that of the environment to the point that nobody could feel the difference, but the Byakugan allowed it's wielder to see chakra.

As far as Chikako was aware there was no way to visually hide pathways. Her presence wouldn't be immediately obvious, but if Hinata knew what to look for or just happened to focus on her general position the other girl would without a doubt know that there was someone there.

If it weren't for Kurenai Chikako might just have decided to go say hello, but the jonin had already accused her of treason once. This time she would even be technically right since Chikako had defected. The woman would be well within her rights to attack with lethal force and there was no way that would end well.

Chikako had just decided to move on a perpendicular path to the Konoha team to get out of their range as soon as possible, when she noticed a fifth signature following them at a distance. It was muted, not to the point that she would have trouble picking it out, but non-sensor type shinobi wouldn't be able to feel it at all until the person was right next to them.

A single shinobi meant it wasn't a patrol and not an ambush either. A scout from Hoshi would have been in front and not behind them. The two closest countries with Hidden Villages were Earth and Mountain, but there was no reason for either of them to trail a Konoha team into Bear. If whoever it was wanted to interfere with them in any way they could have done so long before they'd ever gotten this far. The same was true for any other shinobi country on the way.

The Konoha team had come from the south, which meant Mountain. They'd likely traveled through River and Wind, but they'd most definitely had to travel through Fang and that land had no ninja of it's own. It was the perfect place to make trouble because the chance of outside interference was practically nill.

Whoever shadowed Hinata's team seemed perfectly content to just follow them though. It could be a nukenin, but to Chikako this reeked of Danzo. He'd jump at the chance to get someone into Hoshigakure to take a look at their meteorite. Of course he could have sent someone any time he felt like it, but it was easier to hide when the hosts were already busy keeping an eye on four foreigners. They'd also make for good scapegoats if the spy did anything that was discovered.

Not to mention that Hinata, Kiba and Shino were all heirs of prominent clans, only protected by a relatively inexperienced jonin. Hinata was also one of the few Hyuga whose Byakugan wasn't protected by the barbaric Caged Bird Seal. If Danzo wanted to get his hooks into any of them this was the place. Far from home, with no allies in easy reach and close enough to Earth that Iwagakure could be blamed should the need arise.

Sending three valuable and barely protected genin out like this could mean a few things. Konoha might not have been able to afford turning this mission down and Team 8 had been the best of bad options. Tsunade might be an idiot and Kurenai was so confident in herself or her team that she hadn't objected. Hoshi might have specifically asked one of Team 8's members or even the whole team. Whatever mission they were on might need three different brands of highly specialized trackers.

It would have made for a great trap too, if Tsunade had wanted to lure Danzo. The lack of other shinobi in the area clearly disproved the last one and Chikako wasn't really sure which of the other options she preferred. She'd really rather the new Hokage wasn't a moron though.

In any case. At least now she knew what she'd do next, that was something.

Hinata could see quite a bit farther than Chikako could sense, but the more distance was between them the less likely it was the other girl would notice her if she did happen to use her Byakugan. Accordingly Chikako kept to her perpendicular course until both the Konoha team and it's shadow had passed her, then she circled around behind them.

The shadow had to be some kind of tracker judging by the distance he was following at. Not that it mattered. Kakashi and the Hyuga were the only one's from Konoha she was worried about and she would have been able to tell if it had been either of those.

Hunting Haido and his two lieutenants down had been something that needed to be done. This though, she would probably enjoy a lot more. Chikako really hoped the tail was indeed one of Danzo's. She didn't want any of her friends in danger, but the idea of being able to throw a wrench into the councilman's plans greatly appealed to her.


	33. IX - Hunting the Hunter

**A/N:**

 _Scarease_

I'm afraid it's not quite that easy.

. . .

 **IX - Hunting the Hunter**

No matter whether the person following Hinata's team was one of Danzo's or not, Chikako had to catch him alive if she wanted information. Sneaking up on him and simply killing him would be a lot easier and safer, but if she was wrong about his purpose she might do more harm than good by taking him out. Even if she wasn't, if he didn't have one of the seals on his tongue that the councilman used to silence his operatives, that meant there was another player in the game.

If she were certain that the tail belonged to Danzo assassination would have been her first choice. After all ROOT operatives couldn't talk, even if they wanted to, so there wasn't much point interrogation them. As it was however she couldn't risk throwing away information and unless he had a little notebook with his orders on his person she'd need the tracker alive to get it. Pity she couldn't sense the stupid silencing seal unless it activated, that might have saved her some trouble.

Now, how best to go about it?

The only way to ambush her target would be to get in front of him, but that would put her too close to Hinata. Same for sticking around until they reached Hoshigakure. Chikako would rather get this done before then, preferably without alerting the Konoha team to her presence.

An attack from behind then.

If she wounded him badly, without striking a lethal blow, she might be able to overpower him. That was a dangerous tactic though. If the wound wasn't bad enough she'd have a fight on her hands and there was no telling how that would go. She knew almost nothing about her target and there was no time to watch and learn. She'd have to interfere if he attacked Hinata's team and then she'd likely have to make an escape to avoid a confrontation with Kurenai. And if she let him continue she'd risk discovery which would end pretty much the same.

Then there was the possibility that she accidentally killed him. Lethal force was easy, one just had to strike at vital organs until the opponent stopped moving. If she hit him with a chakra fueled blow it would shred his innards. An attack like that to the head or body would kill him, maybe not instantly, but soon enough. And if he had no chance to get out alive there was no reason for him to talk, seal or no seal. If she took out one of his limbs though he'd only be crippled, which would put her in danger.

Her other weapons were chakra claws, shuriken, kunai and her wakizashi, all of which could easily cut an artery or damage an organ by accident. That left senbon, hardly any use without poison, unless one had Haku's Hunter-nin knowledge and accuracy, which she didn't. Her skill set really wasn't meant for this kind of thing.

If Sai were here - No. He wasn't. She was on her own and she needed to get used to that. No Sai, no Jiro, just Chikako. She could do this, she just needed to figure out how.

Had it been a different team she might have decided that going after the tracker wasn't worth it, but she couldn't just leave Hinata to her fate and hope for the best. Chikako's left hand went to the shogi piece that hung between her collar bones and her eyes slid to the wrist of the other hand, where a small inked owl stared back at her. She could to this. And if she couldn't she'd just have to make sure to go down kicking and screaming so the others had some warning.

This would be so much easier without Kurenai. Would the woman believe a word Chikako said if she just walked up to the Konoha team and alerted them to their tail? The boys probably would, definitely Hinata. If the jonin was stubborn though Chikako would either have to fight or flee, putting the other three at risk.

Literally any other jonin would have been fine. Kakashi, Gai and Asuma or someone from T&I might have even helped her with the stupid tracker. Then again, they might have also attacked her on sight. There was probably a rule about how to deal with presumed dead defectors if they showed up. Taking them into custody most likely.

So, not literally any other jonin. Kakashi though. Kakashi would have been wonderful. Unless he made her fight him again. She could do without that, but her seinsei would have noticed the tail so this situation either would have never come about or he'd have to play a role again to fool the observer.

Maybe Kurenai's presence was lucky after all. The woman specialized in genjutsu, to the point of being considered a master, but wasn't particularly skilled in any other discipline. If it did come to a fight Chikako at least had a good chance of winning or getting away uninjured.

Attacking the tracker and hoping for the best could be Plan B and warning the Konoha team, either directly or by making sure the confrontation drew attention, was Plan C. She still needed a Plan A though.

Chikako was fairly certain she could sneak up on the guy undetected. Then what?

Cutting the Achilles tendons wasn't lethal and would ensure that he couldn't run away, but it wouldn't keep him from using jutsu. She'd also have to get both at the same time or he might dodge the second strike.

Chikako shoved a hand through her hair, threading her fingers into her braid at the back of her head. A frustrated growl escaped when her thumb caught on metal, and the she stopped. The wire. She had some in her weapons pouch as well, but she'd only ever really used it as a tool for trap making and the like. Sasuke was the only shinobi she knew who actually fought with it on a semi regular basis. For most everyone else it was more of a gimmick.

Her strengths were speed and stealth though. If she did it right she could use the wire as a garrote. Cutting of the brain's oxygen by compressing the carotid arteries would lead to unconsciousness within fifteen seconds. Not ideal, but it certainly beat her other plans.

Mind made up she made sure that the wire was easily accessible and then started closing the distance to her target. Her progress was slow and she took special care not to make any noises. This guy, unlike Haido's people, was a trained shinobi. She couldn't tell how good he was, but he could definitely read tracks and anyone who could hunt was generally also good at detecting when they were hunted.

She didn't think he actually had much of a chance to notice her, at least not until she was within close proximity, but underestimating him would be a lot more dangerous than overestimating him. So she operated by a better safe than sorry policy for now.

. . .

It took fifteen minutes or so until Chikako was within a hundred meters of her target. So far she'd made sure to stay out of sight and within the long shadows the trees threw in the early morning sun. If she got any closer though that would be too risky. Not that he'd ever actually looked around, but there was no point in taking a chance when she could go invisible.

At the speed they were moving at holding Camouflage in place perfectly would be difficult. She'd likely end up with a headache and the jutsu might still break if she had to use a Body Flicker. If it came to that though being visible would be the least of her problems.

By now she could tell that her target was indeed a man. An adult, but luckily not so much taller that it would complicate getting the wire around his neck.

His chakra hadn't changed once since she'd started following him. That meant he had excellent control. It also meant he likely had no idea she was there. She would have been able to pick up at least a tiny spike if he'd been surprised, worried or even excited at any point.

If he was really ROOT he would have been trained not to show any emotions, but some things were instinctive. Surprise for one was generally hard to hide and that was doubly true for the effect it had on the chakra system. The body tended to react to stress, no matter what the mind had to say about that. Imminent danger, for example because the hunter had discovered that he'd become someone else's prey, was definitely a cause for stress.

No reaction either meant Chikako was perfectly safe because she hadn't been discovered or she was in deep, deep shit because her target was so much better than her that she couldn't even tell. Time to throw the better safe than sorry policy out the window.

She advanced as quickly as she could while staying silent and not using a Body Flicker. She couldn't completely hide the chakra expenditure of the latter. This close and with no one else around that would alert him to her presence, sensor type or not.

Chikako had thought about using the branches above him to get closer and then let herself fall on top of him, but she'd be helpless in midair. Instead she matched her movements to his and used as much chakra as she could mask to lengthen her jumps and close the distance. As soon as she was only a few branches behind him waited half a second longer to jump and pulled out the wire.

He landed before she did, but with the way she'd timed it he hadn't yet moved on when her knees crashed into his back. Chikako's arms went over his head, looping the wire around his neck and then she pulled, cutting off his air.

She'd have to pull crosswise as well because the carotid arteries were more to the sides of the throat and if she didn't get those choking him until he was unconscious would take a lot longer than fifteen seconds. First she'd have to break their fall though. She'd hoped he'd simply land on the branch, but apparently the idiot was clumsy.

He'd taken a step forward when her knees had impacted with his back. Only there hadn't been anything there so their next stop would be the ground several meters below. Chikako gathered chakra in her legs, winding them around his waist so her feet would hit the ground first. That way she'd be able to absorb some of the kinetic energy, hopefully making sure her target didn't end up dead after all.

The tracker wasn't playing along though. He grabbed her right leg and jerked it forward. The sudden change in weight distribution almost flipped them over. Wire cut into her hand and she had to let go or risk killing him. The bastard had apparently figured out that she didn't want that and was now using it against her. Great.

When they landed she was next to him instead of on top of him, having opted to get some distance between them. Without wire around his neck staying close was too dangerous. He could easily overpower her physically and then she'd have to use lethal attacks to get away.

There was some blood on his throat, but he didn't seem to care. His gray eyes were trained firmly on her, evaluating the threat. He looked neither angry nor scared and all she could read in his chakra was the typical excitement that came with the bodies fight or flight response.

He'd stopped masking his own chakra as soon as she'd attacked. It was about mid chunin level, but his calm demeanor and fast reaction spoke of a lot more experience. The shinobi with the best control were often those that had only a small chakra pool to work with. They naturally got better than average simply because there was no other option if they wanted to advance beyond genin.

Chikako was half tempted to ask him about ROOT or Danzo in hopes that his reaction would give him away. If he had the seal she could go all out and simply kill him. If he didn't though she'd still rather question him. The problem was that she couldn't just give information like that up. It was too valuable to risk him getting away with it. Not to mention that the tactic probably wouldn't work in any case.

And then, before she could decide what best to attack him with, he bolted. Just ran away without even throwing anything at her. The bastard was fast too. Chikako stood there, stunned into inaction, for a full second.

She tore after him as soon as she recovered. Two Body Flickers had her on his heels again, but of course he knew the technique as well. Most genin didn't because it required good chakra control and could be dangerous. Normal eyes couldn't keep up with the speed a Body Flicker allowed for, so not only could the user not change their path during the technique, they were also essentially moving blindly. That was why it was more common to use several short Body Flickers to cover distance instead of one long one.

The technique itself was only D-rank though. Most shinobi knew it and this one threaded it as flawlessly into his movements as Chikako did. At this rate they'd be playing cat and mouse until one of them was out of chakra.

She'd suspect him of leading her into some kind of trap because he hadn't tried to attack, but his path was completely straight. He'd just picked the direction that was away-from-her and now kept running that way because if he went left or right, even slightly, she'd gain ground. Unfortunately Chikako was pretty sure that direction was east, which meant they'd land in Earth sooner rather than later.

. . .

After almost two hours of running Chikako was more pissed off than tired. She'd have to thank Kakashi for that at some point. His tendency to let the dogs chase her around instead of teaching her something had at least been good for her stamina if nothing else.

Her target was finally slowing down. He hadn't used up his chakra yet, but if he forced his muscles to go on too long past their natural capacity he could cause irreversible damage. Not to mention that exhausting himself to that point was the same as rolling over and he clearly wasn't willing to give up just yet.

Good thing Chikako had never stopped masking her own chakra. He had no idea that she wasn't any better of than he was. In fact without occasionally turning around to look for her and the sound of impact whenever she landed on a branch he couldn't even tell that she was there at all.

They'd played games with that. She'd masked the sound of her landing with chakra a few times to throw him off because turning his head was risky at the speed they were going. It also made him lean and thus move slightly to one side.

Once she'd even used Camouflage in hopes he would stop if he could neither hear, nor see or sense her. No such luck though. She had to drop the jutsu soon after because it required too much chakra to waste. That alone gave away the fact that her reserves weren't limitless, but there was no way for him to be sure until one of them ran out.

It seemed he was done hope that it would be her though. The trees cleared a few meters in front of them and as soon as he was out in the open he used one last Body Flicker and then turned around.

Chikako stopped right at the treeline, grinning widely and keeping her stance as relaxed as she could in hopes of throwing him off further. He hadn't been wary before, but he was now and she had every intention of taking advantage.

"Finally decided you're done running scaredy cat?"

Her answer was and expression somewhere between blank and angry. The tracker didn't seem to be in the mood for games and instead of saying anything he threw a volley of shuriken at her. Chikako blocked them by doing exactly the same. Each of her shuriken hit one of his and threw them off course. It was a trick Itachi had taught her for when she couldn't dodge. He could also use it to change the path of his own projectiles and thus hit things around corners, but Chikako had never gotten the hang of that.

This time she could have easily stepped out of the way, but whether or not her target wanted to, she was playing games. According to Ibiki the best thing to do if you wanted to unnerve someone was 'not what they expect'. It sounded easier than it was.

The most unexpected thing would have been to let the shuriken hit her, but that would have put her at a severe disadvantage. Her chakra barrier might have surprised him, but that would have cost energy she couldn't afford to waste and given away one of her abilities whereas she would have learned nothing. Blocking projectiles with projectiles though was uncommon enough to be unexpected without any of the disadvantages of her other options.

The next thing Chikako did was throw the Hell Viewing genjutsu at him, followed by two kunai and a senbon in their shadow. It was an odd combination that made little sense. He barely blinked twice before the genjutsu was broken and easily sidestepped the kunai. The slight spike in his chakra told her he'd noticed the needle though and now probably though everything else had been to hide it.

When Chikako pulled her wakizashi out of it's pocket dimension, behind her back so he couldn't see that it appeared out of thin air, he took great care to avoid even getting nicked by the blade. She'd almost laughed out loud the first time he contorted weirdly to get out of the way. It seemed her little trick had worked and he was now under the impression that she used poisons.

The tracker already knew that she wanted him alive, but there were plenty of poisons that merely incapacitated their victims and the fact that she never struck at vital organs only bolstered his suspicion further. He didn't have the same compunctions about keeping her alive, but he barely ever found an opening to attack. Her form was good and he was mostly busy making sure not to get even the shallowest of cuts.

Whenever it seemed like he might land a blow she pulled out a senbon or two, which resulted in him aborting the attack to dodge. The plan was to hit him in the head once he was sufficiently distracted. It might give him a concussion which would make questioning harder, but at this point she was lucky if she got to question him at all.

Luck didn't seem to be on her side that day though. A group of six shinobi appeared on the edge of her range. Not only were they moving fast, they were headed straight for her and the tracker.

She let her wakizashi vanish, pulling her right hand back and as soon as his eyes strayed that way she used her left for a quick jab. Chikako could hear the crunch of cartilage as her fist collided with his nose, breaking it, but he barely even staggered backwards. He also didn't give her a chance to strike at his temple with her right.

She was about to cut her losses and make a run for it, leaving him to the patrol, when the ground opened up beneath them. The unexpected fall ended in a rough landing for both of them and then earth flooded in like water, keeping them in place.

There had only been a tiny trickle of chakra, not nearly enough for such a massive technique. When it had triggered the seal they'd apparently been fighting on had lit up though. Chikako really hated those fucking things, nobody but her should be allowed to use them.

"The treeline is right on the border to earth isn't it?" She grumbled at her unwilling companion. He gave her a blank look and remained stoically silent.

A seal like this that could be activated from as far away as the patrol still was seemed incredibly useful. If she hadn't known better she'd been willing to bet that it had given their location away as well, but that couldn't be true. A passive seal couldn't have done that and any active seal needed chakra.

Chikako really wondered how many of these things were along the border. On one hand it seemed like too much work to place and maintain them everywhere, but on the other it also seemed incredibly unlikely that they just happened to stand on one when a patrol came along. The six shinobi were still just distant figures, how could they even tell that their targets had been in exactly the right place to spring the trap?

She'd have to find out later. The first order of business now had to be getting away.

"Hey dipshit," Chikako called to the tracker, "how about a cease fire until we're free and clear?"

He opened his mouth, then his face went slack and she cursed. Whatever he'd been trying to say had activated a seal on the back of his tongue. Great. All this hassle and she wouldn't even get anything out of it.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you could have saved both of us if you'd done that earlier?" She asked him sourly, leaving out the fact that she'd have outright killed him. His eyes minutely widened at that, but he didn't react otherwise. Chikako threw a few more choice words his way while trying to wriggle out of the hardened earth. It was no use though. Without chakra she couldn't break it and if she used any the trap's seal absorbed it, transforming more of the ground into a rock-like substance.

There was really only one bright side to this whole shitty situation. The ROOT operative couldn't talk no matter what the earth shinobi did to him so she only had to worry about herself. He was fast, a good tracker and stealthy to boot, but not much of a fighter. It was likely his only job was to gather information. No matter what she though of Danzo's seal, it would make sure that his tools could neither accidentally nor intentionally endanger Konoha by talking.


	34. IX - Lie to Me

**A/N:**

 _TheOne320_

Thank you. Since the Yamanaka Clan's abilities aren't some big secret I'm assuming Danzo would have made sure that his seal has some kind of failsafe. Probably something like killing either the operative or the intruder or turning them into a vegetable. Otherwise that would be a really big oversight by all parties.

. . .

 **IX - Lie to Me**

They had knocked her out with tranquilizers. Approximately two-million of them. At least that was how it felt when Chikako woke up. Her head was pounding so badly that it took her a few minutes to even register her surroundings and the fact that she couldn't sense anything beyond herself.

There were shackles on her wrists and ankles binding them together. They were also connected to each other by a heavy chain. She couldn't even stand upright with the stupid thing because it wasn't quite long enough to allow for more than a hunched over posture, but at least she could move around freely in her cell. Her new, and hopefully temporary, living quarters looked like someone had just hewn a hole into rock and then slapped bars on the opening. There wasn't even a door. The Iwa nin probably had to use a jutsu to open the thing.

The bars themselves looked like simple iron though, or maybe steel. If she managed to call her wakizashi and pushed enough chakra through the blade she could probably cut them. Of course to even try that she'd need to be able to use chakra, which wasn't happening as long as she was wearing her chains.

There was a different model for high security that actually absorbed the chakra, but luckily these only acted as a block. The others were much more expensive, harder to come by because of the sealwork they required and if nobody checked up on the prisoner they could be deadly because people that lost every last drop of chakra tended to die soon after. Against people like Chikako or Naruto they were awfully useful though. Good thing she was apparently not considered particularly dangerous.

She might not be able to get her blade or manifest chakra claws, but she was still more or less immune to genjutsu as well as poisons and could accelerate her healing. Her captors had probably guessed at the poison thing because of the amount of tranquilizer they had to use on her, but she'd keep the other two hidden as long as possible.

As far as Chikako could tell she was the only prisoner in her corridor, wherever that was, but the ROOT operative had been captured as well so he had to be around somewhere. Unless they'd already killed him because he couldn't talk, but that seemed unlikely. Her hair was still braided, wire and all, so they probably hadn't found the seal on his tongue either. Sloppy that. For now he was nothing more than an uncooperative prisoner and as long that there was a chance he might break they'd keep him around to torture.

If Danzo had been a kind man he would have designed some part of his seal so that operatives could kill themselves. He wasn't kind though and his people weren't people to him, they were tools. They didn't get to keep their names and they didn't get to feel emotions or have opinions. At least that was how it had been with Sai, a boy that had been plucked form the street and molded into something else.

The tracker was older, he likely had a life outside of ROOT. Was that better or worse? His world was bigger, with dreams and friends and things to lose in it. He could take joy in hobbies if he so chose, but he had to constantly lie to everyone he knew about who and what he was. The only people he'd be able to talk to freely were Danzo and maybe, she wasn't sure about that, other ROOT operatives, neither of whom were very likely to care.

Chikako bit her cheek until blood flowed, then spit it onto the tattoo on her left arm and flooded the thing with chakra. It glowed for a moment, but then went back to being nothing more than a few black lines on her skin, just like any other time she'd tried.

Either Jiro had made a mistake when giving her the tattoo or it didn't work because she hadn't actually signed a contract. The thing was technically a seal and should only need chakra and blood, but she'd never heard of a summon that could be called without a contract. Which meant either her understanding of seals was worse than she'd thought or there was some special branch of seal she'd never heard of before.

Both possibilities seemed about equally likely. After all she could still only manage that one storage seal and not even the inked version. Actually, now that she thought about it, if she could flood the tattoo with chakra and make it react she probably could call her sword after all. She'd only have to created the seal under her skin so that she shackles wouldn't interfere, she'd likely slice her arm of or something equally unpleasant though. Still it was something to keep in mind as a last resort.

After a few more minutes of staring at the opposite wall footsteps alerted Chikako that she was no longer alone. It seemed wrong to her that she couldn't sense any outside chakra at all. As if the world had somehow been muted. How frightening nights must be for people that couldn't tell what was around them. She'd never really understood that some of the children in Orochimaru's lab were afraid of the dark. To Chikako it had often been a welcome escape. After all she could still feel the monsters, but they couldn't see her.

A moment later two figures came into view. One was the ROOT operative, bleeding badly and stumbling more than he was walking. The other was a beautiful young woman with coffee colored skin and bright blue eyes. The unusual combination somehow managed to be stunning and deeply unsettling at the same time. It would give her an instant advantage as an interrogator and Chikako had no doubt that she was good at her job.

Not that that mattered. The tracker couldn't have talked even had he wanted to and the woman was visibly angry that she hadn't been able to break him. She probably wasn't used to failing. If Chikako had wanted to die she'd use that against her. Make her angry enough that she lost her tempter and accidentally killed her prisoner. It was a good tactic when one wasn't sure they could protect their information or had no way out. The tracker would most likely take that route if he could manage.

Chikako wouldn't though. There were people waiting for her at home and Ibiki would be really fucking disappointed in her if she broke in an interrogation. Nobody could be friends with that man without learning at least a little bit about his specialization and he'd practically adopted her.

Between him and Orochimaru she probably knew everything there was to know about torture, mind games and the art of getting prisoners to spill their secrets. She didn't enjoy either side of it, but she wouldn't roll over and play nice like she had years ago. Despite his demeanor and looks, Ibiki was actually a nice man. Back when she'd been freed he had gently probed a frightened child for information and rewarded her when she'd told him what he'd wanted to know. This was different though. She was older now and she had more to protect than just herself. If that woman wanted to get anything out of Chikako she'd have to work for it.

After Babyblue - because that was her eye color and Chikako wasn't about to give her interrogator a scary name - had stuffed the ROOT operative into his cell she came over to get Chikako out of hers. The bars were apparently operated by a seal and not a jutsu like she'd first thought. It seemed foolish, considering that everyone could activate seals, but maybe they thought that wasn't an issue because of the chakra-suppressing shackles.

The iron, or steel, sunk into the rock without making any sound at all, the process was slow though. Another design flaw that made Chikako wonder how competent these people really were. Doors that were supposed to keep prisoners in should never be so slow that one had to wait several seconds for them to close.

Not that it mattered right now. Chikako was on her best behavior. She even managed a convincing smile and did exactly as Babyblue told her to. Her gate was a little awkward. The chain that bound her ankles together was so short that she could only shuffle and the one that ran vertically down her front had her bending over slightly.

At least the interrogator wasn't an asshole. The woman let her move slowly and look around all she wanted. There wasn't really anything to see except more rock, but it was still a nice gesture. It also meant she preferred easy over a challenge. The tracker's condition proved that Babyblue was more than capable of inflicting pain, but she probably thought of herself as smart and a master manipulator. The woman was wearing a tight dress, makeup and heels in a dungeon after all. There wasn't really a good reason for any of those unless she meant to seduce information out of the prisoners.

It was a relatively common tactic, but it was usually used in the field and before the subject knew what was going on. Ibiki had told her of stranger interrogators though. Apparently they all developed a certain routine over time and had a predilection for one tactic or other. He himself was especially fond of mind games and only very rarely laid a hand on his prisoners. The Yamanaka went a step further and directly dove into minds or played around with genjutsu, some, like Orochimaru, preferred drugs and there were always those that went for plain old physical pain.

Specializations like that made them particularly knowledgeable in one or two fields, but they also limited their thinking. According to Ibiki interrogation wasn't actually about getting someone to talk, it was more of a contest between the interrogator and the prisoner. The former had the advantage that they could do just about anything to break their subject and the latter had the advantage that only they knew for certain whether they were lying or telling the truth.

So Interrogators didn't only have to get their subject to talk, they had to make sure the information they got was reliable too. The prisoner on the other hand had to protect what they knew and, if they wanted to make an escape, at the same time stay interesting enough to be kept alive. In that way Danzo condemned his operatives to death the second they were captured. A prisoner that didn't talk was worthless and generally wouldn't be kept around long enough to give them a chance to get away. In some rare cases they could be traded, but most of the time a Hidden Village wouldn't even acknowledge that they were missing someone in the first place.

Chikako for her part was perfectly adequate at not talking and she didn't even need a seal to do it. The real trick wasn't to clamp her mouth shut though, after all she'd need some time to come up with an escape plan and that meant giving her captors just enough so that they kept her alive. Her challenge would be to make sure nobody could tell she was lying. And the easiest way to do that was not to lie.

It seemed counter intuitive. Chikako vividly remembered the smile on Ibiki's face when he'd explained it to her and she'd called him a moron. There had been way too many teeth. Of course the head of T&I had known what he was talking about and she'd been a cheeky brat.

There were tells when people lied. Some were more personalized, like a nervous tick, and others were more universal, like heart rate. A good liar could fake all of those to make it seem as if they were telling the truth when they weren't or the other way around. That required a lot of concentration though and one had to be consistent and give the same signals at all times. In a casual conversation that wasn't too hard, but when someone ripped your nails out whenever you gave an answer they didn't like it got a lot more complicated.

Accordingly the easiest thing to do was not lie. That way there were no tells that needed to be displayed or suppressed and without a baseline or anything to compare reactions to the interrogator had no way of knowing what was and wasn't truth unless they already knew the answers to their questions. They'd have to assume one of three things: either every last word was true, false or the prisoner was better than them any they simply couldn't tell. All of which worked against the interrogator if done right. After all not lying wasn't the same as being helpful.

Of course it wasn't quite as easy as it sounded because even though Chikako wasn't going to say anything false, she still had to make sure not to give important information away. Instead her weapons of choice would be literal, misleading or partial answers. Not wrong, but useless without context. So when Babyblue asked her for her name she told her: "No idea."

She didn't explain that she currently answered to Chikako or that Orochimaru had only started calling her that when he got tired of Number Seven. It had been some kind of reward in his eyes, an actual name. It wasn't hers though. To this day she had no idea what her parents had named her.

Babyblue knew none of that and was only tapping in the dark with her questions. This one had probably been meant as a starting point. Something easy she would have used to infer details and go on from there. Pity that all she'd gotten was a whole lot of nothing and without the other puzzle pieces she wouldn't know which topics were important and when to pry further. All she knew was that her two prisoners had fought each other on the border of Earth and that they were both shinobi without hitai-ate. Not very helpful.

Things went downhill from there. When questioned about her identity Chikako's answers essentially all amounted to shrugs. Her village? She didn't have one, no need to mention the 'anymore'. Her affiliation? Depended on who wanted to kill her at any given time. She didn't elaborate on the fact that she was loyal to her friends and not any village. If everyone she loved in Konoha left the place and decided they wanted to burn it down she'd help and if they wanted to defend dusty roads and old buildings until their dying breath then she'd do that. The kage really only mattered to her in so far as they were going to get in her way. Not that Chikako shared any of that with her lovely interrogator. The woman wasn't the least bit happy with her, but she kept to all of the basic questions as if there was some protocol that demanded she complete a questionnaire first. Which, considering everything else Chikako had seen so far, there very well could be.

So on and on they went. Chikako was especially proud of one answer she gave towards the end. Her team? Dead and gone. A very nice and easily misinterpreted phrase. Taken as a single statement it was a lie, but if one were to consider each half of the sentence individually it suddenly became truth. After all Sai, who had technically been her teammate, was dead, but everyone else was only gone, as in currently out of her reach.

Babyblue got angry pretty soon, but she didn't resort to violence until after one of the guards showed her the entry about Wraith from the Bingo Book they'd found on Chikako. There was a visible vein on the woman's forehead and the twitch of her jaw had Chikako laughing at her. She'd clearly thought that every word had been true so far, uninformative as it had been, but now she couldn't tell anymore. The Bingo Book entry made at least half of the answers seem like they had been lies, yet Chikako hadn't displayed a single tell.

Poor thing. So confused.

After playing nice had proven futile friendly smiles turned into scowls and physical pain became the order of business. Chikako made all the right noises, she even begged for mercy and squeezed out a few tears. The first two were easy enough. She'd seen them often and during her first year with the snake she'd even done them herself on a regular basis. The last was more difficult. It wasn't like she never cried. Frustration, stress or relief could bring tears to her eyes, but not pain.

Getting her nails torn out and each finger broken certainly hurt like a bitch, but it wasn't anywhere close to the worst she'd ever experienced. Orochimaru had never really bothered with anesthetics of any kind and so she'd been operated on more than once while fully awake. If it got really bad she'd passed out because her brain couldn't handle the pain, but that hadn't happened nearly as frequently as she would have liked in those days.

Pretending to be more affected by the torture than she actually was was a form of lying Chikako supposed, but it was necessary to ensure that Babyblue went slow. Broken bones Chikako could heal, but if someone decided to scoop her eye out or cut her tongue off matters were different. She wasn't sure if Naruto could grow back limbs and the like. Chikako certainly couldn't. Her own healing was only a sped up version of the bodies natural recovery process. Anything that wouldn't eventually heal on it's own she couldn't regenerate either. Besides that, pretending to be more affected by the torture than she actually was, was also less dangerous. The interrogator expected lies when she asked her questions, but when she inflicted pain passivity would have been far more suspicious. Normal people reacted in a myriad of ways that spanned everything from breaking down sobbing to going into shock or refusing to scream, but not having any reaction that went beyond reflexes and cursing wasn't all that common, especially for children.

Babyblue also seemed pretty comfortable with this kind of torture. She knew what she was doing and exactly how far she could go without doing permanent harm. If Chikako were to let her know how little she was affected the woman would have to switch to something else, something she was less adept at and that could get messy.

If someone tried using genjutsu or any other invasive jutsu on Chikako they would learn about her chakra. Then security would need to be tightened or she might end up as someone's guineapig. Her chances of getting out already mostly relied on one of the guards making a mistake or Babyblue slipping up and giving away valuable information, she didn't need them to be wary of her on top of that. Chikako was more than happy to remain a minor mystery that was ultimately of little consequence.

. . .

Chikako started talking to herself about a week in. She'd waited for an especially bad session and then timed her mutterings so that Babyblue could listen while she escorted the ROOT operative from his cell. Chikako couldn't see the woman, but the slight stutter in her steps told her all she needed to know.

Hook, line and sinker.

They'd hurt her more, ask her less and then have someone eavesdrop afterwards. Chikako really wished there was a way for her to show Ibiki memories of this. He'd fume that she got herself caught at all, then he'd fuss over all of her injuries and when that was done and he had made sure she wasn't likely to die he'd start a lecture on how incompetent Earth interrogators were. She really missed him.

Chikako had taken great care to set every broken bone after each session and heal them just enough so they would stay in place. They itched and burned and she couldn't put any weight on them, but Babyblue made sure to break them cleanly every time. No splinters or sliced open arteries. Sometimes Chikako wondered if she'd had medical training of any kind. The woman might never get information this way, but she could keep her prisoners alive for decades if she wanted to. If anyone died in Babyblue's care it wouldn't be an accident.

The tracker looked worse every time he was hauled back to his cell, but it never even got close to life threatening. Poor thing was trying so hard too. Babyblue practically flayed him with her eyes, but she barely touched him anymore. Even the patterns of bruises on him had changed. It was a little like a language or an artist's signature. She couldn't quite read it, but she knew enough to tell that someone else had taken over the torture of the ROOT operative. Babyblue was likely still the one asking questions, but it seemed she knew herself well enough to let someone else inflict the wounds, lest she lose her temper.

"Maybe not quite so incompetent," Chikako mused out loud. She smiled at the ceiling, imagining Ibiki's disgruntled face in the rough stone. He didn't like being wrong. Of course he also wasn't real, but nobody needed to know that she knew that.

Chikako quite enjoyed playing the lunatic. Sometimes she'd giggle out of nowhere, while the ROOT operative threw her odd looks. He knew something was up, but he couldn't tell what. She was somewhat concerned with how he knew. It wasn't like he would tell on her, but if he had been able to figure out she was only playing then so could anybody else. There was a tell she was missing. One she shouldn't be displaying because she wasn't supposed to lie at all.

"I've been a bad girl," she told him. "I don't know though. Why? It seems like I should know."

It was vague and he ignored it like all of her senseless ramblings so far. She repeated variations of it several times, making sure to also vary and repeat other things to hide what she was asking him. After three more days he finally told her not to worry about it when she asked a completely different question. She continued in the same manner for two more days and then slowly started switching out the phrases to further obfuscate the purpose of the exchange.

Chikako decided to trust his judgment. He'd been chased by her and as ROOT there was a possibility he knew who she was. That meant he could have a lot more information about her than anyone else in this place and thus an easier time reading her. If he said not to worry about it she wouldn't worry about it. They were allies as long as they were both in a cell, or at least they weren't enemies. The second one of them got out things were going to change, but for now that was good enough.

. . .

Babyblue was apparently under the impression that she'd gone completely batty. Chikako only got to leave her cell for interrogations every other day now. The pain got worse as the woman got more creative. At this point she wasn't bothering with any questions at all and Chikako got the impression that Babyblue was actually a sadist and the reason she kept her prisoners in comparatively good health was so she could play with them longer.

After all a broken bone would mend eventually and then it could be broken again. Something more permanent could only be done once. Babyblue told her as much, gushed really. A day later she spent approximately ten hours with the tracker - Chikako had taken to counting the seconds in her head for want of something better to do with her time. When he was led back to his cell there were no new wounds on him, except for the fact that one of his ears was missing.

His eyes looked dead though. He'd completely retreated into himself and Chikako wondered what they could possibly have done to get a reaction like that form a man like him.

She didn't sleep that night, or the next, too afraid of what her brain might conjure up without her waking consciousness to hold it back. Chikako often had nightmares, most of which had lost much of their power over time. This though, she feared, would rip open old wounds and drive horrors from the dustiest places in her mind.

There was no way to stay awake forever, but after three days or so without sleeping she wouldn't be able to remember anything she dreamed. It was an unhealthy coping mechanism, one she hadn't indulged in for a long time. Kakashi was the only one who knew about it. He didn't approve, but he also wasn't hypocrite enough to chastise her when he caught her doing it. Instead he'd stare at her with sad eyes and summon a dog or five to guard her when she finally succumbed to sleep.

She could have really used something fluffy to cuddle right then.

. . .

Telling time in a windowless dungeon was hard, especially when the guards made sure there was no routine by which to count the days. Everything happened in random intervals to ensure the prisoners never got comfortable or found anything familiar about the place. Sometimes they'd even thrown Chikako into a different cell without a word. She'd noticed the trick of course. It was one of Ibiki's favorites after all. But that only made it mildly less effective.

The tracker wasn't faring so well. He wasn't going insane, but she could see his mental walls break down. So far he hadn't wanted to give Babyblue any information, but that was changing. Without the seal to hold him back he would have started talking within the next few days. Babyblue noticed as well and when the time came and he wasn't refusing to give answers anymore but the seal activated to force his silence ... it wouldn't be a good day. He'd probably loose more than an ear and so would Chikako.

So far her babbling had meant that all her body parts were still where they were supposed to be. There wasn't a spot on her that didn't hurt in some way or other, but she was still whole. If she got out - when she got out - she'd heal and be good as new. Eventually.

. . .

One day. That was all he'd managed, one measly day more. Whatever Babyblue was doing to him, he wouldn't be alive after she was done. Chikako could hear his screams from her cell. If he got tortured in the same room as her or even just close to it that meant there were four long stone corridors and two steel doors between them. She really shouldn't be able to hear him scream.

The broken sounds ricocheted off the walls, multiplying in an endless echo. It was maddening and the fact that she couldn't see what was happening to him only made it worse. Image after image from Orochimaru's lab flashed through her head. At first it wasn't so bad, after all they were her memories. She'd been there at the time, lived through the horror and survived. She already knew that she'd made it out and that it was behind her. The past.

With every passing hour though what she remembered was distorted a little more by things that had happened later as well as things that had never happened at all and only ever lived in her nightmares. It was a form of torture in and of itself. If Babyblue went on for a few more hours Chikako wasn't entirely convinced she'd be able to tell fact from fiction anymore.

Reality was bad enough as it was. Mixing it with imaginary terrors was something she'd really rather avoid. She'd made it so far and while Chikako wasn't a well adjusted member of society, she wasn't broken either and she'd really rather keep it that way.

In an effort to distance herself from the sound she crawled into the furthest corner of her cell and rolled up into a ball, pressing her hands over her ears. It didn't do much good though. Every single person that had ever trained her in the shinobi arts had emphasized the need for constant vigilance and awareness of one's surroundings. She couldn't just pretend a sound as obvious as cries of agony didn't exist, especially when it was the only sound.

Chikako squeezed her eyes shut tightly and pressed down harder on her ears. It still wasn't enough to drown out the screaming, but she could hear her heartbeat. Too fast and a little erratic, but strong. She concentrated on her breathing, slow inhale, hold, long exhale, repeat. Over and over again.

It took a lot longer than usually for her pulse to even out and when it finally did all was quiet.

A cool breeze caressed her skin and brought with it the smell of fresh grass. Chikako reveled in the sensation for only a moment before she jumped up, eyes wide and heart once again beating a staccato rhythm. The sight that greeted her was completely surreal. She was in a field of pastel purple grass, surrounded by charcoal trees with golden leaves and far above, in a pale emerald sky with a thousand unfamiliar stars, brilliant bands of light hung in the air. The three moons, one about the size she was used to and two smaller ones, only served to make the picture before her even more alien.

Chikako immediately knew that she wasn't in her cell anymore, but the fact only really sank in when Jiro, paws on his hips, gave an annoyed huff.


	35. IX - Stray

**A/N:**

 _WaTeRMeLoNnCaT_

Wow, that is a huge compliment. I don't actually consider myself a very good writer, especially because English isn't my first language, but I'm glad you enjoy the story and hope that you will continue to do so.

 _sarahmchugs_

Thank you.

 _Diehard gamer_

I've actually gotten the opposite complaint as well. Finding a balance when it comes to showing and telling is something I still have to work on. In this particular case it's especially hard because the story is getting really long so I feel like I have to cut corners here and there with summaries of what happened. It's something I'm definitely going to change with the next story I'll be working on. I appreciate that you took the time to point it out, definitely makes improving easier.

 _TheOne320 & cassianaswindell123_

Yes, Jiro has impeccable timing (or something like that).

 _Scarease_

Oh, did you think Jiro was dead? If so I apologize, that was not intended.

. . .

 **IX - Stray**

"Finally," Jiro said, as if he'd been trying to get her attention for hours.

"Where are we?" Chikako asked, turning her head this way and that. Nothing about this place seemed even remotely familiar. Her first guess would have been a Summoning Realm, but nothing she'd ever heard or read about those suggested something this otherworldly.

The pale purple grass was wispy and moved with the tiniest shifts of air. If Chikako slowly stroked her fingers over it, it felt like fine silk, yet when she did it fast the gossamer strands were like barbed wire, cutting hundreds of barely there lines into her skin. It was mesmerizing to the point that Jiro had to clap his paws in front of her face several times to regain her attention.

"I am at home," he grumbled, "You on the other hand are wherever it is you were before. At least your body is, your mind is obviously here."

"Obviously ..." Chikako eyed the sky and it's myriads of unfamiliar stars again. She knew this wasn't a dream, but still had a hard time believing him. If her body was without her mind did it just lie around like a sack of potatoes, the same way Ino's did if she used the Mind Body Switch? How long could she survive something like that?

"Hey!" Jiro shouted at her and she realized for the first time how hard it was to focus. Her thoughts kept drifting around like fish in the ocean, forming into a tightly packed swarm only to scatter over and over again. As she watched blood seep through her fingers and dye the grass in a deep red she realized that she couldn't feel anything either. No joy at being reunited with Jiro, no lingering sadness because of Sai's death and no pain.

"Just give up," another voice chimed in happily, "Humans aren't smart enough to survive here."

Chikako looked around to find the newcomer, but there was no one there. Even her tanuki seemed to have disappeared, yet she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he hadn't left her. She frowned and then closed her eyes, breathing deeply and examined her chakra. Tried to at least. She didn't seem to have any. It had vanished just like her emotions had and her thoughts were trying to do. If she didn't have any chakra at all she would be dead though. The body could not survive without chakra and the mind could not survive without the body, therefore she still had to be connected to both.

Chikako changed her position until she sat in seiza, which was made quite challenging by the fact that her limbs were tingling and going numb. Once she'd managed she placed her hands in her lap, took a deep breath and send a blast of chakra outwards. It took her eight tries before she actually succeeded in grasping the energy and could manipulate it without being able to feel what she was doing. The second she did it though every sensation she should have had before flooded back in. In fact her mind was suddenly overwhelmed by so much sensory information that she had a hard time not passing out. It was a little dizzying and made her feel as if she'd been spun in a circle for several minutes only for someone to abruptly stop her momentum.

Several deep breath later she had herself back under control again and when she opened her eyes there was nothing but darkness around her. Endless blackness wherever she looked.

"I've been here before," Chikako breathed, remembering what had happened with Gaara. She'd climbed the Tailed Beast, and had been about to kill the boy on it's forhead when she'd fallen into a void. Jiro had been there at the time as well. He'd clearly known what was going on, but that incident and his home were the two things he'd always refused to talk about.

"How curious," a voice said. It sounded almost exactly like the one that had told Jiro to give up, but the pitch was slightly different.

"I told you," the tanuki crowed and then his furry little body appeared out of nowhere. Two children, about six or seven, with fox ears and tails followed him. One was a boy, who had four tails, and the other was a girl, whit only one tail. They both had shaggy hair the color of fresh snow, but while the boy's ended at his chin, the girl's was bound in a queue at the base of her neck and flowed down to her waist. The fur of their tails and ears matched their hair exactly and even their skin was barely a few shades darker than white. Their facial features were almost identical as well and so were the white kimono and black hakama both of them wore. Chikako wasn't even sure how she knew one of them was male and the other female. The only other difference besides the hair was their eye color. Where the girl's eyes were a brilliant sapphire blue, the boy's were polished amber.

"Yes, yes," the girl quipped, an impatient note to her voice. "It's what they always say and then all that happens is that we have to guide another soul through the forest."

While she said it pale blue flames appeared around her, floating in the blackness, the timing to perfect not to have been intentional. Then she turned to Chikako and shoved her hand forward.

"I'm Sune," she declared, pulling her hand back before Chikako had a chance to shake it to point at the boy. "The cute little idiot over there is my brother Kit. We're the guardians of the Void."

"Guardians my ass," Jiro huffed. "You're glorified janitors at best."

Sune whipped back around so fast that the tanuki toppled over in surprise and then she jumped him. Chikako was halfway to her feet and ready to defend her friend when the laughter started. Jiro was squirming, rolling around and shouting bloody murder in between giggles, but there was no doubt that Sune was merely tickling him.

"They're always like that," Kit whispered at her side. He'd plopped down on the ground and offered her a shy smile. One of his eyes was hidden behind white locks, but the other watched her as if she was a new toy.

Chikako glanced between the two kitsune for a moment and then decided to sit back down as well.

"Who named you?" She asked the boy, one eyebrow raised inquisitively. His cheeks flushed adorably when he laughed and scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"I did. I met a human once and he said all things have to have names because if something doesn't have a name you can't talk about it. When I asked him what my name was he said kitsune.

I told my sister, but she said we were the same and we couldn't both have the same name. People were always confusing us and that would only make things worse. So I decided we could share the name. And now she is Sune and I am Kit."

There was a moment of silence as Chikako stared at him. Jiro and Sune had stopped their shenanigans as well to watch her with baited breath and Chikako realized that they were waiting for her answer. Apparently this was a serious topic and Kit hadn't been joking. The way he'd told it made it sound like the incident had been a long time ago and she wasn't sure if that was because he was young and therefore had a different perception of time, or if it meant he was far older than he looked.

To be on the safe side she refrained from commenting at all, instead merely telling him her name and that it was a pleasure to meet him. His response was a delighted laugh.

"Clever," he said, every trace of the insecure boy suddenly gone. For a second his demeanor was reminiscent of Kakashi, when he wore his mask and hunted as Hound. And just like her sensei used his customary slouch to appear incompetent and distracted, Kit projected an air of weak-little-boy moments later.

He'd shown her that he was more. That he was dangerous. Both a warning and a courtesy.

Chikako acknowledged the gesture with a nod and then her wakizashi was in her hand, steel tip mere centimeters from his throat. She hadn't been sure she could call it here at all and let it vanish again the instant his eyes widened in surprise. Her smile said she'd only been returning the favor, whereas in reality she'd needed to make sure she could defend herself should the need arise.

No matter how cute Kit and his sister were, they were both yokai. So was Jiro for that matter, but while tanuki were generally regarded as mischievous, jolly and somewhat gullible, kitsune could be anything from guardians to messengers to malevolent tricksters. There was no telling which, if not all, of the stories were right and Kit was clearly dangerous. He might not mean her any harm at the moment, but Chikako wasn't about to bare her throat to a potential enemy.

A growl emanated from Sune, but before she could act on the threat her brother started to laugh. He actually shook as a fit of giggles overtook him. His eyes were cold though. Sune couldn't see from her position behind him, but to Chikako it was clear that the gesture was meant to put his sister at easy and to convey that they wouldn't fight without outright ordering her to stand down. What an odd dynamic. Instead of asking or ordering his first choice was manipulation. Or maybe not so odd. He was a trickster after all.

"Oh, I like her Jiro," Kit huffed out when he was done pretending to laugh. "We will help."

"After she completes the task of course," Sune added ominously.

Jiro just nodded eagerly, completely ignoring Chikako's confusion. He and Sune started walking off without even looking back and then Kit took her hand to drag her along after them. He was pretending to be a little boy again, happily pointing out trees and animals that weren't there, while they walked on nothing in the the black void. The only reason Chikako knew they were moving at all was that if she walked faster or slower the distance between them would change.

They walked and walked and walked. It seemed like an eternity had passed when more of the pale blue flames started to join their little procession, but that couldn't be true because Chikako didn't feel the least bit tired. Then again, according to Jiro, only her mind was here so maybe she couldn't get tired no matter how far she walked.

"We're almost there," Kit told her. She had no idea where 'there' was or why it mattered, seeing as they were surrounded by nothing and had been since she'd arrived. The kitsune kept pointing at things, but Chikako had given up trying to see them. There wasn't anything there, no matter how vividly he described the latest flower or boulder or whatever else he'd come up with. The purple meadow she'd sat in before wasn't any more real than Gaara's memories had been and the fact that flushing her system with chakra had made it vanish only proved that fact.

Chikako was convinced everything she'd seen so far was nothing but illusion. Right up until she slammed face first into one of those nonexistent trees and fell on her ass.

"What the -?" She begun in disbelieve and then cut herself off. They were back in the meadow, but instead of at it's center they now stood at the edge of the surrounding forest.

"Finally," Sune exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

"Took you long enough," Jiro complained, but he wasn't talking to her. In fact, neither of them were. Their gazes instead trained on a sheepishly smiling Kit.

"She is more like us than I thought," was his explanation, but again nobody bothered to fill Chikako in on the details of what was going on. Every time she asked they told her to be patient or that all would be revealed soon. If Jiro hadn't been there she'd probably have said 'fuck it' by now and tried to find a way out.

They kept walking for another eternity and no matter how far they went and how thick the forest got, every time Chikako turned around the purple meadow was just behind them. The sky always stayed the same shade of emerald and while the dancing lights changed colors multiple times, the night never seemed to end. The moons moved across the sky and dipped below the horizon, just like the one Chikako was accustomed to seeing, but there was always at least one visible at any given time and the sun never made an appearance at all.

. . .

In the end they, somehow, reached a clearing from which the purple meadow wasn't visible. The grass here was short, looked evenly trimmed and had the same charcoal color as the tree trunks. Golden leaves were scattered all around the forest's floor, except for this place. It was almost like an invisible barrier kept them out, or maybe whoever took care of the grass also collected the leaves.

The clearing itself was perfectly circular and right in it's center stood a shrine made out of white bone. Chikako couldn't even start to guess at the animals the bones had come from. Their sizes were normal enough, but their shapes made no sense at all. At first she'd thought they had been carved from bigger pieces, but a more thorough investigation revealed that that wasn't the case. She didn't get a chance to take a look inside the curious building though.

As the group neared the shrine all the tiny blue flames they had picked up along the way streamed into it. They danced around one another in frenzied motions, faster and faster until all of them had vanished beyond the building's door and out of sight. The moment the last one was gone an unnatural silence spread and the breeze that had been blowing constantly ceased, leaving nothing but dead air behind. Brownish black goo bubbled up underneath the shrine's door and then it flew open, revealing that the inside was completely covered with the stuff.

It flowed out slowly, a thick mass wobbling and shifting. When it reached the bottom of the three steps that led towards the door and touched the grass a pale blue light started to glow in it's center.

"Kill it," Sune said with a smug grin. Chikako raised an eyebrow at her, but before she could ask the kitsune how one killed slime the goo began to smoke. It hissed and shivered and then tendrils moved upwards, forming into claws. The blue light began to pulse inside of the slime and before long the mass reformed into a beast the likes of which Chikako had never seen before.

The head was that of a wolf, but the tongue could have belonged to a snake. It's torso was massive, it's limbs too long, but the waist seemed almost slender and the hips narrow in comparison to the massive torso. Instead of paws it had vaguely human hands and feet that ended in six centimeter long claws, and it's tail was oddly fluffy.

Most of the blue lights were concentrated in it's torso, leaving the rest of his form dark as ink. It looked solid, but it still dripped slime that hissed and smoked as soon as it hit the ground. The beast's eyes glowed dimly with the same pale blue of the ghostly flames and they were trained on Chikako.

The thing snarled and then lunged at her. As it shifted from stillness into motion the pulsing light in it's torso spread into the limbs, but Chikako had no time to give that much thought, too busy throwing herself out of the way. Black claws ripped up earth and everything they touched began to smoke.

Chikako had to dodge in the same manner a few more times before she finally got a chance to take a breath. The beast was not only fast, it also had a one track mind. Whenever it missed her it would immediately turn around to try again. At first she'd just tried not to get hit, but that wasn't a sustainable tactic. A single swipe with those wickedly sharp claws could easily gut her if it connected. So, after a few minutes of frantically jumping away and hoping for the best, she'd started to lead it towards the treeline.

Whatever else the beast was, smart wasn't on the list. Chikako placed herself directly in front of a tree trunk and then ducked out of the way when the wolf monster lunged again. Claws ripped into the charcoal wood and it splintered just like a regular tree would have, but half way through the trunk the strike had lost enough momentum for the claws to get stuck.

Chikako whirled around, calling her wakizashi and sliced the beast's torso open. As soon as the blade had done it's job she jumped backwards to get out of range, unsure whether her attack would even hurt the thing. She needn't have worried though. It threw it's head back, howling in agony, as blue liquid gushed out of the wound. It's form started to waver, shiver, bubble and then fall apart.

The clearing was silent as the black slime smoked, dissipating until only the blue liquid was left behind. That too reformed, only this time the creature that emerged was a glowing white stag. It bowed it's head and then walked into the trees without so much a a glance backwards.

"So ... ?" Chikako raised an eyebrow at Jiro. "Are you finally going to tell me what's going on?"

. . .

Of course it wasn't that easy. Instead of simply answering her question the three yokai had given her a whole history lesson. They'd claimed that all summons were actually demons. Not nearly as powerful as the Tailed Beasts, but still demons, and the Void was their home.

According to them, if a human died that person's chakra and a part of who they had been, their soul so to speak, were released into the Void. That was what the pale blue flames had been. They naturally gravitated to the shrines, but once enough souls had entered they would merge. The resulting beast was created because all of their negative emotions took over.

The beasts were called shades, an echo of what the people used to be. There were different kinds and which one was created depended on what exactly most of the humans had felt when they'd died. The one Chikako had fought had been a Shade of Vengeance. Left unchecked it would have simply tried to kill everything in it's path. When she'd sliced it open the souls had been freed from their negative emotions, leaving a balanced shade behind.

Apparently the black shades were a lot stronger than the white ones, but they were also so overwhelmed by the emotion that had formed them that they couldn't be reasoned with. If they absorbed enough other shades that could change though and they would grow stronger in the process.

Sune's and Kit's job was in essence to guide souls to the shrines so they could control when a new shade was created and to make sure that no black shade roamed free. The latter was especially important because at some point shades would become yokai and nobody wanted mad demons to run around the place.

Chikako had a feeling that there was a lot more to it, but she already had a hard time taking all that new information in, so she didn't ask. Sune also didn't seem very inclined to share any more than she absolutely had to. The only reason the kitsune had volunteered that much was so she could explain that yokai were the final product of an evolution and far superior to summons because summons were simply demons that had made themselves slaves to humanity.

"Okay?" Chikako said, unsure what exactly all of that had to do with her being here. It was interesting and everything Sune had just told her obviously had something to do with the tattoo on Chikako's left arm, but she still didn't know what.

"Oh for fucks sake!" Sune exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. Kit kindly took over for his sister.

"Jiro has given you half of a contract," he said. "No respectable demon would bind themselves to a human, but we do make the occasional deal. Once the contract is finalized you will be able to call on us like you would any summon. Of course we are neither obliged to answer your call nor help if we do and we will require payment."

"What kind of payment are we talking?" Chikako asked skeptically. Jiro had only ever wanted chakra and the occasional sake, but they were friends. She had a feeling that wasn't the usual price, not to mention that, if she'd read between the lines correctly, there was a distinct possibility that a demon she called on could turn on her without warning. If she tried to summon one and they didn't agree on payment for example it had absolutely no reason to help and might decide to entertain itself by taking a pound of flesh out of her hide.

The laughter in Kit's eyes and the knowing smirk that stretched his mouth told her she was right, even if he didn't confirm her suspicions verbally. Instead he explained that to complete the contract she'd have to reach the Soul Tree and smear her blood on it's bark. According to him that would create a permanent connection to the Void she could then draw on via the Summoning Technique.

The only problem would be getting there. The Soul Tree was always in the center of the Void, but the Void itself constantly shifted. If Chikako had been there physically they would have simply let her walk around until she reached the thing, apparently all roads eventually led to the center, but since she wasn't they'd have to do it differently. Her theory that her body simply lay around unresponsive while her mind was otherwise occupied had sadly been correct. It would continue to breathe and her heart still pumped blood through her veins, but otherwise it was completely helpless.

There was good news too though. In the void time moved exactly the same as it did outside, but everything happened at the speed of thought. What seemed to Chikako like two or three days had passed while they had wandered through the blackness and then the forest had actually been closer to thirty minutes. It was also the reason she felt a headache coming on. Her brain wasn't used to deal with that much information and there was a chance she'd give herself an aneurysm if she stayed too long.

"Jiro says you can sense energy better than normal humans," Kit inquired with an expectant look. Chikako had to disappoint him though.

"Yes, but not while I'm here like this. I need my body to sense anything, I can't even feel my own chakra right now."

"Then how did you free yourself from the illusion earlier?"

"Well, I am still connected to my body, so I kinda just tried what I normally do. It's a little like groping around blindly only without the haptic feedback, that's why it took so long."

"Long she says," Kit laughed. "But since you don't have time to find the tree yourself we will make a deal. You will give me your blood, I will complete the contract for you and when you are back with your body you will call on me and my sister so that we might amuse ourselves."

Chikako blinked at him dumbly. He'd again completely changed his demeanor and even the way he talked was different this time. The kitsune was definitely not just a boy, no matter what he looked like and she suspected that showing her this side of him was another courtesy. First he'd let her know that he was more dangerous than he seemed and now that he was older too. It made her want to pick the deal apart. Stories about kitsune didn't agree on much, but they were always tricksters and even with the friendly ones agreements were rarely as straightforward as they sounded.

Chikako was in a cell in enemy territory and there wasn't a friendly soul around so she didn't really care what exactly he meant when he said they wanted to amuse themselves. The offer sounded too good though. Could he actually be doing her a favor? But then he didn't know were she was so maybe the part about amusement was already the trick. It didn't really define what he would be doing. To a demon fun could really be anything from playing card games to slaughtering babies and kittens.

While she though it over Kit was patiently waiting for her answer. He didn't seem the least bit affronted or angry that she hadn't immediately agreed to his proposal. In fact Chikako had the feeling he actually approved.

A glance at Sune and Jiro told her that neither of them would interfere. Another test then.

The first pitfall was what Kit and Sune would be doing once summoned. What more? Chikako would have to sustain their stay. Keeping Jiro around had barely cost her any chakra, but her tanuki had spent much of his time conserving energy. Neither of the kitsune was very likely to do that. They were probably also much stronger and would require more chakra to call in the first place. Kit at least, she wasn't sure about Sune. Then there was the blood. He'd complete the contract but what if he kept some? Could he do anything with that? Chikako didn't know of any jutsu that required someone else's blood and the only one she knew that needed the user's blood was the Summoning Technique itself. There was also the matter of timing. He had neither specified when he would complete the contract nor how long after she was back she was supposed to call them.

Chikako frowned at him. Her headache was getting worse and she was half tempted to just refuse him to avoid maneuvering herself into a worse situation. Her chances of getting out of the prison on her own weren't good though. Babyblue was on the warpath and once she was done with the ROOT operative it would be Chikako's turn.

"Okay," she said hesitantly, "but i have conditions."

Sune snarled, but Kit held up a hand to silence her. He looked intrigued, but his smile said Chikako better be reasonable or there would be blood.

"One," he told her, flashing pointy canines.

"One?"

"Don't test my goodwill human."

She swallowed. Yeah there would definitely be blood if she overstepped. How did she boil her concerns down into one condition though? The amusement part she could probably ignore and the timing as well, but leaving out what would happen to her blood or how long she was to sustain the kitsune's stay didn't seem safe. There was also the little matter of what happened to her. If the two yokai simply left her in her cell she wouldn't be any better of, maybe even worse depending on what they did.

"Okay," Chikako said again after taking a deep breath. "You will not knowingly harm me either directly or indirectly. That includes draining me of all my chakra, shenanigans with my blood or creating situations in which I die chained up in a dungeon behind doorless bars."

Kit raised an eyebrow at the last part, but nodded without commenting on how oddly specific it was. It wouldn't make him get her out of the chains, but he couldn't just leave her there to starve if he did decide to kill everyone else either. It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do because she couldn't think of anything better at the moment and if her headache was any indication she didn't have much more time before she had to get back.

"Very well," the yokai agreed easily, his voice echoing all around them. The oddly colored world of the Void melted away into blackness again and a moment later reformed into Chikako's cell.


	36. IX - Bargain

**A/N:**

 _TheOne320_

You should fear Pakkun. He is the cutest, grumpiest demon dog you will ever meet.

. . .

 **IX - Bargain**

Chikako's eyes flew open and her back arched off the ground as searing pain lanced through her left arm. It felt like tendrils of lava wound around the skin, burning their way to the bone. When she looked at the limb, however, the tattoo was just like she remembered. The arm itself seemed perfectly fine as well, except for three shallow claw marks that were nestled in between the bands of ink. When had those gotten there? Kit had to have taken her blood to do his part, but she had no memory of him doing it. That was rather disconcerting. What concerned her even more though was the way she could feel her pathways reshaping to mimic the tattoo. That was neither normal nor pleasant and she was completely certain Orochimaru's chakra system had been independent of his Summoning Tattoo. She'd have noticed something that unusual.

The whole process lasted several minutes and then the pain was gone as suddenly as it had started. That probably meant Kit had taken care of completing the contract for her. She really should have asked what exactly the conditions where and if there was a written version she could read. Chikako trusted Jiro though. He would have warned her away if he hadn't thought completing the contract was a good idea and it was too late now anyway. Time to do her part.

Kit had said she could use the Summoning Technique to call on him, but that wasn't an option while she was wearing her shackles. Luckily it also wouldn't be necessary. Chikako had already suspected that the tattoo was actually a seal and the way it had forced her pathways into a new shape only confirmed that suspicion. A jutsu wouldn't have been able to mess with her body like that because her own chakra would have attacked the foreign chakra. A seal on the other hand could draw on her energy, avoiding the problem.

She wasn't entirely sure if activating the Summoning Seal directly required blood like the Summoning Technique did, but she already had a nosebleed from spending too much time in the Void, so she swiped her thumb under her nose and smeared the blood over the tattoo just to be safe. The necessity of that was something she could investigate later, preferably when she wasn't stuck on the hard floor of a badly illuminated cell.

Chikako carefully let her chakra flow into the seal, gasping when it drew in more and more. It felt odd, not painful exactly, but rather similar to slowly bleeding out. She wanted to pull her chakra back, but there was no telling what would happen if she tried. Not to mention the deal she'd made. If she didn't come through there would be a price to pay. A bloody one most likely. So she kept her breathing steady and let the seal take what it needed, concentrating on Kit and Sune.

Her reserves had grown quite a bit since she'd left Konoha and they were almost completely full because the only thing she had done lately was set her bones. She'd refrained from healing anything that would be visible to avoid alerting Babyblue to the fact that she could still use her chakra internally though, otherwise she'd be running on empty. That had been a good decision in more ways then one. The seal drained nearly eighty percent of her reserves before the pull finally let up and two white foxes puffed into existence at her side.

They were both sleek with brilliantly white fur. The smaller one had sapphire blue eyes, wide with wonder, and the bigger one's were rich amber. Sune let out an excited yip as she wiggled through the bars of Chikako's cell and into the corridor. Kit on the other hand chuffed and nosed the shackles. He made a motion that could have been a head shake, but it was hard to tell. Chikako wasn't particularly well versed in the body language of foxes and unlike Jiro, who behaved like a human, these two did not. If she hadn't been able to sense their chakra she would have thought them regular animals.

Kit circled her once, then tapped one of his front paws against the chain. A pulse of odd chakra, not entirely different from her own, spread through the metal and a moment later it disintegrated. He gave her a look she couldn't decipher before slipping out through the bars after his sister.

 _Now you can die unchained in a dungeon behind doorless bars_ , a voice in her head said. She couldn't actually hear anything, but the words were there and accompanied by a wave of disappointment.

Chikako jumped at the strange sensation of feeling someone else's emotions like that and Kit huffed from outside of her cell. She glared at him and then walked over to the bars. Flattening her palms against the metal hurt, but she only had to do it long enough to feel out and activate the seal that would open the cell. Calling her blade would have been more impressive she supposed, but she wasn't entirely certain she would have been able to wield it properly in the state she was in.

There was no way she would let Kit think she'd fucked up the one condition he'd allowed her by specifying the chained part though. That had been deliberate because the shackles were the one thing she couldn't easily deal with herself and the phrasing ensured that, even if he was willing to leave her behind, he'd have to get rid of them for her. Just as he had.

"Give me a little more credit would you?" She said out loud, unsure whether she could communicate telepathically, or whatever it was, with him as well.

The bars opened as slowly as they always did, but the sound of metal moving against stone seemed unnaturally loud. Chikako hadn't noticed before, but now it was quite apparent that the dungeons were too silent. No guards shuffling around and no distant screams. She had no doubt that, even if nobody had noticed her summoning the two kitsune, the noise getting out of her cell made would have alerted someone. With the shackles off she could sense several chakra signatures, yet Sune's was the only one moving around. Maybe she had already started amusing herself.

"Feel free to create a little mayhem," Chikako said to Kit, gesturing down the corridor. He made another chuffing noise that she decided to interpret as laughter. His eyes were glittering with mischief and then he bounded after Sune.

Calling them here had cost so much chakra that Chikako'd expected them to vanish again after only a few minutes, but now that they were there the drain on her was barely even noticeable. Chikako wouldn't be able to indefinitely sustain them like she could with Jiro, but at this rate she could easily hold them here for hours, days even if she didn't have to use the rest of her chakra for anything else.

She slowly walked in the direction the kitsune had left in and noted that their definition of fun did indeed involve slaughtering humans and decorating the walls with their entrails. If she'd been in Konoha that would have been a terrible price to pay, in this case Chikako rather appreciated their enthusiasm though because she was in no condition to fight anyone. Her plan had been to use a combination of stealth and the Body Flicker Technique to escape, but simply following the carnage was much easier. She hadn't been awake when the Earth shinobi had brought her in and afterwards she'd never gotten any further than the interrogation room. If this place was anything like T&I's buildings in Konoha the layout would be intentionally confusing to make it harder for prisoners to get out or intruders to get in.

"What is this?" A shrill voice shouted from up ahead and it took Chikako a moment to realize it belonged to Babyblue. She'd only ever heard the woman confident or angry. The unadulterated fear that permeated her tone now made it sound foreign, wrong. So far she hadn't heard any of the dead guards make a sound and she'd passed at least four corpses on her way. Their eyes had all been open wide in terror, mouths frozen agape on a silent scream.

Since Sune was the first one who had left Chikako suspected the female kitsune trapped them in a genjutsu and then moved on to the next toy. Kit tended to linger beside them and shortly after the chakra signature would blink out. By the time Chikako was close enough to see what he had done there was only a corpse and a lot of blood left. She'd prefer to get out as fast as possible, but she didn't want to risk running into anyone who was still alive either, so she kept her walk at a leisurely pace and stayed behind the two yokai.

"I see you met my friend," Chikako said with a wry smile when she entered the room Kit and Babyblue were in. She had no idea what was going on, but figured playing along wouldn't hurt.

Babyblue wasn't affected by any kind of jutsu, but there were gashes all over her skin. They were precise, all the same length and perfectly parallel. Blood slowly trickled out of each wound, soaking her clothes and dying them crimson. Behind her, chained to a chair, was the ROOT operative. He was naked and missing both ears, his nose and several fingers by now. His torso was partly skinned and his left thigh looked as if it had become intimately acquainted with a grater.

Chikako's upper lip curled back in disgust as she took him in. He might be Danzo's tool and her enemy, but she still hated torture. She took two quick, and painful, steps forward and flicked her wrist. Chakra claws glimmered in and out of existence and when the motion was over the tracker's throat lay open. He blinked at her while the blood flowed sluggishly even though it should have gushed out like a red river. A clear indication that Babyblue had used some kind of drug on him to make sure he didn't bleed to death before she was done playing with him. Sadistic bitch. She was supposed to be an interrogator, but this hadn't been about getting information.

 _You are angry with this one_ , Kit's voice chimed in Chikako's mind. It was more of a statement than a question, but a wave of mild curiosity that wasn't her own let her know he wanted an answer. She ignored him in favor of staring down Babyblue and contemplating how much of a hypocrite wanting to hurt the woman made her. Kit wasn't happy with that though.

 _She is the one that spilled your blood?_ He queried, more insistent. The words had started out almost neutral, with nothing more than that same mild curiosity to give them flavor. There was an undercurrent of anger though that had risen with each new syllable and by the end Chikako had the impression it would have been a shout had he spoken out loud instead of in her mind.

She glanced at him. His eyes were alight with fury, making it seem as if a fire burned deep within the amber. She had no idea why he suddenly cared. After all he'd been perfectly content to leave her to starve in a cell only a short time ago.

"Yes," she told him and then, after a last look at her torturer, walked out.

Screams followed her down the hall, just as horrific as those of the ROOT operative had been, but she tried to ignore them. She was glad to note that hearing Babyblue's pain didn't make her feel any better. Chikako wanted the woman to hurt, but she also absolutely loathed the idea of finding pleasure in inflicting pain. It was bad enough that she'd left Kit to play with his victim instead of just killing the woman.

The rest of the dungeons looked just as boring as the part Chikako had spent the last few weeks. She wasn't entirely certain just how much time had passed, but probably anywhere between fifteen and twenty days. Not that it mattered all that much. She wasn't on a time limit and she'd have to spent quite some time recovering before she could do anything more straining than walking and sleeping anyway. Since that very short list did not include hunting for food she began searching the corpses for money and inspecting each room she passed. Kit was taking his sweet time with Babyblue and she didn't want to get too far ahead of him.

There were a lot of empty cells in various sizes. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to Chikako. The place was huge and there were dozen's of guards, yet so far she hadn't come across a single other prisoner. The ROOT operative and her had apparently also been stored as far from the entrance as humanly possible. If it weren't for the second rate shackles and the slow seal to open cells she would have thought this was a high security prison after all. Then again, maybe her imaginary Ibiki had been right and Earth shinobi were simply not very competent. At least in this particular aspect. Their border security was either impeccable or Chikako's luck was shitty.

Besides the cells there were only few actual rooms. All behind heavy steel doors with neither keyhole nor handle. They too could easily be opened by simply pouring a little bit of chakra into a seal though. Why would anyone put that much trust into chakra-supressing shackles? Sure, the design meant that keys couldn't be stolen, but even if the prisoners never got to use their own chakra ever again, it made sings disgustingly easy for intruders. Maybe there was some special security feature she was missing or maybe the place was still under construction. The latter would certainly explain the empty cells.

Most of the rooms she entered held nothing but a chair or two and sometimes a table with torture instruments. She did however come across sleeping quarters and a kitchen. From the former she took a simple black uniform to replace her dirty clothes. The flak jacket was slate gray, with minimal shoulder padding and no neck guard. They also had two large pouches, one in the front and one in the back, but Chikako left them behind in favor of a backpack. The things were huge, the material too stiff and they also looked exceptionally stupid. It was as if no one in Iwa had ever even heard the word design. No wonder Babyblue had felt like running around in a dungeon dressed up like a doll was a good idea. The second modification Chikako made to the outfit was removing the shirt's sleeves. There was nothing wrong with them, but she wanted easy access to her Summoning Tattoo in case it did indeed require blood.

Her next stop was the kitchen. Since none of the chakra signature she could feel, except for Kit and Sune, where moving around she decided she had the time to eat an actual meal before she started to stuff her bag with food. The stuff was mostly unidentifiable mush in cans and tasted as good as it looked, but beggars couldn't be choosers. The knowledge that the guards hadn't eaten any better than her did bring a smirk to her face though. Served them right for throwing her into this shithole of a prison.

Kit passed her sometime during her meal, apparently done amusing himself with Babyblue. He looked in on her for a second, but didn't stop.

When she finally moved on Chikako was embarrassed to note that her uncanny sense of knowing how to navigate the dungeon was a big fat lie. She'd come across the sleeping quarters and kitchen on her own, but apparently Kit had been leaving a bloody trail for her to follow the whole time. It was quite obvious now that she could compare what corridors looked like before and after he'd come through.

She really wished she could tell whether he was being kind or not. Sune clearly didn't like her, but Kit seemed to constantly change his mind on the matter and it made her paranoid. Even more so than she already was.

At one point Kit's path split, but he'd helpfully left corpses behind to explain. One was a mig man propped against a wall in a sitting position. His right hand was nailed to the wall with a piece of rock that was roughly kunai shaped. All digits except for the pointer finger had been ripped of. Chikako went down that way first because the second corpse was a woman that lay flat on the ground. Her hand were equally mangled, both arms were outstretched with the index fingers pointing ahead.

Path number one lead down a number of narrow corridors and ended at a door that had been torn off it's hinges. For something that looked like a regular fox Kit sure left quite a bit of destruction in his wake. The room itself seemed to be an office. There was a wooden desk, a chair that looked almost comfortable and several steel filing cabinets lined the walls. They were all dented in some way or other and mostly empty. There was really only one thing Chikako cared for in the room. In the center of the desk lay her Bingo Book and the shogi pawn pendant Shikamaru had left her.

The book was opened to the entry for Wraith and smeared across the pages in blood stood the words 'thank you for the hospitality'. The characters were perfectly even and if she hadn't known better she would have thought a calligraphy master had written them in scarlet ink. Chikako decided to leave his message there for whoever came to investigate, but she did take the pendant with her on the way out, which was exactly where path number two led her.

It was night and even though she wouldn't feel the sun on her skin for another few hours Chikako was uncommonly grateful for the full moon. Normally she preferred the new moon because it made sneaking around that much easier, but today she had to kitsune by her side to make sure nobody would be alive long enough to bother her. Her eyes had gotten so used to the dimness of her cell that the world seemed almost bright to her now. She couldn't really make out colors, but no monochromatic detail of her surroundings escaped her.

 _It's the Void's influence_ , Kit said in her mind when he caught her starring. _I don't know what made you but you are almost as much demon as you are human. Humans can not survive in the Void and so it pulled your demon side to the front, strengthening it in the process_

Chikako wanted to protest. To tell him that that made no sense considering what she'd learned about yokai being created from the souls of dead people. But then Orochimaru was a sick fuck and he's looked into anything that could make him more powerful or held the promise of immortality. Both was true for the Tailed Beasts and without access to a real one he might very well have played around with the next best thing. It wasn't hard at all to imagine that he had learned what summons really were and the kitsune had told her that even the unbound yokai occasionally made deals. Not to mention that Orochimaru had a Summoning Tattoo himself. It wasn't like Chikako's, but it was the only other one she'd ever seen. Maybe his snakes had shared their knowledge with him.

"I see," was what she ended up saying after thinking through the implications. "Thank you for sharing."

Kit chuffed again at her attempt at politeness, but didn't comment. When he had been walking around as a little boy in the Void Chikako had mostly thought of him as cute even after he'd shown her that he was more than that. Bizarrely as a fox he somehow commanded respect. Sune on the other hand was a hotheaded brat no matter what she looked like. While her brother walked at Chikako's side like a trained ninken, she ran all over the place, inspecting every bush and boulder.

On their way back into Bear they came across two more patrols which the kitsune dispatched with frightening ease. Chikako would tell them how many approached from which direction, then Sune would sneak up on them to trap them in an illusion and even though Kit never moved from her side, his chakra would spike and the shinobi would fall to the ground dead a second later. She had no idea how he was doing it, but the fact that he always waited until after Sune was done implied that it didn't work otherwise. He was frighteningly powerful nonetheless.

. . .

The kitsune accompanied Chikako all the way to the sea north of Bear and didn't even kill anyone once they'd left Earth. Of course the latter was probably mostly due to the fact that they stayed close and Chikako made sure they didn't come near any humans. Sune complained several times about how boring that was, but the amused looks Kit threw Chikako said he knew exactly what she was doing.

Because she had to sustain the presence of the two kitsune Chikako couldn't afford to use any chakra to heal herself and her reserves were almost empty by the time they finally made it to a harbor. After listening to the sailors for a while Chikako snuck onto a ship headed for Frost, a small country between Hot Water and Lightning and as far away from Earth as she could get at the moment.

Once aboard Kit told her that it was time for him and his sister to leave. Apparently slaughtering all those guards in Earth meant that there would soon be enough souls to create another shade so they had to go take care of that. He did however leave her with instructions for a technique he called Fox Fire in exchange for the promise that she would call on Jiro as soon as she had the chakra to do so.

Chikako certainly got the better end of that deal. She seriously wondered if he knew that she would have summoned her tanuki the first chance she got anyway and had simply used it as an excuse to help her. Sune seemed to hate humans in general, but she liked Jiro, so maybe this was just another way for Kit to manipulate his sister. Not that Chikako cared one way or the other. There were no downsides for her.

Fox Fire, or Cold Fire as Jiro called it, was a technique that burned chakra to produce blue flames. They didn't look too different from the souls that had floated in the Void and just like those the fire didn't create any heat. It couldn't set anything else on fire either and barely even gave of light, which made it seem like a bad illusion at best. What made it dangerous was that it could consume anyone's chakra, not just that of the user. The whole process was also incredibly painful when directly applied to the chakra system.

Kit had said they'd been created as a torture device because it was almost impossible to kill someone using exclusively Fox Fire. So prisoners could be tortured as much as the interrogator wanted without risk of accidentally overdoing it. Still most yokai regarded learning how to use them as too much trouble. Inflicting pain the regular way required considerably less skill after all.

Chikako immediately saw the benefits though. Fox Fire might have been intended as a means of torture, but that didn't mean it couldn't be used in any other way. Being able to burn away anyone's charka also meant one could easily destroy wards and barriers of any kind. An ability like that probably also would have worked against the seal she'd been trapped with at Earth's border.

She soon understood why most didn't think mastering the blue fire was worth the effort though. The amount of chakra the flames needed was ridiculous and because Chikako didn't particularly feel like torturing herself she had to figure out a way to supply them with chakra while making sure the flames weren't in contact with her pathways.

At first she created balls of chakra and then simply set them alight, but that didn't work very well. They began to dissipate almost immediately and burned out so fast that they wouldn't be useful in a fight. Her second attempt involved keeping the balls connected to herself with a thin chakra string. That way she could keep it's form stable, but more often than not the fire would eventually race down the string and force her to cut it off or suffer the consequences.

What worked rather well was a combination of both. She'd create a chakra ball without connection and then make it burn. Afterwards she'd feed it more chakra by continuously pushing more tiny balls at the flames. That way the core of the first ball didn't lose it's shape, but there was no risk of burning herself. She could even make the initial ball move around because the extra chakra she fed into it retained it's velocity.

It was a lot harder than it sounded, especially if she tried to do it with more than one chakra ball at a time. Jiro took great joy in mocking her whenever she messed up, completely ignoring the fact that he couldn't do it at all. Chikako however was too glad to have him back to mind terribly much.

She had been able to summon him after a little more than a day of rest and after that she'd had more than enough time to heal herself and practice. Frost wasn't exactly around the corner and there wasn't much else to do on a ship when one had to stay out of sight.


	37. X - Best Laid Vacation Plans

**A/N:**

 _Peruna_

Thank you. World building is one of my favorite things (I usually spent so much time on it that I never actually write a story though).

I like Kit too, but his character gives me headaches. When I started writing him he was just this cute little kitsune child, but that didn't last long and now he's suddenly got a bratty baby sister, is a lot older and enjoys making a bloody mess from time to time.

 _Diehard gamer_

Thank you.

. . .

 **X - Best Laid Vacation Plans**

Frost, as the name suggested, was a harsh land. It consisted mostly of snow, rocks buried under snow and conifer forests that somehow managed to survive in the freezing environment, also buried under snow. Of course if Chikako were honest with herself she'd admit that Frost was actually warmer than most of the journey there had been. Then, however, she'd had the luxury of being inside and wrapped in pilfered blankets. Now all that protected her from the elements was the stolen Iwa uniform and her chakra. The former had just about no effect on the cold which meant she had to expend quite a bit of the latter to keep herself from freezing. It wouldn't drain her anytime soon, but still felt like a waste and made hiding her chakra signature harder.

And then there was Jiro, the smug little ass. The tanuki had simply puffed up his fur and declared that he was perfectly fine. Now that Chikako could call on him like a regular summon he didn't need to conserve any chakra at all and could spend all day running around like the raccoon dog he wasn't. He certainly enjoyed this new freedom if the amount of energy he wasted on jumping, transforming and creating elaborate tunnels in the snow was any indication. If he ever ran out of chakra he'd just pop back into the Void and once recharged he'd pull on her Summoning Tattoo - she wasn't entirely certain how that worked - and she'd summon him again.

Chikako fully planned to get to Hot Water as soon as humanly possible. She deserved to spend some time in a hotspring. Especially one of those whose water had acquired medicinal properties due to the minerals it contained. She had healed herself, but she still felt like shit. Human bodies weren't meant to repair themselves as fast as she had forced it to. It wasn't like the things necessary to repair broken bone, torn muscle or cut skin just appeared out of nowhere. The energy to do the work came from her chakra, but the nutrients and minerals needed to grow the different cells did not. Those she mostly had to consume directly and her rather lackluster diet while hidden on a ship certainly hadn't done her any favors in that regard. So the first thing Chikako had done once she and Jiro had set foot on land was to declare they were on holiday.

Naturally life didn't agree.

"Twelve incoming from our ten," Chikako said with so much annoyance in her tone that Jiro started to giggle like the little idiot he was.

"Well you were out of training anyway." He happily clapped his paws together three times and then buried into the snow. She could sense him moving and while the rate at which he dug a tunnel was impressive it didn't lighten her mood any. They could have tried to outrun the group. In fact it wouldn't even have been hard, but Chikako was so sick of running. Better to get it over with now.

Their chakra levels suggested that they weren't just simple bandits, but there was no one she'd class higher than mid-chunin in the group. Twelve seemed a little excessive to go after a single person though. She hadn't tried to be especially stealthy after leaving the ship, but it wasn't like anyone knew who she was. Everyone who wanted Chikako dead thought she had died months ago, so these assholes were likely just after her because she was alone and seemed like an easy target.

"Well, they can go fuck themselves," she muttered and sat down where she stood. Usually she preferred sitting cross-legged to sitting in seiza, but for situations like this, when one had to get up fast, the latter was far superior. Especially if, instead of placing the tops of her feet flat on the ground like one was supposed to, she kept her feet angled so that the balls of her feet held most of her weight. That way the position wasn't particularly comfortable, but she'd be able to spring up fast. A lot faster than someone who saw her would expect because from the front the difference in posture was barely noticeable and she really doubted that her soon to be assailants were that observant.

At least in that life hadn't fucked her over. In fact it seemed like she'd gotten lucky. The group that approached her seemed like a bunch of ninja rejects, which they probably were. All in ridiculous, colorful outfits, weapons on display for all the world to see and menacing expressions on their faces, but not a single hitai-ate in sight. Very scary. Especially that one guy with the light blue pigtails and pink, color coordinated hairband, top and arm warmers. He looked like a cheerleader. The only thing missing were the pom-poms.

"Ha! Seems Monju was right," the one in the front declared. There was a broad stripe of paint on his face that went from ear to ear and a smaller square on his chin. The color was almost, but not quite, the hue of purple Kankuro used. The puppeteer had told her that that only happened when one used inferior products or fucked up the ratios when mixing the face paint. Of course it was possible that the guy had meant to create that exact tone, but that didn't really fit with the group's overall air of incompetency. And in any case Chikako didn't care as long as she could use it to her advantage.

"I hope you're a better fighter than you are an artist," she told him with a deliberate yawn. "Your skills as a paint maker are certainly atrocious."

He spluttered for a moment, rambling something about how she wouldn't know anything about that, but then caught himself. The guy pulled an umbrella from his back and pointed the thing at her, because every good villain had an umbrella that could shoot senbon. Chikako yawned again to rile him up some more. She wasn't afraid of the group, but twelve against one weren't favorable odds, no matter who the opponent was. She wasn't above using petty tricks and manipulation to improve her chances. Pride would not be her downfall.

"I am Shura of the Shinobazu-" he started, but had to stop as Chikako started to laugh so hard she had to support herself with an arm on the ground to keep from falling over. Who the hell was so proud of failing at being a shinobi that they named their group after it? Not that it made much of a difference. If these guys attacked her they were dead, funny name or not.

She never stopped paying attention to their positions and movements, but they actually waited for her to calm down before the leader tried again. How oddly considerate of them or maybe the guy just liked to hear himself talk that much.

"I said," he told her with a glare, " I am Shura of the Shinobazu and you are our pray. Usually I'd offer for you to give up all your valuables and run, but I'm afraid I'll need your head to get the reward."

Chikako blinked at him, a little stumped.

"My head?" She asked and he nodded at her Summoning Tattoo.

"You're not very stealthy for someone they call Wraith," he said smugly. "Monju saw the owl tattoo as well. Those are pretty distinctive marks. Not very smart to flaunt them when there's a price on your head."

"Who's paying? And how much?"

Could it be Iwa? Traveling by ship had been slow, but surely not that slow? She couldn't think of anyone else who'd want Wraith dead though.

He didn't answer. Instead his umbrella opened and a barrage of senbon flew at her. The chakra barrier was in place before Chikako had even really thought about forming it and a quick Body Flicker had her in the middle of the group with her wakizashi in hand. The first two guys were dead before they even realized where she had gone and a third followed soon after. When that one's corpse hit the ground though they finally sprang apart, surrounding her.

Some looked frightened, heaving realized they were in over their heads. Not the leader though. He thought they had her. Still nine. She'd hoped to get a few more with the first attack, but three weren't bad. No reason to let them get cocky though.

"I slaughtered every single guard in one of their high security prisons," she told them with a friendly smile. It took them a second to parse the words because the tone was so contradictory. Chikako used that pause to open the throat of another one.

"No manners those Iwa nin. Gave me a tiny room with the shittiest view," she slashed a fifth's hand off and then silenced his screams with a kunai, "so naturally I filed a complaint," she sliced a woman that that tried to attack her form behind open from hip to shoulder, "but those people aren't particularly hospitable."

And then there were six.

By now even Shura had realized that he wouldn't be getting any reward.

"Toki!" He shouted, while opening his umbrella to fire another barrage of senbon her way. They were just as useless as last time, but the others caught on quick and began throwing whatever they had at her. The cheerleader, Toki she presumed, did something complicated with a string. The pattern he'd formed between his fingers started to glow and then shot towards her. There was a lot of chakra in that single attack, but it wouldn't get past her barrier.

"Watch out!" Jiro suddenly shouted with a mad laugh, springing from the snow and launching himself at the cheerleader. She'd known he was still there of course, but she hadn't kept track of his exact position. Only enough to make sure the fight wasn't right on top of him.

Shura pulled the handle of his umbrella out, revealing that it was actually a sword and struck at the tanuki. Blood spattered the snow and because Chikako had to blow the projectiles flying at her away with a wave of chakra first all she could do was watch in horror. Jiro hit the ground like a stone, rolling twice before he stopped. Chikako was by his side a moment later, but the pool of crimson was already spreading. She vaguely noted that the group of shinobi used their chance to run away, but right then she literally couldn't have cared less about them.

"What were you thinking you little idiot," she whispered. Jiro was alive, but there was a lot of blood. His fur was so soaked with it that she couldn't even tell where the wound was.

"I wanted to help," he wheezed, "It looked like fun."

The admission was so purely Jiro that it startled a laugh out of her, but the sound was more desperate than happy. The last time one of her friends had jumped into a fight like that they hadn't made it out alive and she wasn't about to let that happen again.

"Are you going to heal if you go back to the Void?"

He nodded with a grimace. It could have been because of the pain, but the look in his eyes said otherwise.

"Don't lie to me twerp!" She chided, more harshly than she'd meant to.

"I, well ...," he coughed, not looking at her, "we have healers I just can't ..."

"Pay the price?" She guessed when he trailed off. His silence was all the admission she needed. "Give me a name Jiro."

"You can't-"

"I can and I fucking will. Give me a name."

Jiro pressed his teeth together, jaw muscles flexing, but gave up when a series of bloody coughs forced him to open his mouth.

"Anwei," he grumbled weakly. "He isn't nice though, be careful."

Chikako didn't even wait for him to finish the sentence. As soon as the name was out she bit her thumb, smeared the blood on the Summoning Tattoo and flooded the thing with chakra. Blood wasn't actually necessary she'd learned, but Jiro had told her using it was polite because otherwise the yokai wouldn't know who had called it.

The draw on her reserves when she though the name 'Anwei' was greater than what summoning her tanuki required, but not nearly as bad as calling on Kit. It took only a few seconds before the creature appeared. It's skin was darkened, with a greyish tint to it. Hair hung from it's head in clumps, the belly was bloated and the stench of rot clung to it. It looked like a dead man risen from the grave, but Jiro didn't seem surprised so she figured she'd called the right yokai.

"Heal him," Chikako commanded. The demon glanced between her and the wounded tanuki with it's shriveled up eyes and let out a raspy bark of laughter.

"I'll need a new pair of eyes," it said. Chikako didn't even try to bargain, there was no time.

"Fine," she snapped before Jiro could interject. "Now heal him."

"No, wait-" the tanuki started, but Anwei cut him off.

"The deal has been made, no going back," he singsonged and went to work. The whole process took mere minutes. Chikako couldn't even see what he was doing, but Jiro's chakra evened out quickly and no new blood stained the snow red.

"It is done," Anwei proclaimed after a last check. Chikako nodded to him as soon as she had made sure that Jiro was indeed okay and the instant she acknowledged the deal completed he vanished. Pain shot through her skull as if someone had driven nails into her eye sockets and she fell forward with a gasp. Jiro whined something, but she couldn't make out the words.

Chikako frantically grabbed at her face only for her fingers to come away bloody. There was nothing behind her lids. She immediately knew what had happened, but it took several more minutes before she actually believed it. Anwei had taken her eyes. There were fresh corpses in the snow all around her and Anwei had taken her eyes.

"Asshole," she forced out, even though she knew the fault lay with her for not specifying whose eyes he got. Cursing didn't really help with the pain, but it didn't hurt either and was a nice distraction, so she kept it up while she flooded her eye sockets with chakra to numb the feeling and heal what could be healed. "And to think I was worried Babyblue might scoop my eyes out with a spoon."

Jiro whined next to her.

"Are you okay?" She asked him. She'd checked, but she wasn't a medic and if he had internal injuries she wouldn't necessarily have been able to tell.

"I'm so sorry," he sobbed and then a wet, furry face pressed into her arm. Jiro clung to her as if she was a lifeline while he cried his little heart out.

"Are you okay?" Chikako asked again, more insistent. "Because if you aren't I'm going to call that fucker back and make him heal you properly."

All that did was make the tanuki cry harder though. At some point he forced out a 'fine' between hiccups, but mostly it was just incoherent rambling and apologies.

Chikako would have liked to pick him up and go somewhere less out in the open, but she'd need his help to navigate and he clearly wasn't up to that. So instead she cradled Jiro in her arms and created a chakra barrier around both of them, to help isolate them from the cold. He cried and apologized until his tears ran dry and his throat was too sore to keep talking, and then he fell asleep. Chikako took a deep breath and then released it again in a heavy sigh. Now she most definitely deserved a holiday.

. . .

Getting to Hot Water had taken approximately three times as long as it should have. Even without her eyes Chikako wasn't completely blind. She had the senses of a tracker after all and her sense of chakra came in especially handy. There was no danger she'd run into trees because every living thing had energy. She couldn't distinguish grass from the chakra that always surrounded them, but anything bigger was easy. For boulders or especially uneven ground on the other hand she needed Jiro to call out locations. So while she didn't have to walk at civilian speed she couldn't run all that fast either and she had to stay on the ground as well. Knowing were the trees were might not pose much of a challenge, the exact location of individual branches as well as their thickness were a different matter though.

Chikako couldn't sense details like that. She got a good feeling of the chakra itself and thus could tell humans, animals, summons and plants apart. Locations and distances weren't a problem either. If she had to describe what she sensed in visual terms however - which Jiro insisted she did - it was as if someone had smudged the world until things were blob-shaped at best and a foggy mass at worst.

The fact that Jiro started to apologize or cry whenever words like 'eye' or 'sight' were even vaguely implied only made things worse. She understood why he felt guilty, but in the end Chikako was the injured party and she didn't even hold a grudge. All she wanted was to work around her new disability so she could still protect them.

She'd only ever fought without using her eyes in training and that one time against Neji during the chunin exams. The latter of which didn't really count either, considering that she'd prepared a month for that fight and learned everything there was to know about her opponent's technique.

"Hey, Jiro," Chikako called out from her place in the hotspring. She was sitting in the shallows, while the tanuki played around with leaves, darting in and out of the water. "Can I transport myself to the Void the way you did while I was in Earth?"

"I told you that was Kit!" He huffed and then ducked his head as if waiting to be scolded. When no reprimand came after several seconds he apologized anyway. "Sorry. I mean if I could have done that on my own I would have called you much earlier."

"Is that a no then?"

"Maybe. I guess I could go back and ask Kit, but you could just summon him."

"I'm not sure I want him in the same dimension as me when -" she cut herself of before anythign about her current state of blindness could slip out, but Jiro's flinch said he knew perfectly well what she was about to say.

"He's my friend," Jiro told her a little indignant and then tacked on: "and he promised me not to kill you unless you attack him first."

"Have it your way then, but if he slaughters every citizen of Hot Water I'm blaming you." Not that there was anyone around to kill. Chikako had made sure to find some place abandoned to rest. She didn't know where exactly she was, but not too far from the border to Frost and nowhere near any settlements.

She bit her thumb and then smeared blood on the Summonign Tattoo, as was polite, before flooding it with chakra. This time it didn't take seconds. Kit appeared almost immediately, in his human form this time. The energy rushed out of Chikako so fast that it made her dizzy for a moment.

Her sensing depended on the amount of chakra something had when it came to how far away she could feel it. When it came to detail however the development of the pathways was the most important thing, which was why trees were mostly blobs, while humans appeared only somewhat out of focus. Jiro was barely better than a ninken, but Kit was incredibly easy to sense. She could even tell that he had his arms crossed to stare at her disapprovingly. Well, she could tell the former. The latter she inferred from the angry roiling of his chakra.

"Hi?" Chikako asked, unsure of why he was mad. "Did I interrupt something?"

"I told you not to trust yokai!" he hissed at her. "I told you there would be prices! And what do you do? The second I turn my back you -"

"That was my fault," Jiro interrupted him before he could shout himself into a frenzy. "I got hurt and she had to help me."

They switched to a different language then. Something that was more animal noises than words. Or at least Chikako thought it was a language. It was entirely possible they were just hissing and growling at each other. She tried to wait them out at first. After all she wanted to ask Kit for a favor, but after five minutes it still didn't sound like they would calm down anytime soon.

"Hey!" Chikako shouted to get their attention. "It's done and arguing about it won't change anything, so how about you help me live with it instead?"

It didn't sound like a polite request at all. In fact her tone had been more of a command if anything, but if Kit's chakra was any indication he approved. She still couldn't get a read on him or even guess at his motives, but he seemed to care about her well-being in some manner.

"What would you have me do then human? Get you another pair of eyes?" Kit snarled and yet there was none of his earlier anger left.

"I was just gonna ask you to help me with sensing. I figured you have to be good at that an manipulation chakra if you can use Fox Fire. My idea was to send out pulses of chakra in a similar way to how echolocation works," Chikako explained as reasonably as she could manage. "If the eye replacement thing is an actual option though I'd prefer that."

"Echolocation?" Kit asked. He sounded as if that was the last thing he'd expected. The confusion lasted only for a moment and then she caught that pleased note in his chakra again. It seemed he was all to willing to help as long as he wasn't expected to do all the work for her.

There was no bargain this time. All he'd asked of her so far was to take care of Jiro and allow him time outside of the Void. Since both conditions were already met he apparently didn't require anything else. At least that was how Chikako rationalized his behavior. She wasn't going to ask him, lest he decide he needed to save face and force a deal on her after all.

The only thing Kit demanded was that she figure out how to use the Fox Fire first. Then he accused her of lying to him when she told him she already had. Instead of repeating herself Chikako threw two orbs of blue flame at him. The kitsune looked so baffled that Jiro broke down laughing. Her little tanuki almost managed to drown himself too. While he rolled around, fits of giggles shaking his small frame, he managed to roll into the hotspring. There was a lot of splashing, from Jiro, and cursing, from Chikako, because Kit refused to fish him out again.

Of course once the kitsune had recovered he spent almost a whole day lecturing Chikako. Apparently her technique sucked, her control was barely adequate and she should be at least twice as fast as she was when molding chakra. She would have called bullshit, but if Kit was actually that much better than her that would explain how he could have killed the Iwa nin without her being able to tell what exactly he had done. All she knew was that he had used chakra, but that was it.

. . .

One day turned into two, then into a week and before she knew it the three of them had spent the better part of two month at a hotspring in the wilderness of Hot Water. Kit was just about the worst teacher Chikako had ever worked with. He didn't believe in breaks of any kind and that included sleep. It wasn't like he'd deliberately keep her awake, but he'd attack her at all times of night and day, to work on her reflexes as he claimed. If she had a chakra barrier in place strong enough he'd only make her fight him for a short time before he let her go back to sleep. If she didn't, however, he made her run and spar and practice until she keeled over from the exhaustion and then do it all over again.

His training was so intense that Jiro had to make sure there was food because Kit certainly wouldn't make time to let Chikako get any. By the time he declared that he needed to go back and check on his sister she was so glad to seem him go that she almost cried and then spent almost fourteen hours asleep.

Kit's assessment of her abilities had mostly been along the lines of: "I guess you don't completely suck, for a human." She couldn't even be angry with him because the only thing she'd gotten better at had been sensing chakra. He'd forced her to move around using treetops until she stopped getting smacked in the face by branches. Once she'd gotten the hang of that he made her move around a clearing to work on her echolocation idea. While an increasing number of Fox Fire orbs would chase her around, Kit would plant boulders in her path or dig holes or even throw stones at her.

Jiro had been furious in the beginning because of all the bruises she sustained during training, she even broke a finger once. Chikako had insisted they keep it up though. It wasn't fun. In fact she hated it, but Kit's method was clearly working. Being able to dodge projectiles she could neither hear nor see was a huge advantage. She couldn't read or write anything without her eyes, but at least she wouldn't kill herself by falling of a cliff either.

Chikako hadn't even realized how insecure she'd been and how defensive her fighting style had gotten until after she'd mastered the echo-, or rather chakralocation. Curiously enough Kit only mocked her for it once she could actually sense her surroundings well enough that it had reverted back to normal.

While he was oddly considerate where her lack of sight was concerned, he showed no such sentiments when it came to any other part of her training. No matter what she did or how much she though she had improved, Chikako was always too slow, had too little control, power and focus and was just generally a disgrace wasting his time. He belittled and insulted her. She never gave him the satisfaction of losing her temper though, mostly because she was too exhausted, but also because she'd asked him for help and she'd be damned before she sent him away. As long as he made her better it didn't matter how much of an asshole he was. Words couldn't hurt her unless she let them and by the end of training the same was true for sticks and stones.


	38. X - Orphans

**A/N:**

 _sarahmchugs_

It was supposed to be sudden, but I hope it wasn't too jarring to read.

What do you mean try to get new eyes? She can't just regrow them like she heals broken bones and she isn't a medical nin. So even if she'd wanted to it's not like she could have just walked up to one of the corpses and taken their eyes.

 _cassianaswindell123_

Jiro is way too cute to die. Also, don't worry too much about Chikako. She handles getting hurt herself way better than one of her friends getting hurt.

 _Peruna_

Thank you. I enjoy any kind of feedback and since it's not like I'm getting completely overwhelmed with reviews taking the time to answer is really no problem. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter (and Kit).

 _Diehard gamer_

Good, it was supposed to be unexpected. Things with the other yokai went well so far, but they can't all be nice and cuddly. I promise there will be plans in the future that actually work out the way they are supposed to (at least that's the plan).

Yes, technically her eyes did get ripped out. The eyeballs are gone, but there is no facial scarring or anything. Personally I think the worst part about the Witcher wraiths are their tongues. At least if we are talking Wild Hunt.

. . .

 **X - Orphans**

The next morning - or evening, Chikako really had no idea what time it was - she woke rested for the first time in weeks. Jiro had picked berries, collected nuts and even caught two fish for them to eat. He also seemed awfully chipper for someone who had done nothing but complain about her training since it had started.

The little tanuki practically vibrated with excitement while they ate, but he kept silent. At least until Chikako had swallowed the last bite. Then he pounced on her and she reflexively snatched him out of the air.

"Open your eyes!" He shouted, completely ignoring that he was dangling from his scruff. She had no idea what he expected to happen, but humored him anyway. If he was finally ready not to break down sobbing whenever the topic came up she was game. As soon as she did as asked however his mood completely changed. She could feel his whole body sag like a wet noodle and hear a low whimper from deep within his throat.

"Jiro?" Chikako asked carefully, not wanting to upset him any more than he already was.

"He said they'd come back!" Her little tanuki shouted and she realized that he'd completely expected her to have eyes again.

"Kit you mean? He probably didn't know any better. I do heal faster than most people after all."

"No! Kit doesn't lie and he said they'd come back!"

"Don't you think I'd know if that was true?"

"He doesn't lie!" Jiro insisted, but it sounded a lot more like defeat than defiance.

"It's not a lie if he actually thought so," she tried. It didn't help. Jiro was angry and sad and probably felt betrayed as well. This time he didn't start crying though. Instead he poofed out of existence and back into the Void. Chikako was a little startled by his sudden disappearance and half tempted to call him back before he did anything stupid. It wasn't like he had to answer her summons though. If he didn't want to come he wouldn't, so all she could really do was hope that her estimation of Kit was right and the kitsune wouldn't hurt her friend.

Chikako sighed as she stood up. Sometimes Jiro really was the yokai equivalent of a moody teenager. On the bright side, while he was busy having a temper tantrum she could go looking for the Shinobazu without putting him at risk.

Thanks to her training with Kit the journey back into Frost took no time at all. If anything she was faster than she had been before and it soon dawned on her that the kitsune had tricked her after all. He'd done to her exactly what she'd done to Neji during the chunin exams, only his deception had been so masterful that she hadn't noticed until now.

During training she'd had no one to compare herself to other than Kit and he'd made sure to always keep the gap between their apparent skill levels precisely the same. If she hadn't been so exhausted all the time it probably would have occurred to her that her subjective sense of getting better couldn't have been as wrong as he'd made it seem, but he'd kept her too busy to sleep, much less come to any conclusions.

Now though, while she was racing through the canopy, it was more than obvious. Blind though she was her steps were swift and sure. She didn't even have to think about where to step and because there was no field of vision limiting what she knew about her surroundings she was ready to dodge in any direction at any time, should the need arise.

Most shinobi, unlike civilians, knew that their world had three dimensions. They were used to moving on the ground and in the air. To them an attack from above or below was no more unexpected than one from the front or back. Even with that awareness though they tended to only consider what they could see when deciding where to go next. Humans were visual creatures at heart and they would always rely on their eyes most of all. There were the rare exceptions like Konoha's Inuzuka clan, who trusted their noses above all else, but that merely meant their limitations lay with a different sense. Only the best of the best managed to take all of their senses into account when making decisions and Chikako had never been that good to begin with.

Loosing her sight had forced her to rely more on sound, smell and chakra to move around, but that wasn't the same. When she'd asked Kit for his assistance she'd hoped he'd be able to help her compensate for the loss faster. Instead of merely working around her lack of sight though, the kitsune had made her a better shinobi. It wasn't perfect of course. No sense could ever entirely replace another one, but as far as fighting was concerned Chikako had everything she needed.

Still, she wasn't going to ask Kit for more training anytime soon. He'd taken Kakashi's title of 'worst teacher to ever walk the earth' with frightening ease and then set the bar so high that she wasn't sure anyone would ever be able to challenge him for the position. At least with her sensei she knew for a fact that he wouldn't let her die, by accident or otherwise. With Kit there was always a chance that he decided she wasn't worth his time anymore.

As far as Chikako could tell the kitsune approved of intelligence, cunning and ambition. Manipulation was fine, in fact he wasn't happy without any kind of verbal sparring or trickery, while at the same time abhorring outright lies. Apparently only idiots had to rely on things other than the truth and Kit seemed to consider stupidity a mortal sin - literally in some cases.

Outside of combat Chikako hadn't seen him interact with anyone other than herself, his sister and Jiro, but it was easy to tell that the kitsune did not suffer fools. During training she'd constantly had the feeling that she'd been walking a tight rope. He tended to give her a little slack whenever she misstepped, but unless she could prove that he'd underestimated her - like in the prison - he'd punish her for it. In fact, approximately sixty percent of her training had been punishment for failing something.

If Chikako had to rank her teachers she'd put Zabuza and Itachi at the top, followed by Ibiki, then everyone who had ever taught her anything, no matter how minor. At the very bottom of that list was Kakashi. Usually she'd end there, but now she'd have to expand the list to include every single person who might possibly ever teach her anything, so she could put Kit below all of them.

Of course if she had to rank them by effectiveness the kitsune and her sensei would be at the very top. They'd also share that place with Orochimaru, Danzo and every shitty thing that had ever happened to her, forcing her to learn quickly or die. Not exactly exalted company. Not that any of them were likely to care.

One positive aspect of Kit's training was that the degree of control she had achieved meant that she could now isolate her body against the cold of Frost. Which, unlike using chakra to keep her body temperature up, cost almost no energy because she could reabsorb most of it. It also came with the added bonus of automatically masking her scent and making sure nobody could sense her body heat either, which was nice because that way she didn't have to keep three different techniques up. The only drawback was that hiding what she was doing from sensor types was a little more complicated, but all things considered she preferred this method. Although the face Kit had made when she'd demonstrated how she'd done it before had been incredibly funny. He'd spent approximately thirty minutes ranting about imbeciles and savages, giving her a much needed brake.

In any case, Chikako was back in Frost and not freezing to death. All she had to do now was find the Shinobazu so she could pay them back for hurting Jiro. With a little luck there was even a bounty on their head so she could buy some actual food instead of hunting and gathering it herself. She still couldn't cook anything that tasted better than edible and without Sai to teach her that wasn't likely to change any time soon.

Her first stop was in the nearest village that had a police station. Frost was a small land and, even though they had a Hidden Village, their shinobi force was tiny. They didn't even have enough people to patrol their borders efficiently, which was why they frequently sourced out jobs to the police, foreign shinobi and bounty hunters.

The cut Frost took from those jobs was substantial, but with Konoha to the south-west and Kumo to the east there wasn't a lot of work going around for the minor players. They usually took what they could get without making a fuss. Gatsu, the bounty hunter she'd met in Hot Water, had said that Frost was one of his favorite countries. He'd get a job and once that was done he could visit Hot Water for a short vacation and then repeat. He did warn her to stay away from Lightning though. Apparently the Kumo nin thought of the border as more of a suggestion and annexed strips of land whenever they could get away with it.

The police station Chikako found herself in by midday, she guessed, was empty except for one very helpful officer and a few mice that hid in the walls. When she asked whether there was a price on the Shinobazu the woman was more than happy to share everything she knew about the group, including their last know location. She also informed Chikako that one of their members had been captured and that a team from Konoha was supposed to escort him to Shimogakure. She suspected that the group might try to interfere and free their comrade, but didn't know which route the foreign shinobi were likely to take. She actually apologized for that, which Chikako found rather funny.

Less entertaining was the prospect of running into a Konoha team. For a mission this simple the Godaime would have likely selected rookies. Not fresh genin though because those weren't supposed to fight other shinobi. Which of course meant there was a very good chance that it would be one of the teams that had attended the Academy with Chikako.

Last time she'd chosen not to engage. This job wasn't one for trackers though, so Hinata's team, meaning Kurenai, wouldn't have been assigned to it unless there had been nobody else in the village with the necessary combat qualifications at the time. Then again, logic hadn't stopped Tsunade from sending Team 8 into Bear, so Chikako was really just guessing.

If the genjutsu mistress was present she'd have to stay out of sight, but otherwise she could probably get away with helping out a little. The only other jonin with genin teams who were also likely to recognize her on sight were Gai and Asuma. Chikako was almost certain they would ask questions first and try to throw sharp things at her later, and with anyone else she could simply pretend to be a bounty hunter. Which was technically true at the moment, so Kit wouldn't even have a reason to skin her alive if he somehow got involved.

Decision made Chikako marched out of the police station and headed back towards the border to Hot Water. The officer hadn't been able to giver her a route, but she had been certain that the Shinobazu member had been captured in the Land of Fire, so that was where the team would come from. Of course even with a small country like Frost Chikako's senses couldn't cover more than a tiny fraction of the border, so she had to do a little more digging.

Since this was an official mission the Konoha team would have to check in with one of the outposts along the border. There were only a handful of those and if some random police officer had been informed about the prisoner transfer then the shinobi at the correct outpost had been as well. All Chikako would have to do was find the right one.

If she remembered her geography correctly there was a river that originated in Waterfall, made it's path through Iron, Fire and then Hot Water, before flowing into the Haran Bay. It wasn't a direct route by any means, but unless they meant to carry the prisoner or let him move around, going by water would be fastest. It would also mean that they wouldn't enter Frost through Hot Water, but rather use one of the port towns to the south.

That in mind Chikako traveled along the south-western border and didn't let the fact that no outpost on the way was preparing for visitors discourage her. After all, that just made it more likely that her assessment had been correct. Or really, really wrong, but she decided to be optimistic for a change.

She got distracted however before she could continue her journey to include the southern harbors. Chikako cursed and moved east, into the frozen forest. She'd just thought about Gatsu a little while ago and now she could sense him with a group of weaker signatures, probably children, as well as that of a massive animal. The bounty hunter was positioned defensively in front of the small group, but unless he'd learned a few new tricks Chikako was willing to bet it was mostly for show. He'd try to fight and maybe he'd even distract the animal, but then what? Gatsu was neither samurai nor shinobi. He didn't have the training to deal with something that big.

As she got closer the contours of the chakra signatures got sharper. The animal appeared to be a bear. The biggest one she'd ever heard of had weighed about eight-hundred kilograms. This thing would weigh in at at least twice that. Other than it's size though Chikako couldn't sense anything unnatural from the animal. Of course it could have been violently pink with spots of neon green and she wouldn't have been able to tell, so she'd reserve judgment for the time being. Right now the most important thing was to neutralize the threat to her friend and his charges.

Chikako used three Body Flickers in quick succession, chaining them so that the pauses ware barely even perceptible. Her eyes wouldn't have been able to keep up with that kind of speed, but her sense of chakra could and so all that limited how far she could go were the environment, how much strain she was willing to put on her muscles and how much chakra she could spare for the technique.

She arrived on the back of the bear, wakizashi already in hand. One forceful downward thrust had the black blade sinking into the animals neck, severing the spine. It's limbs gave out and the massive bulk of it's body crashed to the ground, the noise of the impact muffled by fur and snow. Chikako leaped off and finished the kill by laying her palm on the bear's skull and releasing a burst of chakra to turn it's brain into mush. She smelled lightly charred flesh and fur from where the burst of chakra had burned the animal and there was probably gray matter dripping from it's nose. Not the prettiest death, but fast and as painless as she could have made it.

She turned around to the group at her back as if to regard them, but the action was mostly habit. If nothing else then the cloth bandage she had wound around her head would let anyone know that she couldn't actually see anything.

Silence greeted her and the tang of fear hung in the air. Gatsu's posture had relaxed slightly at her arrival, but now it was as tense as it had been before. The children seemed delighted that they'd been saved, yet they stayed back without complaint at the bounty hunter's hand gesture.

"You okay?" Chikako asked. She'd opted for friendly, but all she'd managed was neutral. Even though she knew exactly where everyone around her was, interacting with this many people she couldn't see made her a little uneasy. Especially because one of them had a club pointed at her and the rest seemed to be carrying spears or staffs. Never mind the fact that not a single one of them actually posed a danger to her health.

Another beat of silence, then: "Foxlady?"

Gatsu sounded stumped. She'd bet his eyebrows had shot to his hairline and she could tell by the movement of his head that he was looking between her face and her tattoos. Chikako hadn't been sure he would recognize her at all, but it seemed the man's observational skills and memory were as good as he'd always claimed.

"It's Wraith now, you already know that though," she smiled in another attempt to calm him down. Chikako didn't know what exactly she'd expected him to do, but the wary step he took away from her wasn't it.

"I've got no trouble with you," he said, while at the same time gripping the hilt of his club with both hands, likely to keep them from shaking.

"Relax would you?" She frowned at him. "I don't know what you've heard, but I don't kill my friends and as far as I'm concerned we got along just fine last time."

He didn't move or say anything. She didn't either. His indecision was obvious and she'd give him however long he needed to make his choice. Chikako wasn't in too much of a hurry. The Konoha team wasn't expected until two days later, at the earliest. Her and Gatsu hadn't been the greatest of friends, but she liked the bounty hunter and he'd given her valuable information when she'd needed it. If nothing else she'd rather keep him as an ally, also she wanted to know what was up with all those children. Gatsu didn't seem like the babysitting type.

"Fine," the bounty hunter huffed. "Kids, meet my friend Wraith." And suddenly she was surrounded by an army of curious little humans. Half gushed about how cool her entrance had been, excitedly jumping up and down and asking her a million questions. Could she teleport? Why did Gatsu call her Foxlady or Wraith? She didn't look like either. Could she train them? How old was she? Would she be their new big sister? Meanwhile others complained about the cold and being hungry.

Chikako drowned them, and Gatsus laughter at her discomfort, out, hoping they would leave her alone faster if she didn't react. She really had no idea how to deal with all that energy. If was like a horde of little Jiro's on a sugar high, only worse. Then one of the kids said something about the Shinobazu. Her head snapped around to the little boy and he froze in shock. The sudden motion startled some of the children so badly that they yelped in surprise or jumped away from her.

"What about them?"

"Uhm ..." He trailed off and she really wished she could have seen his face. Telling when someone was lying, or in this case knew more than they were saying, and figuring out which questions to ask to get more information was so much easier with visual clues. Gatsu didn't let her not-quite-stare at the kid for long.

"The twerps here hired me to save a guy named Gantetsu," the bounty hunter told her. "We got a problem after all?"

"Depends, what's his relation to the Shinobazu?"

Gatsu heaved a sigh that sounded as if someone had just placed the weight of the world on his shoulders. He didn't start explaining though until Chikako agreed to come with him. Getting the children fed was apparently more important than making sure they weren't on opposite sides after all. She decided to take it as a sign of trust.

He led them out of the Forest and into the port town Chikako had initially been headed for. Judging by the way people stopped as they passed, heads tracking the group, she suspected they got more than one odd look. Gatsu by himself wasn't all that suspicious if one was willing to overlook the giant club. Chikako's outfit screamed shinobi though and she supposed a bunch of armed children weren't exactly normal outside of Hidden Villages either.

The bounty hunter didn't seem to care about all the attention they got, so Chikako didn't either. She wasn't trying to keep a low profile.

"So," Gatsu started once they'd all settled inside of a restaurant by the ocean and their food had arrived. "This Gantetsu guy is part of the Shinobazu. They break into houses, kill everyone they encounter, steal whatever they can carry and burn the rest.

"Right bunch of assholes if you ask me. Anyway, Gantetsu didn't like that they were killin' kids, so he started rescuin' the little buggers and hidin' them. They got a real place in the woods. There's like two dozen more of them out there, really young ones too.

"They told me Gantetsu wanted it all to stop, but he couldn't just leave because the Shinobazu would keep doin' what they were doin'. So he decided to let himself get caught in hopes that they'd come rescue him and get sacked as well."

"And the children?" Chikako asked with a frown. "Why rescue them at all if he was just going to leave them behind. Especially if some of them are as young as you say."

"Hey!" One of the girls chimed in. "Gantetsu was good to us! He gave us money and taught us to take care of ourselves and he said he was gonna come back as soon as they let him go!"

She seemed really upset and completely oblivious to the fact that the man would most likely be sentenced to death once he arrived in Shimogakure. He might not ever have completed his shinobi training, but to most Hidden Villages that didn't make much of a difference. Frost's ninja would consider him a traitor and that alone, even without taking his other crimes into account, was reason enough for an execution.

"Well, that's why they hired me," Gatsu reassured the girl when he saw Chikako's frown. "We wait until the other Shinobazu members are caught and then I free Gantetsu."

"You?" Chikako asked incredulously. "Just you?"

"What's that supposed to mean? I know I'm not some great shinobi, but I can take a few police officers. 's not like Frost got all that many ninja runnin' around."

"They sent a Konoha team with the prisoner Gatsu. That means you'll be facing at least three shinobi, probably four, and since they expect combat it won't be a group fresh from the Academy either."

"Damn it!" The bounty hunter cursed, slamming a hand on the table in frustration. "You sure? I kinda like the kids and I'd rather not go back on my promise to help 'em out."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Even if I wasn't though, the Shinobazu got some shinobi training as well, regular police can't deal with that or they would have already been caught."

"I like you Foxlady, but you're bad luck."

"It's Wraith and I'm really not," Chikako grinned at his grumbling, but affectionate tone. "I actually got a score to settle with the Shinobazu. Can't make any promises about your guy, but if you can get him out I won't stand in your way."

"You think that blond guy from last time is gonna be with the Konoha group? Kid was really annoying, but he made it all work out in the end."

"No," was all the answer she gave him, suddenly in a somber mood. Naruto probably would have been able to make this work as well, but as far as she knew he was still on his training trip with Jiraiya and would be for another year or so.

Gatsu easily picked up on her change in mood and didn't ask any more questions. Instead they shared what information they had on Gantetsu and the Shinobazu and made plans. Depending on which Konoha team was with the prisoner Chikako would either show herself or pick off her prey after the confrontation was over. In either case Gatsu and the children would stay at a safe distance and wait for their chance to get to Gantetsu.

They made a few backup plans and discussed contingencies, but nothing too detailed. It was good to be prepared, but by now Chikako knew first hand that no plan survived contact with the enemy and getting hung up on the small things would only be a waste of time. Good shinobi needed to be able to improvise and change tactics on the fly.


	39. X - Of Friends and Foes

**A/N:**

hisoka93 & Diehard gamer

Thank you. As of right now I'm undecided about the eyes.

 _Homarid_

Chikako didn't really get over anything, but she's a shinobi and she's used to fighting first and dealing with anything else second. You'll see what I mean if you can't already guess.

sarahmchugs

Ah okay, that makes more sense. I'm not going to treat eyes like Legos though. If Chikako really tried she could likely find a compatible pair of eyes and a medic willing to transplant them, but while that sounds easy it wouldn't be.

She is technically a missing-nin, which means no medic from any Hidden Village would help her (Suna being the exception, but they aren't really renowned for their medics). So she'd either have to find a civilian doctor with the necessary skill or a medic nin not affiliated with a village. Then she'd have to convince them to actually do the procedure and get the eyes. And after that is done she'd have to trust them not to sell her out to Earth or whoever else might have placed a bounty on her head by then.

So, not impossible, but there won't be any plug & play eye switching either.

. . .

 **X - Of Friends and Foes**

With Gatsu's knowledge of the area it took Chikako only a few hours to check out the most likely outposts. She found the correct harbor with time to spare, which was good because the Konoha team had arrived early.

"Figures," she laughed, waving for the bounty hunter and the children to hide. The Leaf shinobi tasked with escorting the prisoner where Gai and his team, so of course they would be early. And of course there would be a Hyuga present to make things especially annoying and all her planning useless. She'd probably offended some vengeful god in a past life or something. On the bright side, Chikako knew exactly where Neji's blind spot was and she hadn't forgotten a thing from her training with Hinata.

She left her hiding place by the pier to join Gatsu and let him know that he and the children would have to stay back in the port town and not just out of sight. There was no way she could hide all of them from a Hyuga as skilled as Neji. She'd already be gambling on the assumption that his blind spot hadn't drastically shrunk over the past eighteen months. Gatsu and the kids he insisted on dragging around with him would just have to follow a day delayed to ensure they weren't discovered. That would make getting Gantetsu harder, but the prisoner wasn't really Chikako's concern. She'd leave him alone like she'd promised, but that was it. her objective was to get the rest of the Shinobazu and to make sure that her friends stayed alive while she did it.

The latter should be easy enough. Gai alone was more than capable of protecting his team and dealing with the group if Chikako's last encounter was anything to go by. She'd taken the ninja wannabes on, one against twelve, and come out on top. Mostly. Technically Jiro's well meant, but spectacularly badly executed attempt to help probably meant she'd lost that fight. Not that anyone was keeping score. At least she wasn't. Her little tanuki was evidently still blaming himself. He'd been the one who'd gotten injured, but she'd agreed to a bad deal without even batting an eye, much less trying to negotiate. Chikako refused to blame him for that. She could handle not having her eyes, losing him on the other hand would have broken her.

No matter how bad the bargain with Anwei had been, she'd make the same choice again. Anything else might have resulted in Jiro bleeding out and that just wasn't a risk she was willing to take. She only wished her friend could cope better. In the end he wasn't the one who had to deal with the permanent consequences and she was afraid if he didn't get over it soon she'd snap at him. She'd paid the price for his stupidity. Chikako didn't even resent him for it, but he wouldn't understand that if she lost her temper.

It was a good thing that her little tanuki wasn't the most observant. She could focus on taking care of him and distract him from the guilt he felt, but she couldn't hide the way her head still turned towards sound to look for the source. Even after two month of blindness, every day she woke up she expected to see the world. Hell, even the bandage around her head was only there to cover up how her lids sometimes opened wide when she reflexively tried to look at something and remembered a second too late that she couldn't.

So far Chikako had mostly ignored the implications of being blind. The most important thing had been to keep Jiro safe and so she'd made sure she could. That was what had gotten her through Kit's grueling training and the exercise itself had kept her too exhausted to think much about anything else. Things were different now though. She wasn't helpless anymore and while her new objective was to hunt down the Shinobazu, that wasn't enough to keep her mind occupied. Now her thoughts wandered to the little notebook she would never read again, to Itachi's sad eyes, Naruto's broad smiles, Sasuke's sardonic smirks and Hinata's porcelain complexion that hid so much strength. If she ever got back home and Ibiki made her cookies, Chikako wouldn't even be able to tell him how ridiculous he looked in an apron. She'd never again see the mop Kakashi called hair or the way Shikamaru raised a single brow when he thought something was stupid, but was too lazy to actually say something. The owl tattoo on her wrist might as well not be there. If it suddenly vanished she wouldn't even be able to tell for crying out loud.

"Stop it," Chikako growled at herself, balling her fists until her nails bit into skin. There was no point in dwelling on what was lost. Her eyes were gone and life moved on, with or without her. She wouldn't hold out hope that she'd get them back and once Jiro was done shouting at Kit he needed to understand that too. They couldn't linger on the past because it was already over, all that remained was right now and tomorrow if she was lucky.

She was fine and Jiro would be fine, and she was going to tell that to herself and everyone else until it was true. All she needed to do now was learn from her mistakes and be better.

Chikako had wanted Wraith's reputation to live up to the name. Silent, unseen, there and gone before anyone even realized what had happened. A good shinobi. Just having a reputation at all went against the essence of what a ninja should be, but she was willing to trade complete anonymity for protection. A Hidden Village at her back, even if it wasn't her own, was worth a lot more than being nameless. Not to mention that Chikako had no illusions about her skill. She was an assassin and a tracker. With the element of surprise on her side she could take down opponents far stronger than herself, but without it she was at about the level of an average chunin in a fight. Far from useless, but nowhere near the top of the food chain.

As things were Wraith needed to be more than a ghost. Jiro should have known better than to jump into that fight and he'd likely never do something that reckless again, but that wasn't enough. The Shinobazu should have never dared to attack her friend in the first place.

When people heard names like Copy Ninja or Demon of the Hidden Mist they thought twice before making their move, and more often than not that move consisted of running in the other direction. When they saw Itachi's eyes or felt Orochimaru's killing intent fear froze them in place, nothing but prey in the face of an apex predator. If Chikako wanted her friends safe then the world needed to know that Wraith would eliminate whoever hurt them. She had enemies, no matter how distant, and Wraith needed to become a nightmare capable of scaring her monsters away.

After Sai's death she'd hunted down Haido and his two lieutenants, and even though there had been several witnesses that story hadn't spread. Yet after her escape from Earth people on the other side of the continent had heard rumors about Wraith. Chikako had been taught to kill fast and clean and destroy all evidence after she was finished. That was what a good shinobi did. Get the job done and make sure nobody ever knew you had been involved. But good shinobi weren't people. They were weapons. Tools that acted at the behest of their master with no opinions or agency of their own.

Ibiki had been a good shinobi, and then his brother had betrayed the village and he'd helped cover up that Idate was still alive. Kakashi had been a good shinobi, and now he was a broken shell of a man and she still didn't know why. Itachi had been a good shinobi, and then he'd slaughtered his clan and become one of the most feared missing-nin alive. Sai had been a good shinobi, then he'd made the decision not to kill a friend and now he was dead.

They were her friends and her family. They'd taught her and taken care of her, and every single one of them had decided that being a good shinobi wasn't worth it. Maybe it was an unachievable ideal. Neither Danzo's forced compliance, nor Haku's willingly given loyalty had made for perfect soldiers. Maybe there were no good shinobi. And maybe Chikako didn't care anymore.

Her teachers had all given her words, rules, guidelines, but she was done listening. Instead she'd examine their actions. Ibiki insisted on the rules, yet when his family was on the line he broke them without a second's hesitation. Kakashi considered those that left their team behind scum, yet when he'd thought they would die in Wave he'd ordered Team 7 to flee without him. Zabuza had insisted shinobi were nothing but tools, yet he cared for Haku. In the end they were all fucking hypocrites and Chikako loved them for it.

. . .

The Konoha team was greeted by local police almost immediately after arriving in the port town, but it took a good hour before the prisoner, in a surprisingly big metal cage, had been unloaded and formalities been taken care of. Time Lee used to walk the streets on his hands and generally make a nuisance out of himself. To avoid him Chikako had to change her hiding spot so often that she was willing to bet he wasn't just being an idiot. There was no discernible pattern to his route, but he still somehow managed to cover any spot that would have allowed for an ambush in semi-regular intervals.

His fashion choices were probably as horrendous as she remembered, but nobody could claim that he wasn't competent. Not even Neji, who had been subtly activating his Byakugan every few minutes to take a look around, thereby greatly limiting Chikako's ability to dodge Lee. Since she could only mask her chakra to match the environment, or in this case civilian levels, but not hide her pathways completely from the Hyuga's dojutsu, she had to remain in places a civilian would reasonably be. There were a lot of people in and around the harbor, so as long as she didn't do anything suspicious it didn't matter whether he noticed her presence. Still, not being able to hide on rooftops and the like was making Chikako antsy. Especially because she couldn't tell for certain if someone was looking in her direction with nothing more to go on than the position of their head, and so constantly had to stay on the move.

She should probably get some kind of coat or something to hide her shinobi gear. While the locals were used to foreign ninja walking their streets they still tended to give her odd looks if she stayed too long in one place. Nobody actually did anything of course, but it would still draw the Konoha team's attention, so she couldn't just sit down somewhere and wait them out.

Once the team had managed to load Gantetsu's cage onto a wagon, drawn by two horses, Gai decided it was dime to leave for Shimogakure. Tenten walked ahead, leading the animals by the reigns, while Gai and Lee took positions to either side of the wagon and Neji made up the rear.

The police officers had wanted to accompany the team the whole way, but after several polite refusals hadn't yielded any results Gai had put his foot down. They would only be in the way if the Shinobazu attacked and had no purpose otherwise. He didn't formulate it like that of course, but the message was clear. In comparison to other shinobi countries Frost had a significantly higher number of civilian police and it seemed their opinion of ninja bordered on hostile, at least where foreigners were concerned. It made Chikako wonder why the woman she had asked about the Shinobazu had been so helpful. Not that it made a difference now.

Chikako left the village shortly after Gai's team. Neji was a strong fighter, but it seemed he hadn't learned much from their encounter during the chunin exams. Over the past hour he'd activated his Byakugan several times. Every eight minutes and twenty-three seconds to be precise. It was a randomly chosen time frame to be sure and the length of time he kept the dojutsu active differed, but once he deactivated it precisely eight minutes and twenty-three seconds passed before he used it again. Most shinobi would have to watch him to see the pattern, which meant he'd in turn notice them, but to any sensor type the flaring of chakra around his eyes would be obvious.

"Limited by sight," she mused quietly.

Once the Konoha team was gone Chikako waited out the rest of the time it took for Neji to actiavte and deactivate the Byakugan again before she started to follow them. Because of the wagon they had to move on the ground and since none of them were sensor types she could easily cover the distance between them before eight minutes were up.

The second Chikako was far enough from the port not to be seen she used several Body Flickers to get as close to the team as she could without anyone noticing. Since they expected an attack they'd be on high alert, so she opted to ran the last kilometer through the trees just to be safe. The amount of chakra required to make sure she didn't smack into anything or miss a branch was tiny and easily masked and in conjunction with her other stealth techniques it took her only a little over six minutes to catch up with no one being the wiser.

Two minutes until she needed to act.

Now Chikako knew for a fact that she was faster than both Neji and Tenten, but with Gai and Lee it was more about reaction time. She had outpaced Gai with a Body Flicker before, but if she dropped down to the ground he'd likely take her head of before she could decide on her next move. As soon as Chikako made herself known she wouldn't get any more time to think or plan. That meant figuring out exactly what she was going to do beforehand and then just acting. That could end up really embarrassing if she miscalculated, but for now the Konoha team was moving at a steady pace. Their discipline as a team was impeccable, which of course meant with enough information it would be relatively easy to predict their reactions to just about anything.

Shikamaru would have probably been able to come up with the perfect sequence of motions to achieve what Chikako wanted within a few seconds. She didn't have his mind for tactics though and not enough time to work out every minute detail on her own. She'd have to rely on her knowledge of basic shinobi training, instinct and her speed instead.

The average human needs about two hundred milliseconds to react to a stimulus. Auditory stimuli require a little less time than visual ones, and shinobi were generally twice as fast as the average human. Of course these times were only true when one already knew how to react. For example if a ninja was told to push a button as soon as a green light appears they could do that with only about one hundred milliseconds delay. Under normal circumstances one was rarely told what kind of signal to expect and how to react though. That alone would give Chikako extra time. Add to that her stealth techniques and she should be good. The Camouflage would break the instant she used a Body Flicker, but she'd still be practically non-existent to all other senses and if she did it right she'd be too fast to be visible.

Then again, if she didn't she'd land flat on her face and probably break a few bones. Just dropping down and saying hello seemed kind of tempting when she thought about it. It wasn't necessarily the safest option though.

Thanks to Gaara Konoha shinobi had been instructed not to engage Wraith unless attacked, but they weren't required to aid her in any way and might not let her tag along until the Shinobazu arrived. After all she was also Chikako, and Chikako was a defector. Gai may or may not decide to play nice and she'd only get one chance to convince him. Saying hello would put her at his mercy and, while she liked the man, she wasn't willing to give him that much power when she didn't have to. Instead she'd treat him like she would a stranger. A little demonstration of her own would prove that she was both able to take out his team and had chosen not to, which was just about the best peace offering she could make without baring her own throat.

It was risky, rude and reeked of Kit, but it was also the best tactic as far as she was concerned. Gai had been friendly with her because of Kakashi, but he'd already doubted her after what had happened with Itachi. Back then he'd defended Chikako when Kurenai had accused her of being a traitor, now there was really no telling what position he'd take.

She watched the group move for another minute and then, thirty seconds before her time was up, let herself drop down right next to Neji. Her Camouflage rippled and faded with the sudden change in motion, but her chakra claws were already formed and she nicked his throat without any kind of resistance. Three Body Flickers later Lee and Tenten as well had very shallow cuts on their necks and Chikako had put some distance between her and them.

It looked really good in an I-could-have-killed-all-your-students-in-less-than-a-second-but-was-nice-enough-not-to kind of way. That wasn't true of course, but as long as Gai didn't know that all was well. She most definitely could have gotten Neji, but actually ripping his throat out would have taken a lot more time. The only reason this had worked at all was because, unlike Team 7, Gai's team was disciplined enough not to move all over the place on an escort mission. They walked at a steady pace. Steady enough to simply hold up a hand and plan out two consecutive Body Flickers in such a manner that she'd hit them somewhere in the neck region and then use a third to get away before anyone had registered what was going on.

"Long time no see," Chikako said, holding up her hands and letting the claws fizz out. Her head was turned approximately in Gai's direction, but he probably didn't care how well she could sense him. The man was bristling with anger before his students had even realized that there was blood on their throats and then he was right in her face.

Chikako instinctively called up a chakra barrier the instant he started to move, but he was even faster than she'd feared. Luckily it turned out to be unnecessary. Instead of hitting her in the face Gai crushed her in a hug so tight it had her gasping for air. A second later Lee was crushing her from the other side and she only vaguely registered the shriek Tenten let out when she saw the red on Neji's neck.

"Air," Chikako wheezed, not quite convinced they weren't trying to choke her to death after all. "Please."

Lee immediately let go, profusely apologizing and telling her how good it was to see her again. Gai on the other hand squeezed her a little tighter before he sat her down. Okay, she got it, he could have broken her back. Did that mean they were even?

"A simple hello would have sufficed Chikako-chan," he told her earnestly, "but I shouldn't be surprised considering you are my eternal rival's favorite student."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I wasn't entirely sure about my welcome."

"And you thought making threats was the best way to go about things?" Gai asked her with a raised eyebrow. Tenten was tense, stance wide and ready for action. She was clearly weary, whereas Neji's body language and chakra were completely calm and Lee seemed torn between joy and sadness. Chikako offered them a shrug.

"As opposed to putting myself at your mercy without having any indication of how you might react you mean?" The question sounded bitter and Gai flinched as if she'd slapped him in the face, but she wasn't done yet. "I've been forced out of my home because one of my friends had been ordered to assassinate me. We spent months on the run and then my sensei was sent after us. Now Sai is dead and I am blind, so please excuse me if I wasn't entirely sure whether you'd want to ask questions first. Kakashi certainly didn't."

"He tried to kill you?" Gai asked, completely ignoring everything else. He sounded so shocked it took the wind out of her sails.

"No," Chikako grumbled, letting her head hang in defeat, "he didn't, but it was really damn convincing before I figured out what he was actually doing. How is he?"

"Reasonably well I'm told," Neji said at the same time as Gai admitted that he hadn't seen his friend in weeks. The jonin's head snapped around, presumably to stare at his student, but the Hyuga didn't elaborate. Chikako frowned at him for a moment, then she remembered what Shikamaru had told her. Hinata was working with T&I, which meant she had contact with Ibiki, and as head of the department he could keep an eye on ANBU activity.

There was a beat of silence while Gai stared at Neji, but it didn't last long. The jonin had either decided to trust him or shelve the topic for a later discussion. His head moved in Tenten's direction next and then his focus was back on Chikako.

"So, Wraith?"

"Long story, I'd appreciate it if you could use that name for your reports though."

"And what exactly will we be reporting?"

"I don't really care, just as long as you make sure Chikako stays dead. I don't want Kakashi to get in trouble."

"Then why show yourself at all?"

"The Shinobazu. They hurt a friend of mine, so I'm taking their heads."

That statement was followed by more silence. Tenten seemed to tense up even more if at all possible. The girl hadn't said anything yet and apparently couldn't decide whether she was disgusted by Chikako or afraid of her. Gai's and Neji's chakra signatures on the other hand had taken on a somber note that said they understood exactly what she was doing and why.

"I see," Gai told her. His body language didn't give anything away, she could tell that he'd forced himself to sound neutral though. The jonin would help, or at least not stand in her way, but he didn't approve. Konoha wasn't big on revenge. Something Neji knew all too well, considering his father was dead because the Sandaime had decided not to go to war after Kumo ninja had attempted to kidnap Hinata. Instead leadership, the clan's and the village's alike, had decided sacrificing Hizashi Hyuga would be the best course of action. It certainly cost less lives, but it was the very definition of turning the other cheek. Not only had there not been any kind of retribution, Konoha had even given in to Kumo's bullshit demand of restitution because their head ninja had been killed while trying to abduct a little girl.

The Village Hidden in the Leafs had a reputation for being the nice. Civilians and shinobi got along. Ninja laid down their lives to protect the Land of Fire and it's people and didn't demand anything in return. After the Uchiha Massacre the police force hadn't even been reinstated and people like Danzo and Orochimaru where shoved so far under the rug that not even the Hokage seemed to know about all the monsters that were crawling around in the shadows. Well, maybe Sarutobi had, but Tsunade certainly didn't. To the world, Konoha was peace and friendship and stability. The village had a number of shinobi that were well known for their skill, but as a whole the military wasn't regarded as too much of a threat. Too nice, too noble, no backbone.

Chikako's generation of rookies had so many clan heirs and prodigies that it was easy to forget that wasn't the norm. The academy training was rudimentary and little more than daycare when compared to places like Kiri. Yet Konoha was rotten to it's core. The village's reputation brought in a lot of missions, but to the other Hidden Villages it reeked of weakness. Invaded by a traitor, betrayed by an ally nation, with whom they'd almost immediately agreed on another alliance, and the Godaime was a drunk gambling addict with a nasty temper and had technically been a defector herself.

Being able to fight was important, being able to avoid fighting even more so. The invasion during the chunin exams had failed, but many lives had been lost, buildings destroyed and there was no telling who might have used the chaos and shortage of staff afterwards to loot, spy or kill. Konoha had seemed weak enough that a single man had felt confident he could take it and if Gaara hadn't blown the plan by running off, who knew what might have happened. A rampaging jinchuriki in the residential district certainly would have left a few marks.

Chikako was officially dead and she needed to stay that way until she knew coming back wouldn't put Kakashi or anyone else she cared about in danger. Wraith didn't have the same problem though. She could become something that struck fear into the hearts of her enemies to ensure nobody would dare go near her friends. The story about her escape from the Earth prison had apparently already made rounds in the bounty hunter community and since no one knew what had actually happened it was blown wildly out of proportion. Killing the Shinobazu would only add to that growing reputation if she handled it right and Chikako intended to make it memorable.


	40. X - So it Begins

**A/N:**

 _sarahmchugs_

Hope you aren't disappointed. My updates are mostly fast because the chapters are pretty short and writers block hasn't tried to hit me over the head yet.

 _Elise142_

Thanks for taking the time to comment and I'm glad you like the direction the plot is going in.

 _Diehard gamer_

Well, let's see what you think after reading this chapter. It might not be exactly what you were hoping for, but should still hit the mark.

 _soapsopas_

Thank you very much and welcome to the dark side (or something).

That bit about Konoha being the better liars is one of my favorites as well. I always think it's curious how characters in these kinds of stories tend to just accept the way things are without questioning anything. In Naruto we are told Konoha is nice and that's it, even though there are countless mentions of people like Kakashi or Minato who are famous for slaughtering a bunch of people.

. . .

 **X - So it Begins**

Chikako sat on top of Gantetsu's cage, legs folded beneath her. So far the man had reacted to absolutely nothing that had happened and she didn't know whether to be impressed or pity him. He'd committed to a path, knowing perfectly well that it would lead to his death, and now he was just waiting for the end to come. Maybe he'd change his mind, beg and plead when finally faced with his executioner, but she didn't think so. He seemed stubborn and proud enough to greet the reaper, shoulders squared and head held high.

What ultimately happened to him still wasn't any of her business, but she hoped Gatsu would get him out. The bounty hunter would be devastated if he disappointed the children and, while Gantetsu might have started out as nothing but a lowlife shinobi dropout, he was a guardian now. Those kids loved him despite the crimes he'd commited with the Shinobazu and from what they'd told her he was doing his damnedest to actually earn their trust.

She realized that the only reason she cared about the man at all was because he reminded her of Kakashi and Ibiki, but that didn't change the fact that she did indeed care. Chikako let out a defeated sigh that had everyone glancing at her, but they didn't ask and she didn't feel like explaining. If looked at from the right angle both Kakashi and Ibiki were awful human beings. One was a killer, a mass murderer even, and the other was a sadist who tortured people on a daily basis. No person had only one side though.

These two men were capable of horrible deeds and committed them without even batting an eye. They had also taken care of and raised a frightened child and given her the means to protect herself, each in their own way. They'd taught her and protected her without ever asking for anything in return, and Gantetsu was the same way.

Chikako wouldn't risk making Gai her enemy by interfering, but if she could help the man in any other way she probably would. She wasn't one of his children and he wasn't her guardian, but she appreciated what he was doing. He was a single man in a hostile world, trying to crawl out of the muck that was his past. The least she could do was throw him a rope.

"I'll make sure they don't get of easy," she said to no one in particular. He'd heard her before, when she'd mentioned the Shinobazu to Gai, but this promise was just for him. Gantetsu was gambling his life, hoping that he could drag the gang down with him, but it wasn't a sure thing. Any number of unforeseen circumstances could arise to mess with his shoddy plan and he'd have no way to do anything about it. For Chikako things were different though. She had a score to settle and the means to do it. It was an easy promise to make. One that meant nothing to her and everything to him.

"Thank you," Gantetsu rasped. His voice was deep and rough, like stone grinding on stone. Lee's head actually whipped around to stare at the man and Chikako suspected those were the first words he'd said in a while.

"Stop staring, it's rude," she chastised. Her smile turned into a grin when Lee sputtered.

"I ... I didn't, stare that is, I didn't stare," he exclaimed as if she'd caught him doing something horrible.

"Oh please, I'm not blind," Chikako shrilled in mock outrage. "I know what I saw!"

She certainly wished she did. If Neji's chocked off laughter was any indication Lee's expression had to be priceless. The boy was making gasping noises and gestured wildly with his arms while trying to come up with an answer that wasn't offensive. Chikako managed to orient her head in his direction and pretend to glare for almost three full minutes before she broke down chortling. The Hyuga evidently had better self control, but only just. Also, he was cheating by pressing a hand to his mouth to keep quiet.

"It's fine Lee," Chikako finally managed, "I'm just fucking with you." She waved a hand in front of her eyes for show. "See? Completely blind."

He regarded her in silence for a moment, as if unsure whether she was being truthful now or still making fun of him. She didn't quite understand why though. Hadn't he heard her earlier when she'd told Gai that she was blind? Actually, even if he hadn't the bandage around her eyes should have been a good indication.

"But how ...?" He started, only to trail off, gesturing helplessly from her to his teammates.

"The same way she fought me," Neji interjected before Chikako could say anything. There was a warning in his tone that surprised her. It wasn't directed at her either. He was telling Lee not to pry. She wouldn't have explained how exactly she was able to sense her surroundings accurately enough to move around freely. Shinobi didn't share secrets like that because as soon as someone understood how you were doing something they could exploit it and use it against you. Chikako could have easily told Lee that it was none of his business or come up with a vague explanation. He'd have understood, but it was good to know Neji had her back.

It was also odd. She had suspected that he was grateful for her role in saving Hinata during the invasion, and him when Sasuke had defected, but they weren't friends. She'd done none of those things for him. He had merely happened to be there at the time and it would have made absolutely no difference to her if it had been anyone else.

A tiny spike in Gai's chakra told her he'd noticed his student's curious behavior as well.

Neji on the other hand had smoothly shifted back into guard duty, ignoring all of them. Was he even aware that he'd just taken the side of a defector over that of his teammate? Not only that, he'd stepped in of his own accord, making his opinion known and drawing a line in the sand when there had been no need to do anything at all. Instead of simply keeping silent, which would have been perfectly acceptable seeing as he hadn't even been part of the conversation, he'd gone out of his way to defend her. And against nothing more nefarious than a curious question to boot.

It reminded her somewhat of the way Shikamaru sometimes acted with Choji. Usually the Naara couldn't be arsed to do anything more than was absolutely necessary, but if someone came after his friend, be it verbally or physically, he always stepped in long before things could escalate.

Chikako wasn't sure whether Neji had deliberately taken a side though.

Maybe he felt he owed her, maybe he was acting in accordance with what he thought Hinata would want, or maybe there was more to it. She couldn't figure it out and none of the others seemed to know either. As far as she could tell Gai was glad that she was alive, but his concern mostly stemmed from her relation with Kakashi and not because he cared about her personally. Lee on the other hand was like an eager puppy that hadn't seen it's owner in ages. He didn't care about the circumstances at all and was simply happy to see her, whereas Tenten hadn't relaxed since Chikako had shown her face. The girl hadn't said anything, but her body language made it clear that she wanted Chikako gone. The sooner the better. She wouldn't act against her sensei's orders, but she didn't try to hide her thoughts on the matter either. Tenten thought of Chikako as a defector and that wouldn't change anytime soon.

Together with Kurenai that made at least two Konoha shinobi that personally knew Chikako and had branded her a traitor. There was also Choji, who had taken Shikamaru's lead in Wind, but was at the very least wary of her. Chikako didn't particularly care what they thought of her, but that didn't mean their opinions didn't matter. They were ninja, either in a position of power themselves or with ties to powerful people and that meant they could make her life harder than it needed to be. Konoha was a military dictatorship and technically that meant the acting Hokage could do whatever they wanted, but in real life a leader was only a leader as long as people were willing to follow his or her orders. If Chikako ever wanted to go home she'd need permission and a pardon, and Tsunade wasn't likely to risk her head for a single shinobi if that meant pissing of the people that kept her in power.

There was nothing Chikako could do about that now though, especially not while she needed Wraith to be feared. So instead she concentrated on other things as she waited for the Shinobazu to make their move. Since Neji seemed to be both the most knowledgeable and willing to help of her current companions Chikako spent her time asking him about the things she'd missed and what her friends had been up to. The amount of details he shared, even unprompted in some cases, was impressive. And again, surprising not only to her, but Gai as well.

It seemed lately Neji had spent more time watching Chikako's friends than he had training with his team, and he wasn't even ashamed to admit it. He walked Hinata to and from her work at T&I whenever he could. He played shogi with Shikamaru at least once a week. His duties just happened to lead him past the Inuzuka compound on a regular basis so that he could trade a few insults with Kiba and if he was sometimes spending his nights on a rooftop and saw a particular ANBU with a dog mask that was certainly nothing more than a coincidence. Hell, he even mentioned Izumo and Kotetsu as well as some rumors about a blond boy, an old man and giant frogs that was so comically stupid that it had to be true.

It was more than she'd asked for, more than she'd hoped even, too much really. Chikako wanted to know why he felt like he had to keep tabs on her people. Wanted to tell him that he didn't owe her, but that wasn't a conversation she was willing to have with an audience. She also couldn't afford to turn allies away. So all she said was "thank you," shortly followed by "stay out of my way," when the Shinobazu interrupted their conversation.

Chikako had known they were there long before anyone else, but she hadn't said anything to warn the others. For one she'd wanted Neji to finish the story about how timid, little Hinata had gotten into a shouting match with Ibiki of all people and for another she'd wanted the Shinobazu to see Gantetsu so they had a reason not to turn tail and run if things went bad.

There were eight this time. Two more than she'd expected, but then Gantetsu hadn't been with them when they'd attacked her either. Nobody actually seemed to know how big the group was, but it couldn't have too many members or they wouldn't be such small fish in the crime world. There was an easy way to make sure she got all of them though.

"Anyone missing?" Chikako asked and Gantetsu laughed. It sounded like a rockslide.

"No, there's actually a couple extra."

An odd couple too. Neither of them were shinobi and while they stood right next to each other there was a clear gap between them and the rest of the Shinobazu.

"That's her right? Wraith?" A female said and it took Chikako as second to realized that it was the helpful police officer. Well, that certainly explained a few things. The woman had sold her out and the Shinobazu apparently thought they could kill two birds with one stone. She didn't know how the civilian man was involved in all this, but she could decide what to do with him later.

"I already knew you were stupid, but this is just painful," Chikako taunted, "or it certainly will be."

As she spoke six pale blue flames flickered into existence behind her, one for each of them. They danced around in a circle and then, without any warning, shot forward to smack their respective targets right in the chest. For a moment nothing happened. The confusion was almost palpable. After all what use was cold fire that didn't even hurt?

The wary silence lasted exactly as long as it took the flames to burn through Chikako's chakra and latch on to that of her victims instead. Then the forest was suddenly filled with earsplitting screams. A flock of birds that had been resting in the canopy a few meters from their position was startled into flight. their distressed noised were nothing against those of the Shinobazu though. Monju, the one she'd referred to as cheerleader because of his ridiculous clothes, went to his knees first. He rolled around on the ground, clawing at his chest as if he could put the fire out that way and the others soon followed his example. But of course nothing they did helped.

Fox Fire was specifically designed for exactly this purpose and Kit had made sure that Chikako knew how to use it to it's fullest potential. Holding six individual flames simultaneously still took a lot out of her. It wasn't her chakra burning, but she needed to concentrate to keep the technique going. Each flame had to be tuned to the person it was attached to, otherwise she might lose control of them. If they burned too slowly they could wink out, which would just be embarrassing. Even worse however was if they burned through the chakra too fast. There was a chance they could jump to another source of fuel, the same way electricity could jump between two objects, even if they weren't connected by anything other than air. It was a disaster waiting to happen, which was why Chikako hadn't bothered with much small talk before taking the Shinobazu down. That way there were far enough away that she could get herself and Gai's team out of reach if necessary.

Keeping control of the flames wasn't the only thing that could go wrong though.

While six bodies twisted in agony on the ground in front of her, there were four restless people at her back and none of them seemed pleased with what was happening. Granted, Chikako wasn't either, but that didn't mean she was going to stop. One of them might decide to act though and she couldn't have that.

There were only two people present that could easily free the Shinobazu members from their agony. Chikako, because it was her technique, and Neji, because his Byakugan allowed him to see what she was doing and with the Gentle Palm he could in theory cut off the chakra flow of her victims and thereby take a way the fire's fuel. Well, actually, that wasn't quite true. In theory anyone could attack her and stop what was happening. If she lost her concentration while the flames were under her control they would wink out of existence as fast as they had appeared.

She was prepared for that eventuality though. If Gai, or any member of his team, interfered she'd call on Kit. In fact, if Chikako could have been sure the kitsune would listen to her she'd have summoned him to play with the Shinobazu. Unlike her, inflicting pain seemed to be something he enjoyed a great deal. As it was, however, Kit was a wildcard. She was reasonably confident that he wouldn't turn on her, but she was also sure that he'd ignore her if it came to a fight and she told him to stop. She wouldn't back down from this though and Gai needed to know that.

"I wasn't making empty threats earlier," she told the jonin, having to raise her voice to be heard over the screaming, "stay out of this or I can't promise you'll be leaving alive."

"This isn't you Ch-" he said, stumbling over her name and then snapping his mouth shut before he could actually say it. Disapproving, but still respecting what she'd asked of him. There was probably an imploring look that went with that statement and for once Chikako was glad she couldn't see it. He was right, this wasn't her. She hated every second of it, but it had to be done and he needed to stay out of it.

Her voice was hard and uncompromising when she told him: "It is Wraith, someone who, might I remind you, your are not to engage unless attacked."

Gai clenched his hands into fists and she was pretty sure he was grinding his teeth as well, but he remained in his position next to the wagon. Tenten was a different matter though. The girl was livid and this had been the last straw.

"How dare you?" She screamed, rounding on Chikako. "This is disgusting and I will not be party to it!"

Tenten made to lunge at her, but smacked face first into a chakra barrier. There was a crunching noise and the pained moan that followed told Chikako that the girl had probably broken her nose. The screaming of her victims had lessened for a second though, making it obvious that interrupting her concentration would stop the torture. Chikako didn't need to see the determined look of comprehension in Tenten's eyes to know what came next.

"Final warning," she told the girl, infusing her voice with cold steel. "I'm not a brawler. If you attack me again there won't be an extended fight in which you can figure out what to do. I'd rather not piss Gai of any more than I already am, but if you make another move, I promise I will kill you before you can so much as blink."

Tenten didn't freeze up. In fact, she didn't even seem deterred by the threat, but Lee didn't give her a chance to do anything stupid. He was just suddenly behind his teammate and half a second later the girl was unconscious.

"I don't like this," he told Chikako quietly. "I don't even understand why you have to do it, but I trust you."

And that was that. He picked up Tenten and then stood by while six people were slowly tortured to death. He didn't even try to convince her that there was another way or demand any kind of explanation. That kind of trust? It was an incredible gift. One she hadn't earned and couldn't help but condemn as weakness.

This was exactly why Konoha had been invaded. Why Orochimaru had been able to kidnap and experiment on children for years, and why Danzo could command an army of spies and traitors while sitting on the council.

Trust was the most precious gift one person could give to another, but doing it blindly was practically begging to be betrayed. Neither Lee nor Neji should be loyal to her. They shouldn't just stand by while she did something this disgusting. The Shinobazu were enemies and they had attacked, but nobody deserved this kind of agony. Chikako wasn't just defending herself. She wasn't even just assassinating someone. This was torture, plain and simple, and it's only purpose was to inflict as much pain as possible.

Yet they stood by and did nothing.

They hadn't seen her in months. Didn't know what she had been doing. They hadn't even been her friends before she had defected, but somehow they trusted her to have noble reasons. Who did that? Chikako had helped them out, been friendly with them, but that was it.

It pissed her off how easily they believed she had good intentions. A worthy end that justified the means. What pissed her off even more was that she couldn't call them out on it because their stupid, blind trust worked in her favor. Anger at them and herself raced through her veins until she had to shut it all out to make sure it didn't affect her concentration.

Still the flames had spiked, trying to slip her control. She was just glad she hadn't eaten much that day or she might have thrown up when one guy, with a device that looked like a giant metal hand on his right arm, actually tore open his own chest. Blood spurted everywhere, but he didn't stop until he was literally unable to continue. Chikako couldn't even tell if he'd meant to kill himself or if it had been an attempt to dig the pain out. It didn't matter though. In the end all of them would be dead. He'd simply managed to get there first.

A scathing comment got stuck in her throat at the sight. She should probably play this part up for the sake of her audience. After all, the whole point of torturing these lowlifes was to give Wraith a reputation, but Chikako didn't trust her voice not to convey the disgust she felt. Better to keep silent and not risk having to do this again.

After a few minutes the two civilians were shaking and clinging to each other. Judging by the sound of sobbing at least one of them was crying as well. They'd certainly come here with the expectation that someone would die, but things had probably turned out a little different than they'd imagined.

Chikako waited a little longer to make sure they got the message. Then she sighed loudly, called her wakizashi from it's pocket dimension and proceeded to decapitate each of the six Shinobazu members.

"How boring," she drawled, voice low and as dull as she could possibly make it. As she'd feared the words were colored by her distaste, but at least she could pretend the source was the lack of good entertainment. She resisted the urged to force a yawn as well. Playing it up too much would give away the game. Instead she turned towards the two civilians. "Who's next?"

The woman screamed, scrambling behind the man with impressive speed. She was so utterly terrified that Chikako wouldn't be surprised if she'd faint. There was clearly no point talking to her.

"I know she sold me out. Why are you here?" Chikako asked the man. He was afraid as well, but unlike the woman he didn't seem to care that the Shinobazu were dead. In fact, his focus had been almost entirely on the cage from the second he'd arrived.

"I want that man dead," he declared. His voice shook horribly, but there was a conviction behind it that made her curious. Chikako blinked at him in confusion, glad that no one could see because of the bandage.

"Really? Out of the whole bunch you want the only decent one?"

He'd walked forward hesitantly, but almost stumbled at her words. Clearly he hadn't expected that she'd care one way or the other, but the fact that she hadn't tried to stop him yet gave him confidence.

"He killed my brother," the man forced out between gritted teeth. She got the impression he'd wanted to shout at her, but was too afraid of the consequences. Good. The statement made her wonder though.

"What's his name?"

"W- what?" He asked, now stumbling over his words as well as his feet.

"Your brother. What's his name?"

"A- akio," he stuttered. "His name was Akio."

"Is," Chikako corrected. "Little runt is alive and kicking, no manners though."

The man went to his knees then, his head tilted upwards, probably starring at her. Incoherent noises wrenched their way out of his throat. Chikako rubbed the bridge of her nose between forefinger and thumb in annoyance. The screaming had already given her a headache and this guy wasn't making it any better. She told him his long lost brother was fine and how did he thank her? By wailing like a fucking banshee.

"Just go that way until you reach the port town," she growled at him, pointing in the direction the Konoha team had come from. A moment later she had to sidestep when he attempted to hug her.

"Fucking great," Chikako muttered under her breath. Maybe Wraith's reputation wouldn't be quite as straightforward as 'stay the fuck away or die'. She couldn't just go around and kill random people though. The Shinobazu were one thing. Those assholes had actually wronged her. She could shove her principles to the side for that kind of scum. This civilian though, whoever he was, had just been trying to avenge the death of his little brother.

Still, she couldn't let things stand like that. Time for damage control. While the man half-ran and half-stumbled toward the port town Chikako walked up to the female police officer.

"P-please," the woman whimpered, "don't kill me. Please. They forced me! I-I didn't meant to-"

Chikako cut her off abruptly by pressing the tip of the wakizashi into her throat.

"Don't bother. You're a bad liar and I really don't like being lied to."

There were more whimpers and a few choking noises as the woman tried to be as quiet as possible, as if Chikako would just forget about her if she played dead. The smell of piss was already thick in the air because dying people tended to lose control of their bowls, but Chikako would swear it had gotten even worse when she'd interrupted the woman.

"It's your lucky day though," she smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. Probably not as nasty as Zabuza's with his shark's teeth, but the woman was already out of her mind with fear so it didn't matter all that much. "I need someone to help me carry those heads back to the police station so nobody tries to cheat me out of the bounty."


	41. X - Everyone Likes Tea

**A/N:**

 _Elise142_

Thank you.

 _Peruna_

Not spoiling anything on Neji, but I'm glad you liked the chapter.

I'm not sure if Live-to-forgive is a troll or just super religious. I don't care all that much that he/she wrote the comment, so no need to get offended on my behalf. It's simply spam and since I can't delete it myself I reported it.

 _sarahmchugs_

Unless my plans for Chikako change drastically along the way you'll probably have to wait a while for the reactions of her friends (at least most of them). On the bright side, that means more stuff will have happened. So, DRAMA!

 _lilith-the-tiny-monster_

Thank you. As for team Gai: Tenten has definitely turned on her, but the other three are fine for now. At least mostly.

 _Diehard gamer_

Thanks, but do you know how hard it is to get blood out of clothing?

. . .

 **X - Everyone Likes Tea**

When Chikako strolled back into the port town with a terrified police officer and six severed heads people did a little more than just stare. Where before she'd received wary looks and the occasional sneer, they snow scrambled over each other in an effort to make space for her. The main road cleared so fast that one would think royalty had come to visit, or maybe death, for where she walked silence reigned. Everyone just suddenly found that they had nothing to say, likely in an effort not to attract her attention.

They saw the blood and gore and immediately thought predator, but none of them could tell that she wasn't on the hunt. Under different circumstances she might have though the change in attitude amusing. As it was however she had a really hard time not to shout at them for their idiocy. They clearly thought she was dangerous, yet not one of them actually left. At best they found bad hiding spots, but most of them merely stared at her form the curb, waiting for something to happen. Apparently ten meters or so was a respectable distance to give a foreign shinobi, but any more than that would keep them from gawking properly.

The idiots were lucky she didn't mean them any harm or they'd have all been dead by the time she made it to the police station. Chikako had actually expected someone to try and stop her at some point before she reached it, but it seemed either no one had reported her or all of the officers had been conveniently busy doing something else. A fine police force they were. Granted, civilians didn't actually stand a chance against shinobi, but they could have at least tried to evacuate people or negotiate with her instead of hiding in their station and hoping that she was headed somewhere else.

At least they had the courtesy to hold the door for her once it was clear where she was going. Likely only because she'd stared through the glass at one of the officers, or pretended to at least. It was kind of fun making people wonder whether she could see or not. Good thing she'd heard someone talk about the pompous glass facade earlier that day. Trying to glare a brick wall into submission might have been a tad embarrassing.

"C-can I help you ma'am?" A young man stuttered. At his back were four more officers, all older and apparently perfectly content hiding behind the rookie. Chikako decided to cut him some slack for being brave.

"Just collecting a bounty," she smiled, holding out the one head she'd carried herself. There was silence for a moment as everyone waited for something more to happen. It seemed after her entrance they'd all expected mayhem, but now that it was business as usual they didn't seem to know how to react.

The young man swallowed audibly, probably wondering if she was just playing with them before the slaughter, but then he squared his shoulders and waved her in.

"This way please ma'am."

After that things went relatively smoothly. Outside of the station people started to move on when they realized that nothing interesting was going to happen, and inside the officers slowly went back to work, or at least pretended to. The young man processed her bounty claim in a professional manner. Chikako assumed hiding behind formalities gave him comfort. Once in a while though his head would tilt slightly to peer at the trembling woman behind her as she handed over another head.

Her uniform was likely soaked in piss and blood, probably crusted in dirt as well. She certainly smelled bad enough. Chikako would have liked to just tell her to scram, but as long as she continued to whimper and look scared out of her mind Chikako wouldn't have to harm anyone else to make her point. The woman was a living, breathing example of what happened to people that fucked with Wraith and the contrast of Chikako being pleasant in her interactions with the male police officer made for a nice image.

Wraith was dangerous, but not irrational.

That way people would stay out of her way, but nobody would try to put her down like a rabbit dog. After all logical people didn't randomly attack strangers for no reason and were therefore not a danger to the general public. They could be reasoned with and hired for jobs. Unless she stepped on someone's toes, like in Earth, nobody would feel responsible for her.

Usually Hidden Villages were expected to take care of their missing-nin, but Chikako was dead and Wraith had no home. Suna had declared her an ally and forced Konoha to do the same, albeit to a lesser degree, and of the other villages only Iwa cared about her. If she got close to Earth again they would certainly attack, but she wasn't big enough of a deal to actively hunt her, especially if she didn't make any more problems for them.

The only exception would be bounty hunters, but once word of what had happened to the Shinobazu got around that problem should take care of itself. The price Earth had put on her head was insultingly low. Not that Chikako was actually complaining. After all that meant going after her wasn't worth the risk for the small fry and wouldn't earn enough money for the big players. It likely wouldn't stay that way forever, but she had hopes of staying ahead of the curve when it came to balancing her abilities as a shinobi against her bounty.

Two Hidden Villages publicly recognizing her as something other than a nukenin would make Chikako's life a lot easier in some respects, but it also made her a political figure. Konoha's stance was more neutral. With Suna things were different though. Gaara, or rather Kankuro, had bound her to the Land of Wind in a way that meant she'd automatically inherit all of their enemies. There was also a chance that anything she did would fall back on the Kazekage in the same way the acts of his own shinobi did. Chikako didn't actually answer to him, but if anyone wanted an excuse to cause trouble they could easily claim that Wraith had acted on orders from Suna. She'd have to take care not to step into any political powder kegs, or at least warn Gaara before she did.

When all six heads had been processed and Chikako had received her money, she left the police woman in the young officer's care. She contemplated killing the woman after all for trying to sell her out to the Shinobazu, but decided that she'd be more valuable as a witness. Chikako didn't bother telling her to spread the tale of what had happened in the forest. The woman would do that all on her own.

"Seeing as you didn't technically betray or attack me I'll let you walk away this once," Chikako smiled at her, while letting a pale blue flame dance around her fingers. She didn't explicitly spell out what would happen the next time the officer displeased her. The threat was implied and clear even to those that hadn't seen what Fox Fire could do to a person.

Chikako let the flame wink out of existence as soon as she headed out of the station. Holding the technique to torture the Shinobazu had taken a lot out of her mentally and now her head felt like someone had tried to split it with a rusty ax. All the screaming hadn't helped either, but she knew from training that prolonged use of Fox Fire resulted in killer headaches all on its own. Not that Kit had ever cared about that. However, without him there to harass her there was no reason to cause herself any more pain than absolutely necessary.

Gatsu had been waiting outside for the past ten minutes, but there were no children with him this time. She had no idea if he'd been guarding the door, watching her from a safe distance or simply meant to let her finish her business in peace.

"Didn't expect you back so fast," he said. Surprisingly enough there was no accusation in those words. He seemed merely curious because the plan had been for him and the kids to follow her the next day.

"The idiot brigade showed up faster than expected," she shrugged. "They might have come early to plan an ambush or something, but I didn't exactly give them much time to do anything so that's just speculation at this point."

"Gantetsu?"

"Fine, but still in need of saving. Akio's brother?"

"Made it here in one piece. Man's a cryin' mess though. Left him with the kids 'cause I got too tempted to club him over the head so he'd shut up."

She laughed at that, drawing a few looks from startled passerby.

"You can't take the Konoha team," Chikako told the gruff bounty hunter, "but If you wait till they hand your guy over, you could probably snatch Gantetsu in Shimogakure. It sounded to me like the local police are supposed to hold him until he is tried, which means no shinobi to get in your way. They also didn't have him restrained by anything other than that cage. With four ninja guards that's fine, but unless the police in Shimo put some chakra-suppressing shackles on him or something he could probably break out on his own. The only difficult part is sneaking in and out of the village."

"Got that covered," Gatsu interjected before Chikako could share her assumptions about the defenses and shinobi patrols. She raised an eyebrow at him, but he merely shrugged.

"Been planing it that way all along," he offered in lieu of an actual explanation and she didn't press him for more. It was his job and if he said it wouldn't be a problem she wasn't about to argue. He'd let her do her thing and now she'd let him do his.

Chikako was still surprised things had gone over as smoothly as they had. With the exception of Tenten nobody had so much as tried to interfere with her plan. Not even when she'd simply left with the police woman and her newly acquired collection of severed heads. The atmosphere hadn't been exactly friendly at that point, but she trusted Gai to make sure that Wraith was the name that appeared in any and all reports, and not Chikako, if only for Kakashi's sake.

That was good enough for her. She didn't need the jonin to like her. As long as he stayed out of her way she was happy. Neji was a different matter though. She still had no idea what had prompted him to check on her friends, which was rather frustrating. Chikako hated feeling like she was missing something and his motives were potentially a big something. Even worse, she had no way of finding out.

"Oy," Gatsu said, interrupting her train of thought. He sounded pretty annoyed, which probably meant he'd been trying to get her attention for a while. "I said I got something if you're looking for work."

"What kind?"

"There are rumors about this guy tryin' to gather an army. Don't know what for, but word is he's got the money and takes everyone who shows up."

"Then why aren't you already signed up?" Chikako asked suspiciously. "Sounds to me like the guy has no idea what he's doing or just needs cannon fodder."

"Neither," Gatsu told her and his voice took on an unusually somber note, "he's desperate cause most people are too afraid to even go find him. 'pparently he's some famous missing-nin who slaughtered a bunch'a kids before he even got his headband."

"Big sword, freaky teeth, bad attitude?" Chikako said with a sudden grin that seemed to unnerve Gatsu. They'd been walking down the street towards the inn he'd parked the kids at, but the bounty hunter stopped in the middle of the road at her question.

"Should'a figured you'd know a scary bastard like that," he grumbled. "They say he's a demon or somethin', but I guess they'll say the same about you soon."

Chikako didn't tell him that she knew some actual demons. No need to freak him out any more than he already was. Instead she waited until they reached the inn and then got Gatsu drunk to milk him for every last bit of information, for old times sake. The bounty hunter caught on quickly, but didn't complain. After all he ended up with free drinks and nobody was quite brave enough to bother them in their corner of the room. Not even Akio's big brother who still looked like he might hug either of them if they got too close.

. . .

Chikako ended up spending the night at the inn, but left before dawn the next morning. Unlike certain bounty hunters who would likely wake up with a massive hangover, she hadn't drunk any alcohol. The Fox Fire induced headache was gone as well and with business taken care of there was no reason for her to linger. Especially not with all the interesting things she'd learned the previous night.

She was certain that the man Gatsu had been talking about was Zabuza, and back in Wave no less. He'd become a nukenin after failing to assassinate the Mizukage. If he was trying to build an army now chances were he'd be trying again soon.

She had to wonder at Gatsu's access to information though. He'd given her an exact location and description of Zabuza, and it had become clear that the only reason he didn't know the man's name was that he hadn't cared enough to remember it. Apparently none of this was common knowledge and he'd just pieced together minor details he'd snapped up here and there. Which was probably for the best because that the Demon of the Hidden Mist of all people was hiring shinobi would ring alarm bells far and wide. Judging by the fact that no Hunter-nin had descended on Wave yet, Water's intelligence division was either embarrassingly bad or Chikako had severely underestimated Gatsu.

He was like some bounty hunter gossipmonger, or maybe spymaster would be more accurate. He had the information and was more than willing to shared it with her, but that couldn't be his normal approach or someone would have killed him by now. He might be treating her differently as a sort of investment, or maybe he simply liked her. Gatsu seemed to have a weak spot for kids. Not that Chikako considered herself one. By shinobi standards she'd become an adult the day she'd received her hitai-ate, but civilians rarely saw things the same way. To them she'd be a child for a few years still.

. . .

Getting to Wave from Frost was easy enough. She'd traveled almost the same route when Sai and her had first fled Konoha, only then they'd come from Rice and skipped Wave on their journey from Hot Water to Noodles.

She didn't feel like making the track all on her own though, so the first thing Chikako did once she'd secured passage on one of the trading ships that left the port town in Frost that morning, was summon her little tanuki. He answered the call on the first try, almost before she'd started pouring chakra into the Summoning Tattoo, really.

"What took you so long?" Jiro wailed. He danced around, dramatically waving his arms this way and that, accusing her of having forgotten he even existed. Chikako didn't try to answer or stop him. She merely sat down, back against the wall and waited him out. These kinds of theatric outbursts usually didn't last long after he noticed that he didn't have an audience.

Sure enough, Jiro cut himself off mid-sentence after only a few minutes to kick her leg in indignation.

"You aren't even listening!" He accused. In answer she stretched and yawned at him as if just waking up.

"Did you say something?"

Jiro huffed and puffed, trying to rope her into an apology so he could rant on some more. It didn't work though. Chikako knew all of his little tricks by now and she could tell when he was actually upset. This was just for show.

"Fine!" He shouted, giving it up as a lost cause. "Kit says you have enough demon chakra that your eyes will come back. Actually he said you should be able to grow back just about anything, provided losing it doesn't kill you first."

She raised an eyebrow, pulling the bandage down and waving a hand in front of her face.

"Still blind," she scoffed. "Just give it up. I can heal broken bones in a matter of days. It's been over a month since I lost my eyes. If they aren't back by now, which they aren't, they're not coming back.

"I told you that my healing is the same as that of a regular person, just faster. Destroyed organs do not regrow out of thin air."

"He said they will!" Jiro insisted. "I asked. Twice! I even made him vow that he wasn't lying or trying to trick me in any way. Do you know how hard it is to make a yokai agree to a vow?"

Chikako banged her head against the wooden wall behind her and almost missed him asking how she even knew she was right.

"What?" She said incredulously. "What do you mean how do I know? It's my body."

"But you have never lost any parts before, have you?"

She blinked a few times stupidly. It didn't do anything, but she couldn't shake the damn habit and he was right. She'd never been injured so badly that it resulted in permanent damage. The exception being a myriad of tiny, and a few not so tiny, scars. It seemed like proof enough. That wasn't quite accurate though. Scar tissue replaced normal tissue after all. It wasn't that skin, for example, didn't grow back. It just grew back differently. Chikako had treated it as evidence to support what she knew about herself. But how did she know she couldn't grow back anything a regular person couldn't?

Orochimaru.

It seemed ridiculous now that she thought about it. She knew because the snake had told her. He'd told her something that sounded plausible and she'd accepted it as fact without question. Because why the hell wouldn't she? It was reasonable and she'd never seen any evidence to the contrary. And wasn't that odd?

Whatever else he was, Orochimaru operated like a scientist. That meant experiments and empirical evidence. The only way he would know for certain that she couldn't regrow organs or appendages was if he'd tried it out, yet as far as she knew she wasn't missing anything. He could have just taken tiny tissue samples, but that wasn't really his style. He'd also operated on her a million times. It wasn't like she would have noticed if he'd taken a kidney once in a while and then waited for it to grow back.

Chikako had been his favorite subject. She'd always been a smart child, but that alone, even if coupled with accelerated healing and above average sensing abilities didn't warrant holding his attention for years. There had been children with far more interesting abilities than that and in the end they had all ended up dead. She was the only one that had never been replaced. Hell, he'd given her an actual name. With most others he'd just used their number, not bothering to learn a new name every time.

Maybe she could grow back eyes. Maybe she'd wake in another month or three only to realize that she could see again.

"Okay," Chikako sighed, but continued quickly before Jiro got too excited. "But it doesn't matter. I'm blind right now and even if you are right, there is nothing to do but wait."

"But I'm right!" The tanuki crowed as if he'd won some great prize. She let him have the victory. Like she'd said it didn't matter. She could fight blind and that was what counted. If her sight came back one day she'd be happy and if it didn't, well nothing would change.

Once Jiro had finally calmed down again Chikako filled him in on what he had missed and where they were going. She left out why they were headed to Wave though and he was too distracted by everything else to question her properly.

. . .

"Would you mind turning back into that garish teakettle?" She asked him a few days later, when they were only a short distance from the location Gatsu had told her about.

"What? Why?"

"Just humor me. I swear it's for a good cause."

He gave her a look. It might have meant he'd skin her alive if she used him to brew tea, or maybe he was constipated, she couldn't quite tell. Chikako held his stare, a mild smile on her face that made his fur stand on end. Jiro snarled, shook himself and then there was a teapot in his place.

It was the same ugly, red thing she'd first seen in a cage in Gato's office. It seemed like a lifetime ago now, even though it had only been about a year. How quickly things changed. Back then she'd been a Konoha genin. A rookie with her two bratty teammates and jonin sensei on a simple escort mission that had gone to hell in a handbasket. It had been scary and they'd almost died so many times that she probably shouldn't have any fond memories of the mission. Yet all that came to mind when she thought about it now was Kakashi hugging her after everything was over and Zabuza teaching her how to handle a sword. Good times.

Chikako shook her head, grinning in anticipation. As was her habit, she was moving silently and within the shadows. Imperceptible to all senses but sight, but since she felt where everything around her was it wasn't hard to avoid being seen.

Zabuza's camp was small and well hidden. Out of the way in one of the island's many uninhabited regions. The bridge Tazuna had built had put the Land of Waves back on the map as far as traders were concerned, which was why Chikako had been able to find a ship that was headed for the country without much trouble. They didn't have much to barter with other than fish and whatever else the sea provided, but that was seemingly more than enough for the economy to recover. As things were Wave would never become rich, but at least it's people weren't starving anymore.

Someone should probably take food, or rather drink, away from the morons Zabuza was apparently hiring though. Chikako was excellent when it came to sneaking in and out of places, but she was pretty sure she could have marched right into the middle of the camp and nobody would have noticed. In fact, that wasn't too far from what she'd done. There was a table there and she'd placed the teakettle on it before sitting on one of the thicker branches of a nearby tree to wait.

Granted, she had made sure that no heads were turned in her general direction at any point in time, but they hadn't exactly made it hard for her. There were almost too dozen men and a handful of women around and they were all completely drunk. It wasn't even noon yet and not a single person had the faculties to notice an intruder, much less patrol or even place traps.

Things might have been a little more challenging if Zabuza or Haku had been around, but since they weren't there at the moment Chikako leaned back and took a nap. By now, and mostly because Kit was a horrible non-person, whether she was asleep or not didn't have much of an impact on her ability to sense people. If someone couldn't sneak up on her while she was awake, chances were they couldn't while she wasn't either.

Sure enough, the second Zabuza came close to his camp her eyes flew open. She huffed in annoyance, another habit she had yet to shake. Not that it mattered with the blindfold in place.

Chikako sat up again, eagerly awaiting the moment the nukenin spotted the teakettle. He didn't disappointed.

"Hatake!" Zabuza shouted. "I won that fucking game. If you want a rematch come out and ask for one like a man."

She couldn't help, but burst out laughing and had to dodge a surprising number of projectiles shortly after. Not that Chikako tried very hard, she merely let herself fall to the ground, landing in a crouch.

"Your security is embarrassing. You should fire them," she said in greeting. She couldn't see the grin that spread across Zabuza's face as the first whispers of 'Wraith' made it through the camp, but she heard it in his voice when he answered.

"Feel free, they're hardly worth the money."

People jumped up, loudly shouting protests or drawing their weapons. There weren't any more attacks though and one man even ran away.

"Is he serious?" Chikako asked, angling her head so that it seemed as if she was looking after him. Zabuza let out an exasperated sigh.

"Sit down you imbeciles!" He shouted and then led her to one of the few tents while Haku tried to calm everyone down again.


	42. X - Rest Up While You Still Can

**A/N:**

 _Elise142_

I'm not sure if I want her to meet Kakuzu and Hidan just yet. I mean she definitely will at some point, but right now they are so far out of her league that they shouldn't accidentally run into each other. There is also the matter of Hidan, who likes killing things indiscriminately.

 _Peruna_

I think you're the first person that said Sai's death was brilliant despite not linking it. At the time I got the feeling some people would have liked to hit me with an oversized balloon hammer.

Ah ye, Chikako is the master of stupid blinking. It's like a special talent. Not quite on the level of Naruto's Talk no Jutsu, but we'll get there.

 _Homarid_

The 'demon chakra' is essentially Chikako's normal chakra, which is why it behaves so weirdly. Kit alluded to the fact that she is different from other humans and somewhat similar to yokai. Chikako herself theorized that Orochimaru might have been trying to create an artificial jinchuriki in order to gain immortality. It's likely going to come up again later, possibly with an actual explanation from Orochimaru.

 _Guest_

Thank you.

 _Scarease_

I personally prefer sugar because honey tends to change the taste too much, but that's probably just me.

 _hisoka93_

I think the ratio of words to actual conversation is roughly even.

. . .

 **X - Rest Up While You Still Can**

"So, Wraith?" Zabuza asked once they were seated inside of the ratty tent. Chikako knew he'd recognized he right away, otherwise the greeting would probably have been far less welcoming. It seemed he knew about her new name as well though. Then again it wasn't that new anymore. It had been late April when she'd left Suna, a little over four months ago.

The stupid prison and going blind shortly afterwards had really done a number of her perception of time. She'd always needed external factors like the sun for that, but most of those had to bee seen to be interpreted. Now simply telling what time it was took more effort. In towns and cities it was easier because of the people, but since she spent most of her days in the wilderness, she usually had to guess by taking region, temperature and time of year into account. So far she hadn't progressed past night, day and either morning or evening, depending on what it had been before. Maybe Kakashi was on to something with his perpetual lateness.

"You think I can call myself a real shinobi now?" Chikako asked in return. The first time they'd met he'd insisted the Konoha rookies were merely playing at being ninja and that only those with Bingo Book entries were true shinobi. It had been a taunt, but there was some truth to it. Back then none of them had understood what being a ninja meant. Not Naruto, who had grown up in the worst part of the village as a pariah, not Sasuke who's own ANBU brother had slaughters his clan, and not Chikako who had been the test subject for one of the Sannin. Each one of them had been familiar with a different facet of the life, but none one of them had seen the full picture.

"Wish you couldn't kiddo," Zabuza sighed. "There was also no requirement to become a missing-nin. You need to learn to listen better."

"I didn't get much of a choice with that one," she huffed. "The other option was getting killed in my home."

A long silence followed that statement. Chikako couldn't see Zabuza's face, but she was willing to bet that there was shock written all over it. Or maybe it was a perfect poker face. Not that it mattered either way. While not being able to see was frustrating as hell, she knew what he felt regardless because he wasn't bothering to keep his chakra in check. Once the surprise had passed anger was practically radiating off of him.

"Seems Konoha really isn't the nice village."

"Speaking of," Chikako interjected before he could ask any more questions. Those would lead to Sai and she wasn't willing to talk about her dead friend with Zabuza. He'd understand because he had Haku, but he hadn't actually known Sai. "I hear you're on your way to a second attempt at a coup."

"I-" his mouth snapped shut with an audible click that was almost comical. He didn't jump up from his sorry excuse for a chair, but she got the feeling he really wanted to. If the drunkards outside weren't still shouting at Haku, each other and by now Jiro, she probably would have heard his heart pound against his rib cage. Judging by the way his chakra pulsed, likely in tune, it was way too fast.

"What do you know?" He demanded, not unfriendly, but with an urgency that sounded panicked to her ears. She hadn't expected him to stay completely calm, after all nobody liked being hunted, but this was a little much.

"It's true then? Good to know. I should give my sources more credit," Chikako mused, deliberately leaving out Gatsu's name. No need to put her friend in danger unnecessarily. She heard glass crack and the faint, coppery smell of blood wafted up to her a moment later, so she decided it was probably best to stop teasing Zabuza. Instead she shared the little pieces of knowledge Gatsu had gathered and how they formed into the whole picture. On one hand it was meant to reassure Zabuza that he wasn't in immediate danger, and on the other it told him exactly how to erase the clues, most of which were rather obscure.

"You sure your guy wasn't looking for me?" The nukenin asked when she was done. He'd calmed down considerably, but now he was suspicious. Paranoid bastard.

"Yes," she groaned annoyed, already having answered the same question twice. "He didn't even know your name for fucks sake. How would he make the leap from some random guy is hiring people, to one of the Seven Swordsman is planning to assassinate the Mizukage, without knowing who you are and why you became a nukenin in the first place? I wasn't even sure until you confirmed it for me.

"Also, does it really matter? He knows I'm here and he isn't going to sell me out."

"Whatever," Zabuza grumbled, clearly unsatisfied. Apparently He'd finally realized that he wouldn't get anything else from her though, because he changed the topic rather unsubtly. "You're staying to help then?"

"Depends on the plan. If it's really stupid I might knock you out and help Haku lock you up for your own good." Chikako smiled at him sweetly as Haku and Jiro joined them.

"Thank you," the boy said with the utmost sincerity. Jiro started to snicker a moment later and Chikako guessed that Zabuza was probably scowling at all of them. He waited for someone to cower in fear, but gave up when it became obvious that that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

"Fucking brats."

. . .

They spent a few more hours in the tent. While Haku entertained Jiro with card tricks and children's tales, Zabuza laid out his plan. It seemed he'd always intended to return to Water one day. Back when he'd left his village there had been a number of dissatisfied shinobi itching to take a pound of flesh out of their kage, but after the failed coup most had scattered. He was still in sporadic contact with some of them, the majority however wasn't willing to risk their lives again after so long. They'd become content with their new circumstances, and of those that hadn't many were dead or had found new masters to serve.

Zabuza had never lost sight of his objective though. He'd spent the past few years gathering funds and now that he had those he needed to turn them into manpower. The problem was that during that time he'd made a name for himself, one that didn't exactly scream employer of the year. The people that came to Wave looking for work were mostly the desperate ones that nobody else would take. In the beginning Zabuza had sent those away that weren't up to his standard, but that left him with no one and after a few months he'd given up trying to find competent people.

He'd spent his whole life serving his village and even the coup had been an attempt to do so. The Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, wasn't exactly beloved. In fact he was one of the main reasons that Kiri was commonly called Chigiri, the Bloody Mist. He'd become a jinchuriki at a young age and was said to have achieved full control over the Tailed Beast. Since that had made him the strongest shinobi in the village at that time he'd also been named the fourth Mizukage.

The main reason Chikako knew anything about him at all though, was that his tyrannical reign had caused a staggering number of defectors, which was why Kiri had a special ANBU branch just to hunt them down. And as if that wasn't enough Yagura had also outlawed kekkei genkai, causing people like Haku to be hated or outright killed. It was just about the stupidest thing Chikako had ever heard a kage do. Maybe he had a good reason, but she had grown up in Konoha, whose strength relied on the old clans and their Bloodline Limits. Byakugan, Sharingan and Mokuton especially. To her there was no logical reason to weaken his own village that way, but to this day kekkei genkai holders were persecuted in Water.

When Zabuza was done complaining that his plan was essentially useless because he couldn't execute it with the people he had it was early evening by Chikako's estimation. He'd intended to infiltrate Kiri with some inside help, lure Yagura out and then kill him while doing the least amount of damage possible to the village. Zabuza expected a certain number of casualties, but he wasn't fool enough to risk a Pyrrhic victory. As one of the Seven Swordsman he'd make good bait. They had been Mist's elite and Yagura was known to have no tolerance for traitors. Getting to the kage would be the easy part though. Afterwards they'd have to fight him and none of them, especially not the drunk morons outside, stood a chance against a Tailed Beast.

Chikako distinctly remembered Gaara's rampage. He hadn't even been in control at the time and Shukaku, despite being considered the weakest of the Tailed Beasts, had flattened huge parts of the forest, buried the rest under sand and shaken the earth with no more than a casual thought.

The demon sealed within Yagura was the Three-Tails, in essence a giant turtle. And of course it had an affinity for Water, which was really inconvenient when one wanted to fight it on an island that was perpetually shrouded in thick fog. There was no way they could pull it off. But she knew someone who could.

Chikako was quiet for a while, debating whether to share her thoughts on the matter. Then the nukenin heaved a defeated sigh that was so unlike the man she'd met on her first A-rank mission that it made her lip curl up in disgust. Zabuza was better than this. He had a dream and he'd fought and bled for it. She couldn't let him wallow in his own misery at having failed when there was still a chance, no matter how stupid.

"Fuck it," she said, mostly to keep herself from chickening out. "How much do you care what happens to Yagura and the Tailed Beast?"

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Not at all," Zabuza said with more than a hint of suspicion. His plan involved killing Yagura in a way that would hopefully not end in a slaughter and then acquiring a fuinjutsu master so that they were ready to seal the Tailed Beast once it reformed a few years later. Chikako raised an eyebrow at him and he elaborated.

"I mostly just want them gone. Having a Tailed Beast makes for a good weapon, but only if you can control it. Unless something has significantly changed in the past few years Kiri isn't that big on sealing and they most definitely hate jinchuriki. Not having to deal with the damn thing wouldn't cause me any sleepless nights."

"Good," Chikako sighed, then paused, biting her lip. Jiro would have kicked at her until she'd continue to talk, but Zabuza gave her the time she needed. It was kind of nice to chat with someone who respected when she needed to think, her tanuki was usually too impatient for such mundane things. After a few eerily quiet minutes, in which Haku held Jiro in place and the only sounds were those that drifted in from outside, she continued. "I know people that are strong enough to fight a Tailed Beast without an army and I'm pretty sure I can get them to help, but I don't know how long finding them will take."

What followed was another long silence, but then Jiro managed to free himself from the prison of Haku's arms.

"What do you mean you know people?" He called out. "Why don't I know them? It's not Kit and Sune is it? You don't have to find them."

Zabuza let him babble on a while longer before he interjected.

"Well?"

Chikako felt like slamming her head against the table. This was such a bad idea. Jiro was right, she wasn't talking about Kit and his sister. She had no idea if the kitsune could take the Three-Tails on, but even if they could, she wasn't about to let them loose on a Hidden Village. After all there was no point in killing Yagura if the streets ran red as well.

"Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki," she finally told them.

"You're not serious," Zabuza exclaimed. He seemed to be waiting for her to take it back, maybe tell him it was a joke. It wasn't though and she didn't. Instead Chikako just sat there and let the seconds tick by until he recovered.

"How do you even know people like that?" He demanded after a while. This conversation had decidedly too many silent parts, especially for someone who couldn't see. It was like reading a book with missing pages. But then she couldn't do that either.

Chikako clenched her hands tightly, knuckles turning white as her blunt nails bit into the skin of her palms. Such a stupid fucking idea. It was too late now though.

"Itachi's a friend of mine and Hoshigaki is his current partner. They are both part of an organization called Akatsuki-" she started and then held a hand up when Zabuza made to interject. "Don't interrupt me. I don't care if I'm telling you things you already know. You get one explanation, then you decide whether you want my help or not. That's it." Chikako paused for a few second, making sure he got the message. The nukenin leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms and kept his mouth shut.

"Good. Now, Akatsuki is hunting the Tailed Beasts. No idea why, but since Hoshigaki is from Kiri I'm guessing he'll come after Yagura sooner or later anyway. I've only met him once myself, but he follows Itachi's orders so getting them to play by your rules shouldn't be a problem," she continued. Zabuza didn't need to know that Itachi was a pacifist and would therefore avoid casualties no matter what she said. That was dangerous information to have because it could too easily be used against him. "Provided I can find them and get them to help of course."

"There are so many things wrong with that, I don't even know where to start," Zabuza told her. "You are insane."

"Coming from the Demon of the Hidden Mist, I'll take that as a compliment," Chikako shot back. "Do you want my help or not?"

He did. He cursed her half a dozen times, but in the end the desire to free his home from a tyrant won out. Of course that didn't mean he didn't feel entitled to pester her for more information. His chakra was awash with an odd mixture of hope, apprehension, guilt and anger. Chikako didn't quite know what to make of it. The first two were easy. Zabuza had thought he'd failed and been given another chance. One that was simultaneously more promising and less predictable. The anger was a little harder though. It seemed volatile and she couldn't tell whom it was directed at, and the guilt she couldn't understand at all.

At least not until Haku took her to the side the next day.

"He cares for you and he thinks letting you run off to track down two S-rank nukenin is a death sentence," the boy explained out of nowhere. She wondered if he'd picked up on her confusion somehow or simply felt the need to explain what his master wouldn't say.

"It's not like he's forcing me to go," Chikako said, already uneasy with the conversation. She'd offered. There was no need for Zabuza to feel guilty about putting her in danger. It might not be her cause, but he was her friend. "Also, while trying to find them could very well be an exercise in futility, they won't harm me."

That didn't mean nobody else would though. Not to mention that there was more than one pair of Akatsuki running around. Even if she actually managed to track one down, there was no guarantee it would be the right one. Haku seemed to be aware of that fact as well, but he didn't call her out. Instead he squeezed her shoulder gently before heading back into the tent to prepare lunch.

"Thank you."

. . .

Zabuza dismissed the small group of useless shinobi he'd hired the same day. Some actually had the audacity to demand payment for their time, but reconsidered after the first lost his head to that cleaver the nukenin insisted was a sword. Since none of them actually knew what the plan had been it wasn't necessary to kill the rest as well, but Chikako insisted on relocating the camp just to be safe. Not that Zabuza put up much of a fight. Even if he didn't admit it, it was obvious that he was still spooked by the amount of information Gatsu had gathered on him without even trying to. He was so used to being the biggest baddest monster out there that he had a hard time dealing with the fact that the people Chikako intended to bring in would consider him small fry at best.

Zabuza might share a title with Hoshigaki, but when it came to raw power he couldn't hold a candle to the other man. And then there was Itachi, who would have been feared for his Sharingan alone, but on top of that had also slaughtered just about every other person with the Bloodline Limit. To most civilians shinobi were scary and nukenin were akin to the boogeyman, but in the end they were just people. They started out as students, became genin once they graduated and if they continued to get better they could advance to chunin, jonin or even join ANBU.

Some, like the kage, were so strong that they were considered living legends. That was all they were though. The majority of the population never came in contact with someone of that level and if they did they usually ended up as collateral or couldn't tell who they were dealing with, because shinobi tended to keep their fighting style, and especially their jutsu, secret.

The members of Akatsuki were an entirely different matter though. Chikako couldn't identify all of them, but she knew that every last one was considered an S-ranked nukenin. In fact, some Bingo Books even made that SS just to emphasize how much more powerful than the average shinobi they were. After all the Tailed Beast were considered one of the strongest weapons a Hidden Village could possess. She knew first hand that Kisame Hoshigaki had earned the name Tailed Beast without a Tail just from having sensed his chakra. Chikako wasn't sure she wanted to know what he could do with that much energy at his beck and call.

And yet she'd offered to go find him.

"Can you do me a favor?" She asked that evening. She was sitting on the same branch as the first day she'd waited for Zabuza to return. The nukenin was out again to see if any of his contacts had a lead on the Akatsuki. Meanwhile Haku was wandering around looking for plants with medicinal use. Jiro had been helping him for a while, but now he was perched in Chikako's lap like an overgrown cat.

"Sure," he said, fiddling with her blindfold. He insisted on checking her eyes, or rather empty sockets, every morning and evening. It was ridiculous and annoying, but she indulged him anyway.

"There is this bounty hunter, Gatsu. I've met him first when we split up in Hot Water and then again in Frost after you left. I'd like you to find him, keep an eye on him for a while and when you think there is nothing new to learn show yourself and ask him about Akatsuki.

"If he isn't being helpful tell him the Foxlady sent you and that I'll owe him one if he likes, but don't let him know why I want the information."

Jiro made a disappointed noise when, wonder of all wonders, she still didn't have eyes. Then he climbed onto one of her shoulders to tie the blindfold back in place.

"He's the one that told you about Zabuza?"

"Yes."

"Then why do you want me to spy on him first?"

"Because he knew too much and too little at the same time."

She'd thought it curious that Gatsu knew that tidbit about Zabuza's past, yet claimed to have no idea who the man hiring missing-nin was, but it hadn't seemed too suspicious. After all Zabuza was known for being one of the Seven Swordsman and the Demon of the Hidden Mist. The story about that boy on the other hand was usually only mentioned in conjunction with Kiri's barbaric graduation exam. The practice of having students fight to the death had been abolished because Zabuza had slain most of the other children, but his name wasn't commonly connected to that particular crime. He'd only been a child himself and not all that important until several years later. It stood to reason that a bounty hunter, especially a civilian, wouldn't know who the boy was.

Gatsu had said he'd gotten the information by listening to shinobi talk, mostly in bars or when handing in bounties. All the little things he'd connected didn't seem important on their own, so Chikako hadn't questioned him, far too excited by the prospect of meeting Zabuza and Haku again. But how had the bounty hunter known that what he'd snapped up were pieces of a puzzle? He hadn't just given her his conclusion. He'd shared all the little things and then told her what he thought the big picture might be. That too was odd.

Most people said what they thought. They didn't just relay facts so that whoever they were talking to could make up their mind about what they meant. If a husband came home to see his wife naked in bed and another man's clothing on the floor those weren't the things he would repeat when asked about it later. He'd say she'd cheated on him, because that was the obvious conclusion and it didn't matter how he'd reached it to convey what had happened.

What Gatsu had done was more akin to a report though. All shinobi, especially those that worked in Intelligence, where drilled on the fact that every detail could be relevant. Therefore, when recounting what had happened on a mission, it was paramount that things were stated as they had happened, not as they had been interpreted. Of course most shinobi tended to ignore that particular rule. After all, random cats that appeared out of nowhere during some D-rank gardening assignment were rarely of any importance, and the majority of ninja liked writing reports about as much as staying in the hospital. Which meant they were masters of using the least amount of words they could possibly get away with.

Chikako knew for a fact that some of Kakashi's reports, when he bothered to hand them in at all, actually stated 'mission accomplished'. Nothing else. Since he was an elite shinobi and one of the most observant people out there others tended to trust that he would have noticed if anything relevant had happened. They were probably right, but nobody was infallible and sometimes there was simply no way to tell what might turn out to be important later.

Chikako had argued that position exactly once. He'd made her write each and every report he should have handed in for a month. Which was completely ridiculous considering that she hadn't even been a genin at the time and consequently not on a single one of those missions. Not that that negatively impacted the quality of his paperwork in any way. Writing down the vague statements she wrangled out of him was still a lot more comprehensive than T&I was used to from the Copy Ninja.

She hadn't been stupid enough to mention it to him again, but her own reports had always been very detailed. Not because she liked the paperwork any better than her sensei, but when one lived next door to the head of T&I pissing off Intelligence's desk gophers wasn't the smartest idea. Ibiki had taught her all about the importance of good reports long before she actually needed to know, probably because he'd run out of other child-friendly topics. That was also why Gatsu's way of sharing information hadn't seemed odd to her.

In Intelligence it was normal to give the facts first and the opinions second. And that was just it. Most shinobi didn't adhere to the strict procedures of T&I unless somebody forced them to. A civilian most definitely shouldn't. It could be coincidence, but Gatsu wasn't really the type. Which meant either his particular blend of gruff and jovial was fake and he was actually a trained spy or information broker, or it was real and someone had turned him into an informant at some point.

Either way, Chikako had to be more careful what she shared with him. She was certain that he wouldn't turn on her, but that wasn't enough if he answered to someone other than himself.

Finding out was a good job for Jiro. He liked to help and it would give Chikako time to train with Zabuza. Once every morning she'd try to summon her tanuki. If he got the information he'd return to the Void and answer her call. That way he wouldn't have to make the trip back to the camp on foot. The system wasn't perfect because he couldn't call for help or give her any updates in the meantime, but it was better than nothing. She'd also given him orders to return to the Void immediately if he encountered any kind of danger, just to be safe. There was no real time limit on this mission, now that Zabuza had given up on an army, and she could always go find Gatsu herself if she had to.

Chikako didn't want to coddle Jiro though. He still felt bad for what had happened with the Shinobazu and he needed to feel useful. Giving him a little independence with a task like this was important. If he thought he was a burden he'd only get depressed or do something reckless to prove himself.

"Oy, brat, pay attention," Zabuza chastised, ripping Chikako out of her thoughts. Jiro had left that morning and, despite knowing that letting him go on his own was the right decision she still worried. It showed. Her kenjutsu was far from bad and with her advantage in speed she should at the very least be able to avoid the nukenin, but he'd smacked the flat side of Kubikiribocho into her side more than once now.

"I'm trying old man," she quipped, rubbing what would turn into an impressive bruise with a disgruntled frown on her face, "but you're just so boring it makes me sleepy."

He knew why she was distracted of course, but he played along anyway and soon they were trading insults as much as they were trading blows. While Chikako came up with one stupid nickname after the next, Zabuza criticized her technique in a way that somehow managed to be both hilariously offensive and constructive at the same time. It was an odd talent that she took great enjoyment in, and apparently so did Zabuza.

He trained her almost every free minute of the day for more than two weeks. According to him Haku was too polite and tended to take not only the advise, but also the insults to heart. Chikako on the other hand gave as good as she got. She had thick skin and a penchant for being unpredictable enough with her creative name-calling that the nukenin sometimes burst out in laughter or stopped short, because calling him a lickspittle milksop just wasn't very accurate.

Instead of feeling left out Haku enjoy their childish bickering almost as much as they did. What he seemed to like most though, was the peace that came with simply staying in one place for a while without the need to complete a mission or evade enemies. He didn't have many friends, and while he was a lot closer to Naruto than to Chikako, they got along just fine. With a master like Zabuza there were few opportunities to just be nice to people or stop to chat, which was why Chikako left Jiro in the camp when her tanuki returned.

The lead he'd gotten from Gatsu wasn't much more than an old rumor, but she didn't want him anywhere near this particular hunt. He'd made her promise to try to summon him every day, just in case there was news, but in turn she insisted he keep Haku company. Jiro understood that she wanted him safe, so he agreed, but he was a royal pain in the ass about it anyway.

"Remember when you said you didn't want to coddle him?" Zabuza asked her as she headed out. Amusement colored his voice and it made her want to hit him. She refrained, barely.

"Just take care of him," Chikako grumbled. He didn't pull her into a hug, like Haku had to say goodbye, but he might as well have. His answer was simple and so matter of fact, it implied she was stupid for not already knowing that he would.

"Of course, he's family after all." And then just to be an ass he added, "Don't know how I ended up as the babysitter, but if your cat doesn't behave I might drown it."

That time she did smack him over the head. Or tried to at least. He dodged, shoving her away with the flat side of his blade, in one fluid motion. Then he told her to get the fuck out and made some nonsensical threat about murdering her if she got herself killed.


	43. XI - Dawn Will Come

**A/N:**

 _Elise142, Diehard gamer & Kragh50_

Thank you.

 _cassianaswindell123_

Lickspittle and milksop are from a meriam-webster article about rare and amusing insults. So in other words, I asked Lord Google for help and our machine overlord obliged.

. . .

 **XI - Dawn Will Come**

Bored. That was how Chikako felt, completely and utterly bored. The lead Jiro had gotten from Gatsu had been over two months old, three by the time she actually made it to the Land of Rivers. According to the bounty hunter there was a temple in the south of of the country. Apparently two men in black cloaks with red clouds on them had shown up one day and left nothing but corpses in their wake. Her first reaction had been rejection because that couldn't possibly have been Itachi. Then she'd mentally kicked herself and conceded that, with the exception of killing Sasuke, she had no idea anymore what her friend would or wouldn't do. She couldn't even guess because she still didn't know why he'd slaughtered his clan and joined Akatsuki in the first place.

So, it might have been Itachi, or more likely Hoshigaki. It also might have been a different pair of Akatsuki. Either way, they were long gone and Chikako had to find the stupid temple anyway because it was her only lead. She really didn't know if she was happy with Jiro for being discreet about getting the information or mad that it was so vague. He'd watched Gatsu like she'd asked, but the bounty hunter hadn't met with anyone unusual or left messages of any kind behind. With her suspicions in mind Jiro did pick up on the fact that Gatsu seemed to habitually listen in to other people's conversations, but that was neither here nor there. With no concrete evidence that the man was a spy or informant her tanuki decided he wasn't likely to learn anything new after a few days and approached Gatsu in the guise of thanking him for sending Chikako to Wave.

He might have learned more had he waited longer, but it could have just as likely been a waste of time. After all, some spies only made contact with their handlers every few months and with each day Jiro had watched he'd risked getting caught. Not to mention that Gatsu might not be a spy at all.

The little tanuki was often childish and impulsive, but he was also smart. When asking about the Akatsuki he'd somehow managed to not actually mention them himself and instead maneuvered Gatsu into bringing the group up. Obviously Chikako hadn't been there to hear that particular conversation, but Jiro had been proud enough of himself to recount it for her, more than once. He'd embellished it a little more each time, sometimes with Haku's help, but the important part was that Gatsu likely hadn't realized that he'd given up any information at all, or if he had he didn't know that Jiro had specifically come to learn about Akatsuki's movements.

While that was really nice for Chikako's paranoid streak, the fact that the location she was trying to find was 'a temple in the south of River' gave her a headache. She'd already spoken to the priests in five different temples, none of whom had even heard about a slaughter. After the third she'd changed tactics and also asked about a really remote temple or religious group in the south because she couldn't otherwise fathom why the news of a bunch of monks getting slaughtered had somehow reached Gatsu's ears, but not those of the locals.

She'd had more luck with that line of questioning. Apparently she should have been asking for a cult instead of a temple. One of the priest's told her that there had been a group of people in one of River's many cave systems that called themselves Jashinists. Chikako was vaguely aware that that religion originated in Hot Water, which would explain why Gatsu hadn't called them a cult. They seemed to worship death and destruction and most of the ones in River had indeed been killed a while ago, but the locals seemed to believe that the slaughter had been part of a ritual. They also generally kept their distance from the cult because people tended to go missing wherever the worshipers appeared. There was actually a bounty on their heads, but they seemed to travel a lot and used River's massive cave systems to avoid getting caught.

The priest didn't know where they were at the moment, but he did tell her how to find one of the tunnel entrances. The caverns weren't all connected of course, but since that was the best clue Chikako had she figured she might as well go exploring.

That had been six days ago. She hadn't expected the cave system to be small, but the priest really could have mentioned that this particular one easily covered several square kilometers. She'd stocked up on food and water before heading into the winding tunnels and found a few other entrances since to top up her reserves. Thanks to her training with Kit she could even use her chakra and sensing to get a pretty good mental map of the subterranean landscape, but not only had she not come across any sign of life Chikako was also questioning whether she was even on the right track.

She was getting sick of eating nothing but nuts, berries and the dried meat she'd bought, but she couldn't exactly make a fire in the tunnels and raw rodent didn't sound too appealing either. Not to mention that spending most of her days underground wasn't very conductive to her sense of time. She ate when she was hungry and slept when she was tired, but the temperature didn't change much and neither did anything else that might have told her whether it was night or day. Chikako didn't think her six day estimation was too far off, but she also didn't trust it to be all that accurate.

As day seven came around she decided it didn't matter, and so, when she smelled blood some indeterminate amount of time later, she had no idea how long she'd been in the caves. That fact didn't bother her too much, what did, however, was that she didn't sense anyone. Chikako had already figured out that all the rock and earth that surrounded her limited her range quite a bit, but for her to smell the blood without being able to feel the person it belong to there had to be a lot of it.

At first that distinctive coppery scent was easy to follow, but soon it hung so thick in the air that she couldn't tell where it came from anymore. Chikako went down tunnels more than once, only to realize that the smell was getting weaker after several minutes. Then she had to backtrack and try again. It was incredibly frustrating. She could move around in the cave system as easily as she could above ground and the fact that she didn't need light was a great advantage, but she didn't dare to run. The empty tunnels with their hard stone walls carried even the faintest sound far and she didn't want to risk alerting whoever had caused the air to be saturated with the smell of blood.

When she finally felt chakra signatures at the edge of her range Chikako almost let out a relieved sigh, which was completely ridiculous. For one a tracker should never make unnecessary noise on a hunt and for another, there was every chance these people would attack her on sight. Consequently she took a moment to relax and then snuck up on the small group, taking care to stay out of sight.

There were only four people, all male as far as she could tell. One was a little boy. He didn't talk much, but he carried a thick tome around with him. Judging by his posture the thing was quite heavy, yet he never once put it down. He also had a knife or dagger that he used for some kind of ritual. He'd walk a few meters, then he'd stop for a while, probably reading from the book and when he was done he'd pull the blade across his skin and move on. Chikako couldn't tell how deep the cuts were, but the flare of his chakra in response to the pain told her that he was definitely breaking skin.

Meanwhile two other men stood in the middle of the cave. One was animatedly reciting something in a language Chikako had never heard and the other seemed to be cleaning weapons. To their left was a pond. In this part of the tunnels the stone was dry though. No underground river flowed and no moisture seeped down from above. There wasn't a single dead body anywhere nearby, but Chikako was pretty sure she knew where the smell of blood originated from. Either these four had killed several dozen people within the last few hours and exsanguinated them, or they somehow kept the blood from drying and came back here with every new kill to fill the pond a little more.

Considering the lack of bodies and how far the smell had spread throughout the tunnels it was probably the latter. That didn't make the group any less dangerous though. It only meant they picked their prey off one by one. They all had the chakra of shinobi and she knew nothing about them, except that they were wanted for several murders. So, instead of going in and hoping for the best Chikako sat down behind a bend in the tunnel that let to their cave and waited.

The fourth man lay in a nook at the opposite side of the cave from where she was. At first she'd though he was asleep because he was nearly motionless. Once she'd gotten used to the one reciting what sounded like a sermon to her ears though, she could filter the strange language out and noticed that the man in the back was muttering something. His voice sounded like a rusty hinge. A rough whisper on a wheeze and with every fifth breath or so there was a quiet screeching noise. His windpipe was likely damaged and maybe the vocal cords as well, but he didn't seem to care all that much.

His muttering was mostly nonsensical, but the he used the phrase 'red dawn' several times and Chikako's ears perked up, because that was exactly what Akatsuki meant. Unlike Ibiki, she did believe in coincidences, but in this case it seemed too fitting to be one. Her search for the Akatsuki had lead her here and if that man was talking about a Red Dawn then chances were everything he said was some kind of metaphor.

She listened to him for a long time, yet never got any closer to understanding. It sounded like a legend in which the Red Dawn brought peace to the world, but unless she was completely misinterpreting him the means by which it accomplished that were death and destruction. It fit nicely with what the cult worshiped, but didn't make a lot of sense otherwise. Chikako did however realize that he was repeating the same story over and over, albeit with changed wording. It was like an endless mantra. Like he was praying.

He mentioned a Dark One and a Bringer of the End several times, who she assumed was his god Jashin, but since he never used any actual names she couldn't be sure. In fact those terms could be referring to two different people or things. The members of Akatsuki were powerful enough that both titles could fit any of them. What really baffled her though was the part about saving the world. All Chikako knew about Jashinism was what the priest had told her. The man was clearly biased so she had no idea whether the religion was really just about slaughtering people or if there was a component of salvation to it. There were enough twisted people in the world that she could easily believe someone thought killing every last human on the planet was a good way to achieve peace.

On a technical level they'd even be correct, seeing as no humans automatically equaled no wars. She didn't see how Akatsuki fit in with that though. Believing that a group composed of the Elemental Nations' most dangerous criminals wanted world peace was stretching even Chikako's imagination.

Itachi hated war, but he was too logical a person to think that violence could be overcome with more violence. Not to mention that, as far as she could tell, Hoshigaki seemed to revel in confrontation. He'd been in far too good spirits in Konoha for her to think anything else. No man that didn't love to fight would taunt enemies with a grin on his face. And then there was Orochimaru. He had left Akatsuki some time after Itachi had joined, but the fact that he'd ever been a member at all spoke volumes. All he cared about were knowledge and power, which meant the group had offered him at least one of those. They also couldn't have high moral or ethical standards because no on in their right mind would ever mistake Orochimaru for a decent person. The snake was a cold blooded psychopath and he had long given up on trying to hide it.

Since she wouldn't get anywhere without more information Chikako decided it was time for some action. She stepped into the cave without announcing her presence, formed four tiny blue flames and sent one to each of the men. With the boy she hesitated, but then struck him as well. His chakra said he was a shinobi and all shinobi were adults.

She let the Fox Fire burn strong, but only for a few seconds. Then she snuffed the flames out.

Her intention had been to use the sudden and excruciating pain as a threat to get them to talk to her. Their reactions, however, were not at all what she'd expected. They all turned to her, the old man even sat up, but not a single one so much as tried to attack. In fact the guy that had been cleaning weapons let out a moan that sounded disturbingly sexual to her ears.

"Do it again," he begged, seemingly not at all concerned by her presence.

Chikako was completely baffled, but she'd been taught well and so her expression remained neutral. Apparently the followers of Jashin didn't just like inflicting pain on others.

"I have some questions first," she told them in a commanding voice and they agreed to tell her whatever she wanted to know like eager puppies. It was surreal and not showing how uncomfortable their behavior made her became harder every time one answered a question and she rewarded him with a little more pain.

She'd planned to kill them for the bounty, but she hadn't expected them to play along. The boy actually called her mistress, which the others picked up immediately. It made her skin crawl and her fingers itch to tear their throats out. Chikako knew that some people found pleasure in pain, but this was a step beyond that. They screamed and cried when the blue flames tore into them, consuming their chakra. Their features clearly twisted in agony. There wasn't even a hint of pleasure on their faces as she tortured them and yet they always begged for more.

Jashin demanded death of his followers, but it didn't stop there. He wanted pain and suffering as well. When their religion spoke of destruction it didn't refer to the world, but rather the body. According to the Jashinists it was a gift to know true pain, to lose the fear of death and instead welcome its embrace.

These men had wandered the Land of Rivers, searching for those they thought worthy to be saved. Only, their version of salvation was death. In their minds they had simply done god's work and Chikako was their reward. She was the one who showed them true suffering and freed them from the shackles of life.

Chikako had thought what she'd done to the Shinobazu had been bad, but this somehow felt worse. She didn't even understand why because everyone got what they wanted out of the exchange. They gave her information and she gave them a kind of pain they'd never experienced before. They didn't even object when it became clear that she intended to kill them with the fire. In fact the old man managed to choke out a blessing for her before his body finally gave out.

They'd told her many things, about their religion, their lives and what they'd done, offering every little scrap of information they could think of to draw out the agony a little longer. Most of it was useless to her, but Chikako hadn't known enough to ask the right questions. This had been her only lead and she couldn't let it be a dead end. So she'd indulged their desire for pain until they had nothing more to say, but when it was done all she felt was disgust with them and herself.

Chikako neither cried nor did she throw up, but she really wished she could. Either action might have made her fell better. Instead she sat in a cave with four corpses, a pool of blood and a book she couldn't read.

She had no idea how much time she spent like that, but it had to have been several hours. The tunnels weren't particularly warm, yet rigor mortis had set in when she finally got up to take the heads of her latest kills. She left the book behind, but made sure she could describe how to get to the cave in case someone tried to argue about the bounty. The only things that marked these people as Jashinists were the necklaces they wore, each with the symbol of their god, a simple circle with a triangle inside. She hoped it was enough to identify them, but if not the cave surely would be.

. . .

"A child?" The kunoichi demanded when Chikako handed over the head's at one of River's border outposts. Frost and Hot Water were one of the few places were the civilian police force handled bounties, but in most other countries that job fell to shinobi.

"The bounty is for the group of Jashinists that hid in the southern caves," Chikako said sharply, "the boy was one of them. Does his age really matter? Or do you need me to recount for you how he skinned his victims alive before removing their organs one at a time?" Because he had done that, and worse. They all had and they'd been more than happy to share their work with her, proud even.

The woman reared back as if slapped and Chikako laughed at her. It was an ugly sound that held only malice. She'd gotten her information and now all she wanted was to get out of River. The kunoichi wasn't being very cooperative though.

"Do you know who I am?" Chikako finally asked when all the woman did was stare at her mutinously, or so she assumed.

"What? I don't care. I'm not paying you for killing a child."

It was the height of hypocrisy as far as Chikako was concerned. Shinobi trained children to kill and they sent them to war as cannon fodder. In fact River was between Fire, Wind and Earth, three major players of the Third Shinobi World War and this woman was just old enough to have seen the aftermath of that. She might have escaped the fighting herself, but she could hardly plead ignorance.

Chikako was done playing nice. She'd been at the outpost for at least an hour now, even dictated a report to someone as if this had been an official mission and now they tried to deny her payment. She didn't think so.

"My name," she said calmly and with a serene smile on her face while, at the same time, unleashing a wave of killing intent that would have impressed even Orochimaru, "is Wraith."

The kunoichi staggered back and fell to her knees before Chikako had even completed her sentence and so did the shinobi on desk duty. They were both chunin and seasoned border guards, which made the reaction especially embarrassing. The jonin that stumbled in from outside, far slower than would have been necessary if he'd intended to rescue anyone, didn't raise her opinion of the outpost either.

"A bounty has been posted, I killed the targets and even played along when you wanted paperwork," Chikako told them, still calm, still without inflection. "You will pay me what I'm owed or I will take my toll in blood."

The kunoichi whimpered from her position on the ground, but at least she didn't start to cry like the desk chunin. Neither of them was in any position to comply and Chikako considered letting up on the killing intent, but she was Wraith now. She'd already tried to play by their rules and if they refused to do things the easy way they would just have to live, or die, the hard way.

Behind her the jonin started to move. He wasn't nearly as affected as the other two, but he couldn't just shrug the terror off either. Chikako kept her back to him, seemingly unconcerned with what he might do, but aware of his every motion. She wondered if her killing intent was this much stronger now than it had been before Sai's death because her chakra control was better or because of what she'd experienced over the last few months. She'd always assumed that strong killing intent was simply linked to power, but maybe one had to have lived loss, pain and fear to project it effectively onto others.

The jonin shuffled around her, slowly as if trying not to startle a wild animal. He didn't even draw a weapon of any kind. In fact, he did whatever he could as to not give the impression that he was any threat at all. It was almost funny because, if he really wanted to, he could probably kill Chikako. He had more chakra than her and he was old enough to have lived through and fought in the last war. She had no doubt that she was faster and while he cowered like a frightened rabbit she could tear out his throat before he even realized what had happened, but in an actual fight he'd likely be able to overwhelm her with brute force. What a powerful thing perception was.

"We meant no disrespect ma'am," he told her on his way back from a heavy safe that reminded her of the one she'd seen in Gato's office. The man actually kept his head angled in such a way that he could only look at the ground. It was a gesture of utter submission that made her want to snarl at him. He was a soldier faced with a little girl and instead of standing his ground and protecting his subordinates he was only a hair's breadth away from scraping and bowing.

Chikako accepted the payment and let without another word.

. . .

Later that day she reflected that maybe the jonin had been doing his job after all. Had he really thought he couldn't take her in a fight, not antagonizing her might have seemed like the best option. Was it just the killing intent though or had the name Wraith meant something to him? Chikako didn't know what people said about her at the moment. By now word of what she'd done in Frost would have spread, Gai's team would have handed in their reports and who knew what rumors Gatsu or Kankuro might have spread. She should probably get her hands on another Bingo Book and someone who could read it to her. But first she had to follow up on her new lead.

According to the Jashinists the man that had slaughtered most of their people went by the name Hidan. He was a Jashinist himself, in fact they'd spoken of him like other religious people might of a high priest. Apparently he had Jashin's favor which made him immortal. Chikako wasn't stupid enough to disregard that claim out of hand, but she wasn't willing to consider it fact either. Mostly because an immortal S-rank nukenin wasn't something she wanted to deal with.

Except for his religious practices and beliefs she hadn't learned much about him, other than that he fought with a triple-bladed scythe. And what the fuck was the point of that? It wasn't like anything but the tips of the extra blades would ever be able to hit someone. Not to mention that the thing would be unnecessarily unwieldy. But then he didn't kill people outright or even fast. He wanted to inflict pain first, so maybe it was intended to act like a serrated blade. Instead of simply cutting, the weapon would rip and tear.

About his partner she knew even less. The man hadn't been there when Hidan had started to slaughter the believers and once he'd showed up the two had gotten into an argument about wasting time and money. The reason the four people Chikako had killed were still alive after Hidan's visit, was that this other man had apparently dragged him away like some unruly child. A though that was just terrifying.

The cultists had told her that the other man had mentioned Rain more than once. Chikako had no knowledge about that particular country though, other than that it rained constantly and that no spy had ever come out again, or so people claimed. Not that she would have followed that particular duo, no matter where they were headed. No, the information she was interested in lead to Tea.

While the two men had argued about whether Hidan got to kill the rest of the Jashinists or not one of them had mentioned another pair that was headed for a small village. The cultists had been eager enough for pain to repeat the conversation to her almost word for word. Which meant she now knew that Hidan communicated to at least fifty percent via cussing and his partner had a one track mind that was interested in nothing but money. The cultists hadn't know where the village was, but Chikako recognized the name. She'd never been there herself, but while Sai had recovered after their encounter with Aoi Rokusho she'd familiarized herself with the geography of Tea.

If she remembered correctly the village was barely big enough to warrant showing up on a map. It was in the south-west of the country, far from any trade routes, and the only reason Chikako recalled it's name at all was that it was said to be haunted by the ghosts of crying children. She had no idea why any Akatsuki member would be interested in something like that, but a lead was a lead.


	44. XI - Miss me?

**A/N:**

 _Kragh50_

Thanks, no promises, but the Bingo Book entry might come up again in 2 or 3 chapters.

 _Diehard gamer_

Thank you. This chapter and the next don't have a lot of Wraith in them, but after that Chikako should get a chance to act some more.

 _Elise142_

I always meant to bring them up as the first lead, mostly because I think Hidan and his penchant for slaughtering people would be the only obvious trail any Akatsuki member might leave behind. Your initial comment about the pair was very well timed though. I'm afraid if everything goes as planned they won't show up again for quite some time, but I'm not quite happy with what I have planned for that particular story line, so we'll see.

. . .

 **XI - Miss me?**

Obokeyokai was a beautiful little place. It was out of the way and the few buildings blended in perfectly with nature. For a village said to be haunted by the ghost of children it's inhabitants were surprisingly cheerful though. Chikako had expected a somber atmosphere or at least a little mistrust because she was so obviously an outsider. What she got instead were friendly greetings and smiles. It was a tad disturbing if she was honest. Civilians outside of Hidden Villages usually reacted with fear to any and all shinobi. She actually checked for genjutsu twice, despite her natural resistance.

She learned the reason for the welcoming treatment as soon as she sat down in the village's only pub. Apparently another ninja had come through a while ago and ended the curse that had kept the ghosts trapped. A jutsu more likely, but Chikako didn't argue with the bartender. Instead she made appropriately interested noises and asked a few innocuous questions about the incident that kept him talking.

The ninja in question had been a boy around her age who was traveling with his grandfather. Definitely not Akatsuki, but chances were the bartender would mention the second pair of shinobi himself if she just let him talk long enough. Provided they'd even made their presence known. In any case trying to interrogate the man would only lose her the good will that boy had apparently earned for all ninja.

"See, none of us had ever gone near that cave because that's were the angriest ghosts were," the bartender told her, enthusiastically waving with his hands. "The kid ran straight in though. His granda' wasn't too happy and there was a lot of noise. I thought he'd end up another ghost, but then this huge frog came out of the cave with the kid on it's head. No one has seen a single ghost since."

"A frog?" Chikako asked, suddenly genuinely interested in what he had to say. She only knew of one way, other than genjutsu, to make giant frogs appear out of nowhere and that particular summoning contract belonged to Jiraiya of the Sannin.

"Yes, huge it was," the bartender grinned. "Could talk too. Sacred me right good, but it was really friendly and loved my Akii's cooking."

"What a delightful story," Chikako told him with a smile, angling her head so that the bandage around her eyes was clearly visible. "Would you mind describing the three to me?"

"Oh, oh my, I'm sorry," the bartender stuttered a little embarrassed. The things he recounted for her were precisely as she'd expected. The boy had wild, blond hair and eyes as blue and bright as a summer sky. He was loud and full of life and his smiles were infectious. The old man on the other hand was a grump that liked to get a little too friendly with the young women, but ultimately he wasn't a bad sort.

Naruto and Jiraiya had left Obokeyokai roughly around the time Chikako had arrived in River and started her search. They'd stayed for a little over a week and then made for Degarashi Port to find a ship. The bartender didn't remember where to, but that was alright because the next thing he told her was that two men in black cloaks with red clouds on them had passed through shortly after. One a young man with midnight hair and eyes like fire and the other huge with bluish-gray skin and shark's teeth.

"Scary fellows both of them," he told her in a conspiratorial whisper, "but guess what? The small one was really polite, like a highborn you know, and the big guy made it rain when my Akii set the kitchen on fire. Can you believe that? Rain inside the house. Saved me bar he did."

Chikako could have kissed the man, so happy was she to have found the right trail. After spending days and days in River's cave system only to find out that she'd been tracking the wrong Akatsuki, this was a stroke of good luck. It didn't last long though because he had no idea where they had gone.

Apparently Itachi and Kisame had only stayed long enough for a meal and then vanished from one moment to the next.

"Of course they did," Chikako muttered and paid for a room to spend the night in. She didn't sleep well and after waking up for the third time, because even in this small village there were just too many people around for her to relax, she gave it up. Even before going blind the chakra of others had started to disturb her sleep, but since Kit had honed her sensing skills even further every little shift in the surrounding energy woke her.

In that way the caves had been nice. Silent and lifeless enough that she'd been well rested. She preferred her senses sharp though. In time she'd get used to filtering out the smaller things and then the certainty that virtually nobody could sneak up on her even when she wasn't awake was going to be all that would be left. That was worth a few sleepless nights.

In the meantime she napped whenever she could and spent the rest of the time thinking. That particular night Chikako reviewed what she'd learned, but couldn't quite come up with a timeline that made sense. Hidan and his partner had to have been in River around the end of June or early July and Chikako had arrived there in September. Naruto hadn't been in Obokeyokai until late August though and Itachi had followed him only days later. That meant Hidan would have known well in advance that Itachi and Kisame were going to be in Obokeyokai. So the visit was a planned one and it was only coincidence that Konoha's jinchuriki and two Akatsuki members had been in a tiny village, that was completely out of the way, within days of each other.

That sounded believable.

The village was pretty, but there was nothing here, not even ghosts now. The timing and that the Akatsuki hadn't lingered, as well as the fact that they'd come looking for Naruto before, suggested that they were tracking her former teammate. If that were the case though Hidan shouldn't have known where they would be, because that would have meant Itachi had been aware of Naruto's location more than a month before he'd reached it. In other words the only logical reason for him to not already be there to ambush the boy would have been that he couldn't make it in time. If they'd already known that that would be the case another pair could have been sent instead of Itachi and Hoshigaki.

As far as she knew Jiraiya had left with Naruto specifically to avoid Akatsuki. After Itachi's appearance in Konoha it had been clear that the village wasn't safe, but it wasn't like they'd slipped away unnoticed. The two Akatsuki had been hot on Jiraiya's heels even then. Could they really have gotten so far off the trail during the last ten months?

But then Itachi had let them go even then hadn't he? His visit to Konoha hadn't been hidden at all and Jiraiya had been able to leave with Naruto because Itachi had decided to retreat for no good reason whatsoever. There wasn't really a point to tracking someone you didn't want to find though.

Unless you were delaying your partner.

"Is that your game Weasel?" Chikako asked the ceiling she couldn't see. It didn't answer, but then she hadn't expected it to. It seemed the more she learned the less she knew. Every new piece of information only left her with more questions.

If she worked under the assumption that Hoshigaki wanted to find Naruto and Itachi didn't, then the lack of an ambush made sense. Another explanation was that Jiraiya was really good at avoiding people. She would have believed that too if the bartender had been less informative. If Naruto was showing off his summons though, it couldn't be too hard to follow him.

Then again, how, after more than ten months, had nobody in Akatsuki noticed that Itachi wasn't helping them? If that was indeed the case it couldn't be easy to keep secret. Itachi was brilliant, but if he was a spy that would mean he had been undercover for years. And if Akatsuki's pattern held he would have had a partner the whole time. Maybe not the same one, but he'd been with Kisame back in Konoha, so almost a full year now, and likely longer before that.

Could he really not have slipped up for all that time? Or was she completely on the wrong track? Maybe he hadn't spied the whole time? What if he had slipped up, someone had noticed and was now using it against him?

"Fuck," Chikako muttered. This was giving her a headache. She knew nothing and every time she thought she had pieced something together she came up with another possibility that was just as likely. She wouldn't get anywhere like this. Even worse, unless she was right and Itachi was indeed following Naruto, she had already lost the trail again. The bartender, who seemed to have been the only person the Akatsuki had actually interacted with, knew nothing and while she would check, she had no hope that they'd left anything behind for her to track them with.

It seemed her only option was to head to Degarashi Port. With a little luck she might even be able to avoid Idate.

. . .

She didn't have luck though and of course her first stop once she'd reached the port town was the Wasabi Family. Thanks to the race her and Sai had helped with, Jirocho Wasabi ruled over Degarashi for the time being, consequently he was also the best person to ask for information. And because the universe hated Chikako, Idate was his bodyguard.

"You!" He snarled the second she walked in. On one hand that meant she wouldn't have to introduce herself and convince them that she was Fox, on the other, she already wanted to strangle the boy. She should have probably been impressed that he'd remembered the way she moved well enough to identify her by it before she'd even said anything, but she still couldn't stand the little shit so she chose to be annoyed instead.

"Traitor," she greeted him. Then just to be mean, "Seen your brother lately?"

He made an indignant noise and when she took a step in his direction he flinched back so fast that she felt a little bad about it. She hadn't been particularly friendly the last time. In fact, she'd outright threatened him and everyone he knew to keep Sai's location secret while her friend had recovered from his injuries.

"Children, please," Jirocho interjected before they could get into it. Unlike Idate it had taken him a little longer to recognize her, but after that nasty little exchange he too was certain of her identity. Or rather Fox's. She didn't use that name any longer, but they'd never learned her real name and she wasn't about to tell them now.

"Don't worry, I'm just passing through," she informed the head of the Wasabi Family. With him she spoke plainly and asked her questions outright. There really wasn't any point in pretending because Idate wouldn't believe anything she said anyway. He also knew better than to tell anyone if that flinch had been anything to go by. Apparently he'd never informed the head of his chosen family about the threat she'd made either. The man seemed happy to see her and answered all of her questions to the best of his knowledge.

Naruto and Jiraiya had passed through the port town only nineteen days ago. That meant, even taking into account that the bartender in Obokeyokai hadn't given her any actual dates, they'd taken almost a month to get to Degarashi. Chikako on the other hand had made the same trip in eighteen days. It made sense that Jiraiya wouldn't hurry because he was training Naruto on the way, whereas Chikako was tracking and thus covering as much ground as possible. If she could make the trip almost twice as fast though, then so could Itachi and Kisame. They'd been less than a week behind their target and yet they'd only arrived in the port town four days after Jiraiya had left.

What the hell were they doing?

Unless something really big had happened to distract them on the way there was no reason for them not to have caught up yet. Chikako was pretty sure she would have noticed if there had been a fight. Nothing short of another S-ranked shinobi would have posed any trouble for the Akatsuki and confrontations that involved that kind of power tended to leave easily noticeable evidence behind.

They could have been delayed by something else, but she couldn't think of a prize worth losing a jinchuriki for. Or well, she could because Zabuza was willing to give one up to free his home. As far as she knew though, nobody had taken over any Hidden Villages lately.

Was Itachi deliberately confusing the trail? Hoshigaki had been there with him when they'd talked to the bartender. Itachi was, however, a genjutsu master in possession of the Mangekyo Sharingan. While it was possible that Kisame was also adept at genjutsu, Chikako rather doubted he was better than his partner. In theory Itachi could have altered Hoshigaki's perception in such a way that he wouldn't have heard the information about Naruto and Jiraiya.

That was a dangerous game to play, but unless the Akatsuki were only watching their targets and didn't actually intend to catch up with them Chikako couldn't think of anything else. Unless of course Hoshigaki was in on the game and neither him nor Itachi meant to catch Naruto. And she was grasping at straws again. What reason would the former Kiri nin have to do something like that?

It was probably easiest if she just asked once she'd found them.

According to Jirocho, Jiraiya had paid for passage to Bird, He didn't know about the Akatsuki, but it was probably safe to say they would show up in Bird as well.

Chikako spent three more days in Degarashi Port to find out if anyone else had more information on her targets, but no such luck. She'd actually been done with her search on the second day, but no ship was scheduled to head for Bird or even anywhere near the country for another week. She did manage to run into Madame however on the third day. The big woman with her all female crew and colorful ship was more than happy to take all of Chikako's money once again.

Since Madame hadn't actually planned to head towards Bird she demanded quite the sum as payment. She also wasn't inclined to give a discount in light of the fact that she'd earned far more than had been reasonable the last time she'd sailed Chikako, Sai and Jiro out of Tea. In the end what that meant was that Chikako didn't have enough to pay her and had to agree to also work as security for the ship and help with anything else that was needed.

She didn't care all that much. There was always one bounty or another that needed to be taken care of, so she could get more money after she was done with her current task and having something to do while out on sea wouldn't hurt her either.

Chikako had to reevaluate that last assumption by the end of the first week. Madame took full advantage of the fact that she could walk on water and frequently had her running beside the ship to help with various tasks. Mostly cleaning and catching fish, but on one occasion, four weeks in, Madame had actually sent her to shore to check something out on a nearby island. Chikako hadn't complained because it was faster than stopping the ship and rowing a boat to the island, but her muscles had not been happy with her. Getting to the island had been easy enough, despite the waves, but on the way back she'd had to sprint over quite a distance to catch up with the ship. The only upside to that little trip had been that she'd gotten the following day off to recover.

Then, two days after they'd passed Water's territory, Jiro had actually appeared when Chikako tried to summon him as agreed.

"Oh, were are we?" He asked, excitedly flicking his ears this way and that. He recognized the ship almost immediately and was off to greet everyone before Chikako could ask what had happened. He was only supposed to answer her summons if he had news after all.

She was surprised enough by his unexpected appearance that she didn't stop him right away, so by the time she caught him he was already in the galley, stealing sake.

"Cut it out," Chikako demanded, grabbing him by the ruff. He squealed, alerting the chef and then they both had to make a hasty escape to avoid getting hit with a skillet. Jiro dodged between Chikako's legs, scrambling to get out as fast as possible. Once he'd made it past the entrance Chikako followed with a Body Flicker and sealed the corridor with a chakra barrier. It wouldn't hold for long if she didn't stay right next to it, but it bought them enough time to reach the crow's nest and duck out of sight.

The chef shouted after them for a solid five minutes before she gave up and the only reason the woman didn't find them was that the other crew members were too amused to tattle on them.

"What the hell?" Chikako asked, flicking Jiro's left ear.

"Ouch!" He squeaked. "What was that for?"

"You know what! Why are you even here?"

"I was bored and Zabuza said he was going to drown me if I took his sake one more time," the tanuki complained. "He is so mean when Haku isn't there to chastise him. Why do I have to stay there? I wanna travel with you and have adventures!"

A long suffering sigh escaped Chikako as she smacked her head backwards and against the mast she was leaning on. She should have known something like this would happen. She couldn't even sent him back right now because they were at sea.

"It's not safe-" she started to explain, but then Jiro was crawling up her arm and onto her shoulders, pulling at the blindfold. "Hey, what is wrong with you? Get off me."

"You haven't checked have you?" Jiro demanded. He pulled and prodded until the strip of fabric came off and then he pulled her eyelids apart with his paws. Chikako didn't try to pull him away. She'd done that the first time and in the end there had been a lot of pouting and arguing and Jiro had gotten his way anyway.

"Ha!" he exclaimed triumphantly and then promptly fell backward because he'd thrown both his arms up and thus lost his hold and balance at the same time. She didn't bother to catch him, so he rolled down her front like a furry ball, bounced when he hit the ground and almost flew out of the crow's nest.

"Ouch!" He squeaked for the second time that day when the railing stopped his momentum. There was some paw waving and accusations of being as mean as Zabuza, but then he remembered why he'd fallen in the first place.

"You can see," he told her earnestly.

Chikako raised an eyebrow at him, pointedly opening her eyes and waving a hand in front of them.

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p', "still blind."

"No way!" Jiro shrieked as if she'd personally insulted him. "You have eyes, so you can see."

She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Chikako could already tell that this conversation would end in a massive headache for her and she really wasn't in the mood to argue with her tanuki. Madame had made her clean the ships hull that day, including the parts that were underwater. She was barely dry and almost completely out of chakra.

"I do not," Chikako said, making sure to emphasize the 'not', "have eyes Jiro. Can you please-"

"No! You do!" He interrupted her with at least as much excitement as annoyance in his tone. Then he jumped onto her lap and crawled up to her shoulder again only to poke her in the eye.

And fuck, that hurt. Which meant he was right.

Chikako jostled him until he let go and then proceeded to feel around her eyelids, making sure to keep them closed. There was definitely something there, but the orbs felt harder than they should be and she was unarguably still blind.

"Okay," she said, and then again after taking a deep breath. "Okay, you're right."

Apparently she could grow back eyes.

"How do they look?" Chikako asked, leaning down so that Jiro could see from his position on the floor. If they were really growing back she felt like she should be able to see, even if the process wasn't quite finished. Her world was still black in black though. There wasn't even a suggestion of light and dark, much less colors or contours. For all intents and purposes she was still blind.

"Uhm," Jiro started, suddenly a lot less eager to talk. A minute ago he'd practically been dancing around, happy with his victory, and now he was stalling.

"Jiro?"

"Well," he said, again not actually answering her. Chikako simultaneously wanted him to just get it over with and tell her and to keep his mouth shut. She needed to know, but she wasn't sure that she wanted to hear. The silence stretched between them as Jiro fidgeted and she got her nerves under control.

"Just tell me," Chikako finally said. "Not knowing isn't going to change anything."

Jiro fidgeted some more. Then he took a deep breath and plopped down on the ground.

"They're black," he whispered, almost too quietly to hear.

"As in dead and rotting black?"

"No, just ... just black."

Neither of them said anything while Chikako thought about that. At some point Jiro crawled back into her lap and she started to pet him like one might a cat. Below them the waves lapped against the freshly cleaned hull of the ship and Madame's women went about their work.

Chikako half-thought Jiro was asleep when he startled her by sitting up.

"I could talk to Kit again," he offered tentatively, apparently unsure how she'd react.

"Okay," was all she said, because she didn't know how she should react either. Chikako had always assumed that her eyes either would, or more likely, wouldn't grow back. This was curious. Odd. Unexpected. Potentially a problem. There was that niggling hope in the back of her mind that insisted everything would be fine and she couldn't decide whether to embrace it or lock it away where she'd never find it again.

It took her some time after Jiro had vanished into chakra smoke to realize that she was afraid.

She didn't try to summon him the next day or the one after that. Instead she worked harder than she had ever since hiring Madame again, drowning out any though of her eyes with exhaustion.

Her eyes, or whatever they were now, didn't hurt. They didn't even feel odd. If they had she would have noticed they were there. The chakra flow was completely normal. There was no smell, no itch or anything else that might mean something was wrong. They also clearly reacted to pain like normal eyes would.

And yet, they were black and she couldn't see.

Obviously not normal. Growing back eyes in general wasn't normal. Not normal often equaled wrong when it applied to anything in the realm of chakra or biology. Would whatever was wrong with her eyes infect the rest of her? The things were not only directly connected to the brain, they were fucking right next to it. What exactly would happen if her brain turned black? How did she know it hadn't already? She hadn't even noticed the-

"I don' ken what's wrong with ye," Madame said, startling Chikako out of her frantic thoughts, "but ye gotta take care of it."

She had known the woman was there on some level, but usually nobody talked to her unless they were giving her orders, so she hadn't expected anything else now.

"What do you mean?" She asked neutrally. Keeping how she felt out of her voice was hard, but she was shinobi, she was Wraith.

"Since yer pet was here, ye've been off," was all the woman said before she headed back to her quarters. As captain she was the only one with a room for herself, which was why Chikako spent most of her free time in the crow's nest. Too many people, not enough space.

Madame was right, she'd been too distracted. Otherwise she would have noticed not just the captain's location, but also have realized that the woman never climbed up the shrouds. What a stupid oversight. That alone was prove enough that she needed to get a hold of herself.

Chikako waited almost a full hour until she was finally ready to summon Jiro. When she did though, the pull on her chakra was far greater than it should have been and the yokai that appeared wasn't a tanuki.

"Kit," she greeted, more than a little wary.


	45. XI - And Then There Was Light

**A/N:**

 _Kragh50_

The eyes aren't made of chakra. I don't think I implied that either, but just to clarify: they are simply completely black (sclera and all).

You're right about the chapter title though. That didn't even occur to me. Sorry about that. You're gonna have to wait for Itachi a little while longer.

 _Elise142_

Glad you liked it. The chase is going to continue ... right after Kit and Chikako get themselves sorted out.

 _Peruna_

There is a whole lot of Kit for you here. Only Kit really, enjoy.

 _Diehard gamer & soapsopas_

Thanks for the reviews. Action-wise there isn't a lot happening in this chapter either, but I promise that's going to change next chapter.

. . .

 **XI - And Then There Was Light**

"Human," Kit said blandly. He'd appeared as a little boy again, his four tails lazily swishing in the sea breeze. Even without seeing him Chikako was certain he'd raised an eyebrow at her as if to question why she hadn't expected him and rolled out the red carpet as was his due.

"I called Jiro."

"So you did."

"Well?" She demanded impatiently when he didn't elaborate on that enlightening statement. But Kit was a trickster and he rarely made things easy.

"Why yes, thank you," he told her magnanimously. "I am very well. Nice of you to ask human."

Chikako smacked her head back against the mast. She was pretty sure there would be a permanent indent in the wood soon. Maybe she could carve a face into it as well, then at least the next person hiding in the crow's nest would have a less annoying companion.

"Kit," she ground out, still on edge because she hadn't expected him and wasn't sure what he would do, "why are you here?"

He was silent for a moment, probably glaring at her because she refused to play along with his game.

"To teach you of course," the kitsune huffed as if that should have been obvious. And maybe it should have. He'd come when she'd needed to learn how to live without eyes as well, so why not now.

"Please don't," Chikako blurted before she'd even thought about it and then clapped her hands over her mouth. Shit. If he knew what was going on she needed him to help, but the last time he'd trained her, she'd been practically dead on her feet for a month.

"I mean, thank you, please do," she added hastily, hoping she hadn't offended him. Jiro clearly didn't know what was going on with her eyes, which meant Kit was her best shot to find out. And no matter how horrible of a teacher he was, nobody could claim his training methods didn't work.

The silence stretched between them. While Chikako fidgeted like a little child waiting for approval Kit stood perfectly still. Even his tails resisted the wind, but there was a curious bubbling quality to his chakra. She didn't realize what it meant until he broke down laughing, almost giving her a hearth attack in the process.

"Seriously?"

He shushed her.

"Open your eyes, let me see."

She did as ordered and he stared at her for a long time, turning her head this way and that. He even made a few noises that might have signified surprise and she was half convinced he only did it to fuck with her. He was supposed to know what was going on after all.

"Marvelous," he breathed when he was done. He sounded so genuine it threw Chikako off for a moment.

"What do you mean marvelous?" She spluttered. "Jiro said you were absolutely certain my eyes would grow back." If he said he didn't know what this was either she was going to scream.

"Ah," he hummed, head jerking in a motion that was probably a nod, "but these are not your eyes now are they? These are yokai eyes."

"They are blind eyes," she groused. "And what does that even mean?"

"Humans," Kit said, making the word a curse, "The eyes are fine. You are the one that cannot see."

Chikako took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose between forefinger and thumb and let her back glide down the mast until she sat on the ground. He hadn't even been there for a full ten minutes and she already had a headache.

"Explain it to me like I'm five," she pleaded, fully aware of the fact that Kit generally thought all humans were stupid. Instead of doing as she'd asked though, or even making a derisive comment, he threw a non-sequitur at her.

"I will be yours until you die and then you will live with Sune and me."

"What?"

"You heard me human," he said petulantly, but there was an oddly vulnerable note in his tone. Chikako really wished she could have read his mind at that moment, or at least seen his face. She'd settle for that.

"What exactly does that mean?" She asked carefully. It sounded important, as in once in a lifetime important. When Kit and Sune had explained to her what yokai were they had made it very clear that her contract with them did not mean they actually had to do anything she said, or even answer a summons for that matter. They'd made it sound like regular Summons, bound demons as they called them, were somehow worth less. Nothing more than slaves. Chikako knew a few summons, first and foremost Kakashi's pack. Not a single one of them had ever complained about their situation. Not that that mattered, if Kit thought they were slaves. But the way he'd formulated that sentence made it seem as if he was offering her exactly that, and trickster demons were not careless with their wording.

"Forget it," he snarled when she didn't immediately agree, turning away from her to look out at the sea. Chakra whipped around him like a tiny storm. There was pain there, so much pain. Sadness and loneliness too, the likes of which she'd only ever sensed in Itachi.

"Kit please," Chikako whispered. Her hand stretched towards him almost automatically. To pet, to comfort, to hold, she didn't know and stopped herself before she could actually touch him. Jiro and Sune liked contact, hugs and rowdy play, Kit did not. He stayed on the sidelines and watched, going so far as to threaten violence whenever Sune tried to rope him into their games. He wasn't a pet either, or a little boy for that matter. He way yokai, old and powerful. He was also a trickster that thought of humans as lesser and reveled in manipulation.

"I didn't mean -" Chikako started and then tried again. "Please understand, after what Anwei did - After the last deal I didn't question-"

"Do not compare me to that filth!" He roared, cutting off her halting attempt at an explanation. He'd turned back towards her in one fluid motion, so fast that it was a blur even to her enhanced sense of chakra. The miniature storm of energy that had surrounded him lashed out at anything and everything, growing with his every heaving breath. It pulsed with Kit's fury until she though any more and her skin might peel off.

Chikako didn't apologize right away, but she didn't step back either, instead letting the angry waves of chakra crash over and around her. The ship had become deathly silent at his outburst. She could feel the crew cowering below them. They had found hiding places wherever they had been standing at the time, crawling under tables, into barrels and behind the cloth hangings that lined every surface.

She'd seen, and not seen, Kit in many moods. Exasperated, mischievous, stern, intrigued, contemplative and amused were the most common, but no matter what he felt, he'd never lost control. Not when Sune was a horrible brat or when Jiro whined enough to make ears bleed and induce migraines. Not even during Chikako's training when he'd done just about anything short of actually killing her. This time though he'd lost it and the result was terrifying.

Kit might not be one of the Tailed Beasts, but he was powerful in his own right. He couldn't destroy mountains with a lash of his tails, bury forests beneath sand or call tsunamis to wash away cities, that didn't make him any less deadly though. He'd drenched the prison in Earth in blood as barely more than an afterthought. At the time Chikako had assumed the trail he'd left her through the stone corridors had been the byproduct of needing something to do with all that blood. Now she wondered if maybe he'd simply killed all those people so he had something to paint with.

The only death he'd actually cared about had been Babyblue's and even that had held no meaning beyond the fact that the woman had hurt Chikako. Then there was his request to look after Jiro. He'd trained her and helped her above and beyond their agreement, never asking for anything in return, not really. Jiro was her friend and she would have taken care of him no matter what. The guards in Earth had to die one way or another so she could get out, and afterwards, even though the deal had been to let him have his fun, he hadn't once strayed from the path Chikako chose to avoid humans. Now he had come again to help and she'd basically thrown the fact that she didn't quite trust him in his face when he'd offered her his strength.

Neither her stupidity, nor Anwei's malice were his fault and she was wrong to lay either at his feet. Kit was dangerous, but he'd always played with open cards. He was yokai yes, a trickster too, but that wasn't all he was.

"Forgive me," Chikako said, going down on one knee and holding her right fist over her heart in the typical shinobi salute. Her head was bowed and her neck exposed. She'd sneered at the jonin in River for his submissive pose and now she was holding herself even lower. This wasn't the same though. She wasn't trying to placate Kit in hopes that he wouldn't kill her. If he'd meant to do that she'd already be a bloody smear on the wood. Instead she was demonstrating trust, regret at having hurt him so callously, an apology. "I would be honored, if the offer still stands that is."

The chakra storm had started to ebb away the instant she'd bowed her head and, by the time she was done speaking, all was quiet once more. The crew didn't yet dare to move, but Kit's breathing had evened out. She almost felt him regarding her, weighing her sincerity.

He let her wait like that for a long time, just standing there staring down at her until her knee and neck hurt from the uncomfortable position, but Chikako didn't move. Wouldn't unless he either accepted or rejected her apology. That he was taking his time was both a punishment for her mistrust and a demonstration that he was in a position of power. It was somewhat petty, but there was no arguing that she didn't deserve it. Then, without explanation or warning, he use a clawed finger to cut into his palm, grabbed her left arm to smear the blood over the black bands of her Summoning Tattoo and pressed chakra into it.

Blinding pain burned into her skin and Chikako realized he was dissolving the contract and taking her right to call on any yokai ever again. She held perfectly still, not fighting him even though she wanted to beg and plead. The physical pain was nothing against the sense of loss that hit her in that moment. But then another band of ink appeared, neatly winding itself around her arm below the upper rings. This one made up entirely of rune-like markings she couldn't read, and beneath it her chakra pathways once again reformed to mimic the symbols. It felt way worse than the first time. As if tiny insects crawled beneath her skin and ate away at her flesh, and once that was done they shot up and down her arm until it tingled from wrist to shoulder. The tingling grew worse as the seconds passed, turning from insects to lightning to fire and back again. For a moment it felt like something hat crushed her arm into mush and then something snapped and everything was back to normal.

She almost cried in relief. Not alone. Not abandoned.

"Silly human," Kit huffed, clearly aware of what she'd thought. He didn't sound the least bit apologetic, but he did smack her so lightly on the head, it could be misconstrued as a pat. "When you are yokai we will see how you like getting summoned by fools."

"I won't be me though will I?" Chikako asked once she'd recovered. Her breathing wasn't quite even and the muscles of her left arm twitched occasionally as if they had been struck by actual lightning. Other than that she was fine though. "You know with the whole chakra or souls or whatever forming into shades first business."

"Are you doubting my word again?" Kit said archly, daring her to do exactly that.

Chikako almost swallowed her protest to avoid another confrontation, but that wasn't her. She apologized when she was wrong, but she did not back down just to avoid conflict. If it was a challenge he wanted then that was exactly what he'd get.

"You were the one who explained that whole afterlife mess to me."

He grinned. She couldn't see it, but chis chakra got all warm and bubbly again and there was this entirely too pleased tone in his voice that made her think he'd tricked her somehow.

"That's for humans, I wouldn't waste my time with a human."

"Really?" Chikako questioned, sarcasm practically dripping from that one word. What exactly did he think she was?

"Really," Kit told her. She would have sworn his grin had gotten even bigger. That silly, terrifying, loyal fox and his stupid games. Her nerves were too fried to even attempt playing, so instead her head hit that familiar indent in the wood again. Madame wouldn't make her pay extra for that, probably. There were extenuating circumstances and - Who was she kidding? The maybe-pirate woman was going to press every last ryo out of her.

"Can you please just explain something for once?" Chikako pleaded, rubbing the back of her head. If she wasn't careful her skull was going to end up with a mast-shaped impression.

He sighed as if she'd robbed him of all the fun in the world, but then actually sat down with her and did exactly that. Turns out that whatever Orochimaru had done to fuck up her chakra made her similar enough to a yokai that Kit didn't consider her human. She obviously wasn't a demon either, not even close, but he magnanimously overlooked that circumstance. He seemed to believe that when she died her will would automatically subdue that of any other souls that made up a shade and that that shade would then immediately form into a yokai.

As far as Chikako could tell it was all just guess work. Granted, Kit and Sune were shepherding souls and shades for a living, so to speak, but even they'd never actually come across a case like Chikako's. Kit did mention that that was what happened to people that died as jinchuriki though. They were apparently so drenched by the chakra of the Tailed Beast they'd harbored that it carried over even into death. They weren't exactly mentally stable for the first few years, but that seemed to settle once they accepted what had happened. Since Kit hadn't known any of them before their deaths he couldn't tell whether they were still themselves, but he seemed to think it very likely because they usually tried to get back to their loved ones.

It gave her hope to know that she might not just vanish into nothing, but it also made her sad. If Kit was right and she became a yokai with her memories intact, she'd live a long, long time knowing that almost everyone she'd ever known would die before her. She'd have Kit, Jiro and maybe even Sune by her side. All those former jinchuriki though?

"Do they make friends?"

"What?"

"The ones that remember, do they make friends? They must be very lonely."

The question seemed to startle Kit, as if it had never even occurred to him. It didn't throw him off nearly as much as the next thing she did though.

Chikako hadn't forgotten that Kit's chakra had felt lonely too. He had Jiro and his little sister, but compared to him they were small children. They didn't understand the age Chikako had seen in his eyes the first time they'd met. If she was honest she didn't either, but she also wasn't a child anymore. Not after all she'd lived and done.

"I'm glad we're friends," she said, deliberately formulating it as fact. She didn't give him a chance to reply, instead jumping up and crushing him in a hug, tails and all. Chikako was prepared to let go immediately and apologize, just in case she'd read him wrong, but no matter how much Kit struggled and complained, he never actually tried to get out of the embrace.

. . .

What followed were days and days of meditation. It wasn't the nice relaxing kind either.

Kit made her sit on the railing of the crows nest and then he shoved chakra at her in waves. She was supposed to try to see them. He just never explained how the fuck he expected her to do that. He also liked to distract her by trying to push her off the railing or asking random questions that she wasn't allowed to ignore. All part of the training, or so he claimed. Chikako thought at least half of that was still revenge because she hadn't trusted him. She knew way too many vindictive people with a mean streak and questionably attuned moral compass.

"What did I write on the Bingo Book in Earth?"

"Thank you for the hospitality," Chikako almost snarled. She'd resigned herself to the fact that simply answering as fast as possible was the best course of action, no matter how nonsensical his questions, but that didn't mean she had to like the game.

"What color is the sea?"

"Blue," she said and then added, "mostly," when his chakra surged. The rules were to be fast and truthful, also factually accurate, which meant she often had to qualify what she said. It might be training for making better deals with less loopholes, or maybe Kit was just bored. He certainly used every chance he got to slap her with chakra whenever she gave an answer that was wrong or incomplete in a way that couldn't be interpreted in her favor.

"What do the runes in the Summoning Tattoo mean?"

"No idea," she huffed exasperated. "They are just squiggly lines that make no sense to me."

"Describe them to me."

She did. Chikako actually described all of them in minute detail before she slapped a hand to her forehead and almost fell backwards over the railing. Kit laughed when the realization that she'd seen the stupid runes finally sunk in. He also didn't move an inch to help her as she dangled by two fingers from the crow's nest.

"You are such an ass," Chikako groused, pouring more chakra into her hands and pulling herself back up. She'd seen those stupid runes almost a full week ago and the bastard had not only known, he hadn't told her.

She hadn't seen black ink on white skin though. In her mind the symbols had been an almost blinding white that had then settled into translucent blue as the pain ebbed away. It had matched exactly what she'd sensed chakra-wise, only sharper and in color. The rest of the world had still been pure black though. How did that work?

It took Chikako three more days, no thanks to Kit, to figure out how to direct the chakra flow in her eyes to make chakra visible. It gave her a headache that started with mild pressure and discomfort and quickly grew into pounding so bad she though someone was taking a sledgehammer to her skull. She barely managed to keep the eyes activated for five minutes on the first day.

"There you go," Kit told her, as if it had somehow been his accomplishment.

She ignored him in favor of starring at her surroundings, looking all around her and drinking in the world she hadn't seen in months. Chikako had no idea if the chakra colors were actually more vibrant than real ones or if everything just seemed sharper, but she relished in it. Even as the pressure of energy buildup pressed at the back of her eyeballs and the light throbbing in her head turned painful. She didn't stop absorbing every little detail until Kit slapped her to snap her out of it.

And her world was black again.

"No." The word sounded like betrayal. She'd seen, seen everything and then he'd taken it away again. "No, no, no," she whispered over and over again.

"There is no point in having these eyes if you're just going to destroy them," Kit told her sternly. "You will learn how to use them and you will do so slowly."

. . .

He allowed her a few minutes of vision a day. It was like a drug. Every time better than she'd remembered. As if whenever she used the eyes her world became more than it had been and then reverted until she felt as if all her senses were dulled when she stopped. It was wonderful and maddening and made her want to cry.

By day fourteen Chikako could keep the eyes active for a little over half an hour before she had to stop. Kit told her that, no matter how long she could last, eventually she'd always reach the point that she'd have to deactivate the eyes. It made her wonder if Itachi had learned to live with a constant headache. She knew that even the fabled Sharingan put strain on the eyes. Not as much for an Uchiha as it did for Kakashi, but everything came with a price in some form or other.

Her best bet would likely be to practice until she could keep the eyes active for most of the day and then simply sleep blind. It sounded like an easy enough conclusion, one she could get used to and be content with. Being able to see chakra nicely complimented her ability to sense it. The range wasn't nearly as good, but the details were perfect. She still couldn't read anything like that, but deciphering hand signs would be a breeze now that humans were more than fuzzy blobs in her mind.

. . .

Kit waited until they had gone to shore in Bird to inform her that things would likely be easier if she deactivated the eyes.

"They are," she said, annoyed that he was policing how much she trained with them. "You told me earlier and, believe it or not, I actually listen to you most of the time."

"So deactivate them again," he said cheerfully. It bordered on singing, which just weirded Chikako out.

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that oh wise one? If I cut off the normal chakra flow for too long I might as well pluck them out myself this time."

"Then cut it off for only a second." This time there was an actual melody to the words. If he started rhyming too she was going to hit him.

"Fine," she snapped, just to make sure he didn't get the last word. Chikako did as he said though and cut off all chakra to her eyes. It wouldn't have any ill effects immediately and she could always -

"Motherfucker!" She yelled, rounding on Kit. He looked mightily pleased with himself, amber eyes glowing and mouth stretched in the smuggest grin she had ever seen. Seen! Because she could actually see. Not just chakra but the real world. Colors and contours and everything. Green grass below her feet and blue sky above her head.

The second she'd completely cut the chakra off there had been an odd rush and chakra had flowed back to her eyes. They'd itched weirdly and she'd thought she'd somehow done it wrong, despite her near perfect control. Then blackness had turned into shades of gray and a moment later colors bled into her vision.

Chikako lunged at Kit with another snarl and the little shit turned into a fox and ran from her. She chased him for miles through forests and meadows while he taunted her with that mental speaking thing he could do. She still had no idea how he could telepathically talk to her. There was a chance it was a genjutsu that wasn't affected by her chakra because he was yokai, but she didn't care right then.

They ran for so long that Chikako's anger lost all its steam. Kit had hidden the fact that she could see normally from her, but if she was honest with herself she knew there had been no malicious intent behind the decision. So as time passed and their feet ate up the miles, the chase turned into a game of tag. Sune and Jiro probably wouldn't believe her if she told them the kitsune had played something other than a mental game with her, but that was all right. They had fun and that was all that mattered.

She did make him explain about the eyes later though.

It seemed she'd accidentally half activated the eyes at some point. That had resulted in them turning black and her staying blind. The loss of normal sight was in preparation for the chakra sight, an ability all yokai gained once they were powerful enough. Jiro didn't know because he was too young, and he'd never seen it because Sune couldn't do it either and Kit generally didn't need to.

"Well, at least that explains why you think I'll go straight to being yokai after death," Chikako groused. She might not be mad anymore, but she was still going to pay him back at some point.

"If you hadn't questioned me to begin with-" Kit started. She didn't let him finish though. Instead she threw a hand full of grass in his face and then tackled him when he was distracted. He was like a broken record and if he thought she'd just take his word for everything if he repeated himself often enough he had another think coming.

They dissolved into a mess of fur and cloth as they rolled around on the ground. Kit had turned human again once they'd stopped running, but just like his fur, his kimono and hakama seemed resistant to any kind of dirt. She'd see if she couldn't fix that.


	46. XI - Stupid Plans, Because One Isn't

**A/N:**

 _Peruna_

Yes, Chikako's eyes look normal if she doesn't use the chakra vision. Can't have her scaring little old ladies by accident. The reaction will have to wait until next chapter though.

I hope your own writing is going well and thanks for pointing out that 'chopped liver' thing. I was under the impression the phrase could be used to convey genuine confusion as well, but Lord Google tells me you are right.

 _Diehard gamer_

Well, then I hope you'll like this one better. The ratio of action to talking and general weirdness is about even.

 _Elise142_

Glad you liked it.

 _Kragh50_

I see. Yes, the Tailed Beasts are essentially just chakra, but in Chikako's case she really just ended up with actual eyes that have an extra ability (the chakra sight). As I told Peruna, the reacting to the eyes will have to wait until next chapter.

 _soapsopas_

Thanks, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

 _WaTeRMeLoNCaT_

She technically didn't resist cuddling him in the end, so: not at all. Also, thanks for saying that Mary Sue bit, I'm always afraid that she's going to end up as one without me ever even noticing.

 _Homarid_

Thanks, and don't worry, nobody bullies me into writing anything.

 _cassianaswindell123_

Thank you.

 _Guest1_

I get your point, but writing about blind Chikako is also surprisingly annoying to write. There were so many times when I wanted to describe something and couldn't because she had no way of seeing it. Hope you're not too disappointed.

 _Guest2_

Thank you and don't worry I will.

. . .

 **XI - Stupid Plans, Because One Isn't Enough**

"Why are we in Bird exactly?" Kit asked, looking around as if he was waiting for some kind of big, scary monster to jump out of the woods and start chasing them. Which was silly. Bird was just about the most boring country Chikako had ever been to. They had no shinobi, no samurai and barely any civilians. No giant mutant animals either. It was aptly named though. So far she'd sensed about a million birds and not a single human.

Madame had let them go ashore as soon as she'd verified with her navigator that the rocky strip of coast on the horizon belonged to Bird and that they'd made it past Sky. Afterwards Chikako and Kit had spent enough time running around like maniacs that they were pretty much lost. All she knew was that the ship Jiraiya and Naruto had taken was headed directly for Bird, which wasn't as bad as it sounded. Only the country's northern border touched the ocean. If they found their way back to the shore and simply followed it to the next port chances were good that someone would have seen the Toad Sage, or more likely heard Naruto. The boy wasn't exactly inconspicuous, especially in a place that didn't usually see many shinobi.

"We're looking for two S-ranked nukenin," Chikako cheerily called back over her shoulder.

"Then why did you want me to keep an eye out for an old man and a loud, blond kid?" He asked skeptically. They'd been over this already. She'd explained that they were hunting Kisame and Itachi and that both men were after Naruto. She'd also told him that finding her former teammate would be much easier. Once she got close enough to Itachi Chikako was confident he wouldn't be able to hide from her. Hoshigaki definitely wouldn't, but until then Naruto was her only lead. She'd even informed Kit about Zabuza's plan and how she knew everyone involved in this little chase, but he kept asking anyway.

"Will you stop it?"

"It just seems like a really stupid idea. I keep hoping you are going to realize it too if you hear yourself explain it often enough."

"I know it's a long shot, but it's the best I've got. Now, if all you are going to do is complain you might as well go back to the Void and babysit Jiro and Sune."

He seemed decidedly too happy when she told him to scram. The constant tugging on her chakra, from keeping him there, vanish immediately and then Chikako was all alone in Bird's boring forests. She got the distinct feeling that being watched by what felt like thousands of birds had made him uncomfortable. She certainly didn't like it, but there were more important things to take care of right now.

Getting back to the shore for one. It wasn't all that hard, but she could have done with some company. Bird's landscape was about as interesting as watching paint dry. All she had to do was run north until she found water. Since Madame had practically thrown her and Kit overboard the second they'd passed Sky, Chikako guessed she was close to the western border, which meant next was following the shore moving east.

She barely knew anything about Bird's geography other than it's approximate shape and location, so when, after two full days of running, she finally reached the first Port town Chikako was rather relieved. Not coming across any people for that long when she was deliberately trying to find them had been a little unnerving. She could survive on her own out in the wilderness pretty much indefinitely, but that didn't mean she wanted to be stranded in the middle of nowhere. Especially with all those freaking birds around to watch her every move. The things made her paranoia work in overdrive.

Chikako was almost certain that at least some of them were following her around, but there were so many that she couldn't tell if any were something other than regular birds. To her sense of chakra all those tiny signatures just blended into each other. With smaller groups she could still pick out individuals, but when they moved as a swarm it felt more like one giant animal. When they were close enough she could use her new chakra vision to see each bird's signature clearly, but the majority of them tended to stay out of range at all times. If some of them were summons or part of a jutsu, she couldn't tell while they remained in the mass. It drove her mad.

There was of course the possibility that she was suspiciously eyeing a bunch of normal animals for no good reason whatsoever, but she figured better safe than sorry. So, when nobody in the first port town had seen or heard anything useful, Chikako employed every stealth skill she had to vanish around a corner and then snuck out of town.

She made a little detour through the nearby forest as well, to make sure there was no direct line of sight form above and even used Camouflage whenever the foliage didn't seem thick enough to hide her. There were still birds around, but not a single one seemed to pay any special attention to her. At least not until she emerged close to the second port town on her route.

It took a few hours, but while she listened to conversations and asked around for an obnoxious shinobi, the roofs slowly filled with birds. Nobody seemed to think there was anything odd about that though. Some people pointed out that there were more ravens than they were used to seeing, so close to the ocean but that was it. Apparently port towns belonged to gulls and ravens tended to be dominant further inland, but the current situation wasn't unheard of either. Chikako made a mental note to keep an eye out for the black birds anyway. Not that she actually knew enough about their normal behavior to notice anything out of the ordinary. They had no reason to follow her, but then they were known to be exceptionally smart so who knew what kind of odd behaviors they might have learned in order to come by food in a country so full of birds.

Chikako kept weaving in and out of alleys as much as possible, vanishing in crowds and under awnings whenever there was an opportunity. At worst it was a waste of time and without a solid lead she had plenty of that. She'd learned that a ship from Degarashi had indeed anchored at the harbor sometime around the sixteenth of November. That meant Chikako was now a little less than a month behind Naruto. Not bad, considering that her initial lead had been over three months old, but that made the fact that Itachi hadn't yet caught up with her former teammate all the more obvious. By now she was certain that he wasn't actually trying to catch his target. How in the world he kept that fact a secret though was a complete mystery to her. Unless of course it wasn't a secret at all and either Hoshigaki was in on the plan or Akatsuki only wanted to keep an eye on her former teammate for now.

She really needed to stop trying to figure it out. The fact was that Itachi was on Naruto's trail and as long as that remained true his reasons didn't matter. After all her goal was to find him, anything else could wait. With that in mind Chikako kept her thoughts firmly on the task of sussing out where Naruto and Jiraiya had gone after arriving in Bird, and almost missed the faint trace of Gelel Stone chakra. It was either several weeks old or whoever had wandered through here hadn't had a lot of the tainted chakra.

Had some of the soldiers fled to Bird? But there was only one trail and, as far as she knew, all of Haido's generals were dead. She'd killed the man and the two women by his side herself. It couldn't be the former puppet soldiers either. Their taint had started to fade as soon as they'd transformed back. Temujin's blood too was on her hands. Who then?

"Shit, Choji."

Chikako had already started following the trail while thinking about who might have caused it. That had been more of a subconscious decision though. Now she was running. Bird was even farther from Fire than Bear. What was Tsunade thinking sending clan heirs all across the Elemental Nations like that? Not to mention that the only way to get to Bird was by ship and that would have had to pass at the very least Lightning, maybe Water as well.

It could just be Chikako's paranoia speaking, but spending weeks on a ship with a Nation that specialized in using Water Release to the south and one that preferred Lightning Release to the north didn't seem like a stellar idea to Chikako. Especially considering that neither Kumo nor Kiri were on good terms with Konoha. Granted, she'd done the exact same thing and since she'd come from Tea her journey had taken even more time, but in the grand scheme of things Chikako wasn't actually important.

She had her own agendas and goals, but she was heir to no clan and tied to no one but the people that chose to associate with her. If she died, not much would change. Things were different though with Team 8, which had been sent towards Bear some time ago, and now Team 10, which was apparently in Bird at the moment. Both of them were comprised exclusively of clan heirs, all from major clans as well. If someone were to wipe either out Konoha would feel the blow. Tsunade would have had to take a few risks right after the invasion, but that had been over a year ago now.

"Damn," Chikako cursed when she noticed ravens following her again. She'd have to figure out what was up with those birds, right after she'd found Choji. The trail wasn't nearly as old as she'd assumed at the port town. It seemed the taint Temujin had caused while healing the Akimichi's arm had started to fade as well. After little more than an hour of running Chikako could already sense his chakra signature in the distance and decided to cut her route short. Without the need to follow directly in his footsteps, reaching him took barely any time at all.

Shikamaru and Ino were close by as well, but Chikako couldn't even sense a trace of Asuma's chakra. It seemed odd enough that she stayed out of sight to investigate. The team had been alone in Wind as well. She hadn't thought much about it then, Wind was an ally after all and Shikamaru had been promoted to chunin. The Nara was more than qualified to lead a team. Still, Choji was their only heavy hitter and the team as a whole was more geared towards taking a supporting role. Just as it had back in Bear with Team 8, the whole setup begged for someone to take advantage of it.

Chikako decided to take a look around before she revealed herself. Mostly to make sure that there wasn't another ROOT agent in the area like last time. The whole place seemed like an oddly ineffectual attempt at a fortress. It took her a moment, and overhearing the conversation of two civilian guards, to figure out that she was sneaking around the local daimyo's residence. Actually, if she took the general lack of shinobi in Bird into account, the layout made a little more sense as well.

There was a central island on which the daimyo's actual house and those of the more important court members were located. The thing was completely artificial, a fact that, despite the many trees and thick shrubbery, was immediately obvious due to it's angular shape. It was connected to an equally artificial ring by three bridges. The ring mirrored the shape of the island and was separated by water channels from both it and the mainland, to which it was connected by three more bridges. As far as Chikako could tell the channels had the exact same width at every point, about fifty meters give or take. They also weren't filled to the brim. Almost the opposite in fact. The water was just three meters deep, which meant anyone who fell from one of the bridges would sail twenty-five meters or so through the air before they impacted.

As far as defenses against civilians went it made sense. Because of the few sharp angles and otherwise straight lines of the complex only a small number of guards were necessary to effectively patrol the perimeter. Crossing any of the bridges without being seen would be nearly impossible and the ninety degree channel walls meant climbing down to the water, swimming across and climbing back up on the other side, twice to reach the inner island, would require equipment, a lot of strength and more time than any assassin or burglar had to spare.

Of course none of these things applied to Chikako. As a shinobi she could run up and down walls or over water as fast as she could on flat land. In fact, one time she actually just used Camouflage and walked across one of the bridges because it happened to be close by. Other than herself and Team 10 there seemed to be no other shinobi though.

At least until she made her last sweep of the area and headed back to the central island. There was a pond there. Not very big, but apparently deep enough for three people to hide underwater. It was right outside of the daimyo's house, where Choji and Shikamaru were playing shogi on the porch. Ino was actually close enough to the pond to dangle her feet in the water. The sight struck Chikako as a little odd because it was December, but that was silly. Bird had an unusually mild climate, which was why all of the birds migrated there for the winter months. It wasn't exactly hot though. Did Ino know about the three shinobi?

If this was a trap and Chikako butted in she might ruin the whole thing. So, with no idea what was going on, she made herself comfortable in one of the nearby trees to watch a little longer. The three shinobi were pretty stealthy. Without her sensing abilities she wouldn't have been able to tell they were there and they had to have gotten past her while she was scouting because the pond had been empty when she'd arrived. That was likely just luck though. The complex was big enough that her senses couldn't encompass the whole area, no matter how far she stretched them. If those three could have really hidden their chakra that well they would still be doing it.

"I'm going to see if Sagi is hungry," Choji announced after losing to Shikamaru for the second time. A deliberate opening? So far nothing much had happened. Maybe the Nara had given him a signal Chikako had missed.

Ino yawned, stretching and then slowly standing up to follow her teammate inside. That left Shikamaru alone on the porch, but he didn't look particularly concerned. The Nara leaned against the wall in his usual slouch and lazily reset the board with one hand, while propping his head on the other. It was a good act.

So good in fact that it took her a second too long to realize that it wasn't an act at all. Team 10 had perfectly baited the three shinobi underwater into attacking and thereby revealing themselves. The only problem was that they hadn't known that that was what they were doing.

Chikako let herself fall from the tree she'd been sitting in and bit her tongue on a curse when her feet hit the ground. Shikamaru had reacted fast enough to ensnare two of his assailants with his shadow, but the third was free and currently held a kunai to his neck. The only reason he hadn't already slit the Nara's throat was likely that he didn't know what would happen to his two comrades if he did.

His mistake. Killing Shikamaru would have merely canceled the jutsu. As long as it was active though it went both ways. Wounds weren't transferred, but kinetic energy was, meaning Chikako had to take care of it before attacking the two bound enemies.

Her wakizashi appeared in her right hand and half a second later black steel cut through muscles, tendons and bone like butter. The head of the third guy had barely hit the ground when Chikako used a burst of chakra to disrupt Shikamaru's Shadow Possession, so she could behead one of the others as well and then knock the last one out by slamming the hilt of her blade into his temple.

The whole thing was over in the blink of an eye. She'd even managed to get away clean. Shikamaru wasn't that lucky though. The two men she'd beheaded had fallen over forwards, which meant the Nara had gotten more or less drenched by the spray of arterial blood.

"Sorry about that" Chikako said with a grimace, vaguely waving at her friend. He didn't seem to care all that much about the blood though, too busy staring at her. His gaze kept bouncing between her face, the shogi piece that hung around her neck and the tattoos on her left arm and right wrist. Not even the shriek Ino let out as her and Choji stormed out of the house again distracted him.

Chikako cringed a little at the high pitched sound, but she didn't look away from Shikamaru. He'd seen her kill in Wind. This was no different. So why did he look scared?

"Oh my god!" Ino exclaimed. She wasn't staring at Chikako though. Her main concern seemed to be all the blood Shikamaru was covered in. Both her and Choji began to pat him down carefully, presumably in an effort to find the wound. Did they not see the two bodies on the ground? Chikako watched them bewildered.

"He's fine," she said after a moment. Ino's head whipped around to her and her eyes widened comically, as if the other kunoichi truly hadn't seen her before. There was another shriek and this time Chikako flinched back in surprise, rubbing at her ears with a grimace. That was also apparently when Shikamaru snapped out of whatever weird trance he'd fallen into.

"Go back inside," he told his two teammates. Ino started to protest, but Shikamaru shot Choji a look and the Akimichi put a hand on his friend's shoulder to steer her into the house. He hadn't looked at Chikako once.

"Been busy?" Shikamaru asked in a borderline hostile tone that had her raising an eyebrow. His shoulders were squared for once and his knees slightly bent, ready to run or attack at a moments notice.

"What exactly are we talking about?" Chikako asked, eyeing his stance warily.

"You, killing people."

She pointedly glanced between him and the dead bodies on the ground.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be a little more specific than that."

He sighed, gave her another once over, rolled his shoulders back into a slouch and then walked to the pond to wash the worst of the blood off. Chikako watched him for a while in silence, trying to figure out what his problem was. They'd been fine last time and she'd just saved his ass. Probably.

"I'm sorry, was there some sort of elaborate plan I messed up?" She asked, doubt clear in her voice. "Because I thought so at first or I would have taken those three clowns out before they had a chance to get out of the water."

Shikamaru's back had been to her while he'd cleaned himself up, but at those words he turned around with a frown.

"How long exactly have you been here?"

"A little over an hour. I was just on my way back from scouting the place when I noticed them, but I figured with Ino so close to the pond you already knew they were there," Chikako shrugged. If she had to judge them by chakra alone she would have guessed that Ino and Choji were chunin by now. She wasn't so sure anymore though.

Shikamaru heaved another sigh, then rummaged around in the bag that lay on the porch and handed her a Bingo Book.

"Page twenty-three," he told her and then went back to the task of cleaning himself up.

Chikako flipped through the pages, past Itachi's and then Kakashi's faces. Not one of Konoha's then. When she reached page twenty-three there was that same bland entry about her that Kankuro had shown Chikako in Wind, but without the ally tag. The name was simply Wraith, the affiliation marked as 'possibly Konoha or Suna'. Her status as a missing-nin had three question marks instead of an actual word though, and so did just about everything else that would require official confirmation from a Hidden Village, like military rank or training. The only thing listed under abilities was stealth, but at least her physical description was accurate, specifically mentioning both tattoos, thanks to Kankuro. The only thing missing was the new mark Kit had added by binding himself to her.

Nothing special there.

Then Chikako flipped the page and her eyebrows rose almost into her hairline. The Bingo Book entry declared her a dangerous mass murderer and assassin for hire. Anyone that didn't have business with Wraith was advised to flee on sight. She flipped the pages back and forth just in case she'd missed anything that would warrant such an order, but there was still no rank listed and nothing more than the vague information she'd already gone over.

"Look at the index," Shikamaru told her when he noticed. He sounded suspiciously amused.

Chikako browsed towards the front of the little book, only to learn that her entry was listed among the S-rank nukenin that were so dangerous that they didn't even have a bounty. Some of the minor villages did that sometimes, because none of their shinobi were stupid enough to go after the big fish, or because they couldn't afford to pay anyone that kind of money. The entries were mostly meant to warn their own people about threats.

"Who the hell wrote this?" She asked baffled. Earth had put an almost insultingly low bounty out on her and the only noteworthy thing she'd done since then had been torturing the Shinobazu in Frost.

"River. They actually sent us, and likely Suna as well, a few copies," Shikamaru informed her blandly. Apparently her reaction to the Bingo Book entry was confirmation enough for him that she hadn't actually turned into a mass murderer. Then again, she had killed quite a few people. Maybe it was more that she wouldn't kill him out of the blue. Chikako was a little disgruntled that he'd been afraid at all, but she should probably take it as a compliment. If her act as Wraith, or rather the gossip about Wraith, was enough to make someone who knew her doubt, it should convince any stranger. Now all Chikako could read in Shikamaru's posture was curiosity, but every trace of fear was gone.

"It gets even better," he continued. "Frost and Hot Water added an entry for you as well. The one from Frost says you are a sadist and possibly mentally unstable, and the one from Hot Water lists you as a recognized and recommended bounty hunter, provided the target isn't wanted alive. Neither country put a price on your head, but both entries essentially exist to warn people not to get in your way."

"Shit," Chikako laughed. Frost had to have been because of the police woman, River probably because of the shinobi she'd cowed when handing over the heads of the Jashinists, and she could likely thank Gatsu for Hot Water. Actually he might have had something to do with Frost's entry as well. It seemed she was now named in the Bingo Books of at least five countries, and while the majority of those marked her as hostile, or at best neutral, Earth was the only nation that had actually put a price on her head.

"This is so bizarre," Chikako mused. "But now that we've established I'm not the enemy. Do you mind telling me what's going on here?"

Shikamaru shook his head, muttering something about females and problems that she couldn't quite understand, but he did fill her in in the end.

"We were sent to Bird to investigate sightings of a ghost. People here call him the Cursed Warrior after some old legend."

"Fucking ghosts and birds," Chikako groused, interrupting him, but then waved Shikamaru off when he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Anyway," he continued, "it was all a scheme. The daimyo and his heir Sagi have been killed. Sagi's twin sister Toki is pretending to be her brother at the moment to find the murderer and she hoped the ghost story might draw him out. We've agreed to stay and help her, but it seems things are more complicated than I thought."

Shikamaru looked at the unconscious shinobi and Chikako took that as her cue to bind his wrists and ankles with ninja wire. She'd notice if he woke up, but there was no reason not to secure him. In fact that was the first thing she should have done, but Shikamaru's reaction to seeing her had been a little distracting.

"What about you?"

"I'm trying to find some-" Chikako started and then cut herself off mid-word. "Shit. That story's got to wait we have incoming. Fifty shinobi or so from the south-east."

"Excuse me?" Shikamaru asked in disbelief, but he'd already settled into what Choji called his Thinking Pose, kneeling, head down, eyes closed and fingertips touching. It looked odd, but it seemed to work for him so Chikako didn't comment. Instead she told him everything she could about the large group of shinobi headed their way. They were spread out and moving fast, stealth clearly not a priority. She'd place most about chunin level, with a few genin and jonin interspersed. There was no formation as far as she could tell. They just ran besides each other like a bunch of strangers might, but some stayed noticeably closer together than others, which suggested familiarity. She guessed they probably knew each other, but weren't used to moving in such a big group.

"Are you staying?" Shikamaru asked when she was done. Chikako glared at him, not caring in the least that he couldn't see her at the moment.

"Of course I'm fucking staying," she snarled. "If you want to send the other two away with the daimyo I suggest you do it now though. We'll have company in about ten minutes and distracting them will only work for so long."

"We're not running," he told her, completely calm. Chikako wasn't freaking out just yet, her pulse and breathing were both even, but she couldn't quite match the sense of peace that hung around Shikamaru. It was as if he didn't have a single care in the world and the reason the Nara were so valuable as strategists. They weren't only exceptionally intelligent, but also managed to stay cool under pressure. There were stories about Shikaku Nara from the last war that claimed he'd been a deciding factor in more than one skirmish, simply by virtue of keeping everyone around him from panicking.

"Okay, what are we doing then? Because from where I'm standing fighting isn't an option." Even if Team 10 and her worked together, there was no way they could take out fifty shinobi. She could call Kit, maybe even Sune as well, but that would cost enough chakra to make her nearly useless in a fight Not to mention that, just like hers, both of the kitsune's fighting styles were almost exclusively offensive, geared towards assassination in particular. Chikako had no idea if Kit could win against fifty people, but no matter what, he wouldn't be able to reliably engage all of them at once. Which left her and Team 10 open for attack. And then there was the daimyo's safety to consider as well.

"You're going to scare them off," Shikamaru answered, cutting her train of though short. The way he said it made it sound completely reasonable and Chikako almost agreed before the actual words registered.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

He did, but it still sounded like the stupidest plan she'd ever heard. She wondered if that was how Kit had felt when she'd told him about trying to track an Akatsuki team down.

"How exactly am I going to do that? Those Bingo Book entries are nice and all, but they are also about as accurate as Kakashi's mission reports."

"Yeah," Shikamaru agreed easily, "but those shinobi don't know that. If you can scare people into writing entries like that you can scare them into believing them too."

"Okay," Chikako said slowly, as if speaking to a toddler and then continued in the same manner, "and is there a reason you'd rather gamble on my acting skills than grab the daimyo and run? We still have five minutes."

"There is no guarantee we'll get away. From what you said at least a dozen of those shinobi are at jonin level, which means they'll most likely be able to outrun us. We know we stand no chance fighting, but we stand no chance fleeing either, and if we try they'll know it too. Our best bet is to bluff."

"I hate you," Chikako groaned. She could totally outrun a few jonin, but of course he was right. They'd have to take the daimyo with them and, while Shikamaru had more or less kept up with her in Wind, there was no way Ino or Choji would.

"Is that a yes?" Shikamaru asked with an actual smirk on his face. It made her want to punch him, until she noticed how forced it was. They were in deep shit and the best one of Konoha's genius strategists had to offer was bluff and hope for the best.

"Too much," Chikako said, waving at his face and then shooing him inside so he could inform the others of their imminent demise.

She positioned herself on the far side of the roof. Out of sight, but close enough to make her entrance with a single Body Flicker. It would look like teleportation, which was always a good start. People tended to dislike it when potential threats appeared out of thin air, even, or maybe especially, shinobi.

Meanwhile Shikamaru, Ino and Choji had opted to line up on the porch, making it obvious that the surprise attack wasn't a surprise at all. The Nara had also made sure that the three scouts were in plain view.

"Bastards!" One of the newcomers screamed only moments after the big group stormed the central island. It was a little hypocritical, considering that they were armed to the teeth and didn't seem like they'd only intended to come by for a nice chat. Chikako took it as her signal to start the show.

She appeared in the middle of the group and pushed everything she had into a massive wave of killing intent. It was even more powerful than the one she'd used in River and almost as efficient. These shinobi were clearly used to confrontation and not just paper pushers that barely ever got to go out into the field. Judging by the wide range of ages, but similar style in clothing, they also seemed to be a whole clan, which was more than a little odd. The children whimpered when Chikako's killing intent hit them and most fell to the ground, curling up into a fetal position. The older ones only staggered a little though and the adults merely tightened their stances and turned towards the new threat, weapons in hand. Chikako cursed Shikamaru's stupid plan mentally, but she didn't give anyone the chance to react. If this was going to work she couldn't take a single hit.

"Yield or die," she told them in a flat monotone, while her eyes turned from normal, brown human ones into liquid black, that ate up first her iris and then the sclera as well, as she switched to chakra sight. It had the desired effect and a few people took a step backwards, but not nearly enough, and no one had laid down their weapon so far. She'd given them the out of giving up because people that were backed into a corner had no other option than to fight, but if they decided she wasn't all that scary after all she was fucked.

Chikako didn't pause to wait for their decisions, she couldn't afford to let their nerves settle. Another Body Flicker had her reappearing in front of a tall man that was about to execute a jutsu and a moment later he crumpled to the ground, blood flowing from a gaping wound in his neck. Chikako snapped a chakra barrier into place to stop a few senbon that were headed her way and was already somewhere else when the thing shattered under another volley of projectiles. She spend most of her time ducking and weaving to avoid getting hit with anything.

For now every shinobi seemed to be focused on her and she needed to keep it that way, which meant constantly body flickering from one end of the group to the other, so nobody could ever feel as if they had enough time to pursue a different target. Her biggest advantage was that she was surrounded by enemies. Unlike them she could strike at anything and everything that moved. Her opponents on the other hand spent half their time trying to avoid friendly fire and getting out of each other's way. Some of them moved fluidly together, but the majority clearly wasn't used to fighting like this.

Chikako jumped to dodge a stone spike that shot out of the ground beneath her feet, threw a hail of senbon into the crowd and landed behind an old woman. She turned on one heel, used the momentum of the motion to thrust her blade into the woman's back and pull it out again with a wet squelch, never even slowing down.

What she was doing was essentially the same shock and awe tactic she'd used against the Shinobazu. Those amateurs had only been half trained ninja drop-outs though, whereas these people were hardened shinobi by the looks of it. So it was less dancing around and playing with her food and more relying on instinct and desperately hoping that she didn't fuck up because she didn't actually have the time to think about anything she did.

Chikako didn't have to kill everyone, she just had to make it look as if she could, but even that took it's toll. Not just on her either. While she used the Body Flicker countless times to quickly get from one side of the group to the other and exploited any opening presented to her, Shikamaru used his shadow to provide support. He didn't have the chakra to hold anyone for long, but it was enough to nudge projectiles off course or simply freeze someone in place for the second it took Chikako to kill them or avoid getting killed by them. It also had the added benefit of being scary as fuck, because in the commotion nobody noticed why they were sometimes paralyzed.

It was a good thing the Nara tended to be several steps ahead of anyone else on the battlefield. At first he'd picked his targets in order to make it seem as if Chikako could be in multiple places at once. As the fight progressed though he was more and more often forced to iron out her mistakes. Her speed might be impressive, but she had neither the chakra nor the stamina to keep going like she was for much longer.

Ino for her part had sat down and leaned against a wall so it wouldn't be obvious when she used the Mind Body Switch. She jumped from person to person, leaving behind a sense of terror and the desire to give up or run away. All Chikako knew was that it was one of the Yamanaka Clan's special techniques, but it seemed to work exceptionally well on people that were already scared and just needed that extra push and that was all she cared about at the moment. Sadly, after only a few minutes of combat, Ino too was mostly busy keeping Chikako alive and making sure nobody noticed how tired she was getting.

While his two teammates were busy helping her out, Choji's job was to keep them safe. So far nobody had tried to get past her and to the others, so he'd only had to deflect stray throwing weapons, but if that changed Chikako had no way of stopping an attack without giving the game away. To their opponents it looked as if Shikamaru and Choji were simply watching her play around with enemies and Ino just seemed bored by all of it. If Chikako had to defend any of them though it would immediately become obvious that they were only bluffing.

When her next Body Flicker almost failed and Chikako had to turn a stumble into a kick to take a young man's legs out before stabbing him in the neck with a hastily drawn kunai, she jumped between Team 10 and the group and paused. Her fingers clenched around the hilt of her wakizashi and the kunai to hide that her hands were trembling. There were still so many shinobi left. Since she'd mostly spent her time trying not to get hit, many of her own attacks had connected, but not caused any fatal wounds. She still had a little chakra left, but her muscles were burning. If she survived this she probably wouldn't be able to move for a few days. Her legs already felt like jelly and she had to lock her knees to remain standing. There was no way she could keep this up.

"Last chance," Chikako said. She couldn't manage flat and bland this time, so instead she infused her voice with as much menace as she could scrape together to, hopefully, turn her uneven breathing into something that sounded dangerous. _Go big or go home_ , She though. "Yield or die. I'd personally prefer the latter, but Shikamaru here always gets cranky if I make too much of a mess."

"That's because I'm the one who has to clean up after you," he drawled, not skipping a beat, and she could hear the mean smirk that stretched his mouth even without turning around to look at him.

Apparently Ino had picked up on what was going on too. Chikako felt a tingle of chakra form her and then one of the more formidable looking warriors went to his knees and started to plead with her to let the others go. Then Choji chimed in to complete the picture.

"Can we get this over with? I'm hungry and were already late for lunch," he complained, sounding exceptionally annoyed. It was perfect and, thankfully, the straw that broke the camel's back.

Shikamaru took over immediately, directing the shinobi to leave, and stay away if they wanted to live, thereby giving Chikako the out she needed to disappear into the house and collapse. There was probably more going on, but it was all she could do not to keel over before she'd even taken her first step.

Choji followed a few minutes later, almost stumbling over her. She'd quite literally let herself fall to the ground and stopped moving the second she'd cleared the door and closed it behind herself. He had to pick her up and carry her to a futon, because, now that the adrenaline was out of her system, even keeping her eyes open seemed like too much effort to bother.


	47. XI - A Game of Chess

**A/N:**

 _Kragh50_

The time skip is actually just about 2.5 years, not 3. According to the timeline Seelentau made, Naruto left Konoha at the latest on the 22nd of September when he was 13 and returned at 16, sometime before the 17. of January. I'm most likely going to stick to those dates, or at least something close to them. As for Chikako, what exactly happens with her rank is mostly going to depend on how the whole Kiri thing turns out I think.

 _Elise142_

Thanks. Team 10 was the last planned encounter with the Konoha 11 before the start of the Shippuden plot. She'll probably run into Sasuke at some point or learn what he's been up to some other way, not entirely sure about that yet. The same goes for Kakashi as well. I can guarantee that she'll meet him around the time the canon time skip ends though (either shortly before or after).

 _Diehard gamer_

Thank you. Chikako's problem is that she isn't physically strong and doesn't have massive chakra reserves like Naruto. If you told her to assassinate fifty people one by one that wouldn't be a problem. She is pretty deadly, she just lacks the right tools for mass destruction if you will. I'm definitely planning on giving her more training and maybe a few new abilities to work with, but in the end she'll always be an assassin and prefer to take on single targets. I might play around a little more with sealing though, that should definitely help when fighting groups (I've been meaning to do that for ages anyway).

 _KadeBear_

Thank you very much. I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

 _Peruna_

Thanks. With fast scenes I always feel like describing too much makes things seem a lot slower than they are supposed to be and not describing enough leaves everyone confused. Glad to hear I managed to strike the balance this time.

I think just about everything Chikako does at this point might cause problems later. I actually have a whole file for the sole purpose of listing things I still need to write about because of something she learned or did (or should do, like the whole sealing stuff I never get to because other things keep coming up).

Good guess about Itachi, but he doesn't actually have raven summons. You'll find the correct solution towards the end of this chapter, at least in part. The rest will be in the next chapter.

. . .

 **XI - A Game of Chess**

"Fuck," Chikako groaned. Her everything hurt and even just rolling over to get the sun out of her face took an eternity. When she finally managed her head landed on Shikamaru's thigh, who slapped at it half-heartedly.

"What time is it?" She asked, not sure she really needed to know. Apparently the Nara agreed, because his mumbled answer was, "too early."

"It's half past twelve," Ino told both of them. Her tone somehow managed to be disgustingly cheerful and reprimanding at the same time. Chikako usually didn't mind getting up early, but she wasn't sure she could have stood right then even if she'd wanted to. Shikamaru wasn't a bad pillow either.

When Ino didn't say anything else Chikako closed her eyes again, ready to sleep another ten hours or so. Sadly, the blond had different plans. Apparently her exposure to Shikamaru had taught her that arguing was futile. Unlike other people though, she seemed to take it as a challenge. Instead of trying to convince them to get up she stormed over to the shoji doors and threw them wide open to let even more sunlight into the room. Next she grabbed the blanket that covered Chikako's lower half and ripped it away with so much force that it slapped Choji, who had been watching the whole thing from behind the kunoichi, in the face. He made an indignant noise, but instead of stopping the girl from terrorizing his teammate and Chikako, merely walked out of the room.

"Traitor," Shikamaru called after him, muttered really. Apparently he couldn't even be arsed to raise his voice. When Ino tried to remove his blanket as well though, he used his shadow to trip her, throw the thing over her head and then roll her over until she looked like a burrito.

"Nicely done," Chikako yawned, but it was lost under all the shrieking Ino did while trying to escape her confines. She sounded really pissed and Shikamaru wisely chose to leave the room before his teammate managed to free herself and strangle him. That also had the added benefit that the blond girl completely forgot about Chikako, so she could catch a few more hours of sleep.

. . .

When she woke up next a cloudy night sky greeted her. The stars looked a little pale, especially when she thought back to her days in Wind's desert, but she still watched them for several minutes. Comparatively speaking she'd only been blind for a little while, yet the experience had made quite an impact. For one she'd learned to compensate with her other senses to the point of having a far better awareness of her immediate surroundings than most people, and for another she now had a greater appreciation for how beautiful nature really was. The things she cherished most though, were the ability to read books and see that little owl on her right wrist. She'd half-expected the thing to actually vanished, no matter how silly that particular fear was. Sai's bow and the rest of his things were still in Suna, where she'd left them, so that tattoo was the only tangible reminder she had of him.

Chikako was lost in memories for quite a while, but not so much that she didn't notice Ino heading her way. She didn't need a repeat of what had happened earlier that day, especially not without Shikamaru there to distract his teammate. Her body still felt as if someone had taken a meat tenderizer to each and every part of her, but she was on her feet before the other kunoichi entered the room. By now her chakra reserves had mostly recovered, but it would be another day or two until her accelerated healing had taken care of all the little tears in her muscles. She was pretty sure she'd partly fractured her ankle when she'd stumbled as well. It certainly looked swollen and was a little warm to the touch.

"Great," Chikako groused. Just what she needed.

"Yeah, the food is really good," Choji agreed, completely ignoring her tone. He' trailed in behind Ino and was munching on a bunch of cookies that, she had to admit, did in fact smell heavenly. The scent of fresh baked goods was likely what had woken her in the first place. The Akimichi waved her towards the kitchen and her stomach agreed with a loud rumble that had him smiling broadly at her.

"I take it you made these?" She asked, arching an eyebrow when he offered to carry her. It would make sense, considering that his clan owned several restaurants and bakeries in Konoha. Chikako hadn't known that Choji himself could cook though. He usually just seemed to eat the food, not make it.

"Oh, well, I helped," he told her with an adorable rosy sheen on his cheeks. "Shikamaru made the batter and Ino did the decorating, but I cleaned everything up and prepared the ingredients."

"That counts," she decided. Since he was looking at her again, unlike when she'd arrived yesterday, she supposed Shikamaru had informed the rest of his team that she wasn't really an insane mass murderer.

Chikako felt like they should have known better in the first place, but that wasn't entirely rational. It wasn't as if they'd shunned her or anything. Shinobi life was hard and it had a way of twisting good intentions and people into something ugly. If even someone as kindhearted as Itachi or Hinata could be made into a killer, there was really no reason to think that living essentially as a nukenin wouldn't chip away at Chikako's morals. They hadn't been all that strong to begin with anyway. There were certainly things she avoided if possible, but if push came to shove she'd do just about anything to keep the people she cared about save. She might feel shitty about her actions afterwards, it wasn't as if that changed anything though.

She still remembered that first book Ibiki had given her, Jiraiya's Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. Just like her former teammate, the Naruto in that novel was probably the only shinobi in the world who could not only survive all the shit life threw his way, but come out stronger without loosing his dreams or distorting his ideals. He could talk monsters silly until they turned into friends and the way he never lost hope was just baffling to her. But then she'd also never quite figured out how he decided what was right and wrong.

"No denying that he's an idiot though," Chikako chuckled, earning a curious look from Shikamaru, who was sitting on the kitchen counter.

"So," Ino said, drawing the word out until it sounded as if it had four syllables instead of one. "Whats with the eyes? Lee told me you were blind. Well, he didn't say your name, but he is a terrible liar and really bad at keeping secrets. You know-"

"Maybe you should let Chikako-chan answer?" Choji proposed before Ino could start into an all out rant. The blond made a face at him, both for the interruption and because he hadn't swallowed all of his cookie before speaking.

"How much time do you have?" Chikako asked. She wanted to keep looking for Itachi, or rather Naruto, but with the trail cold again and barely in control of her motor functions that wasn't going to happen right then, so she might as well indulge Ino.

In Wind she hadn't even trusted the girl enough to show herself until there had been no other choice, but she'd kept Chikako's presence a secret. Ino was possibly the worst gossip monger in the whole Land of Fire and had an unhealthy infatuation with Sasuke, but Shikamaru clearly trusted her. The least Chikako could do after everything that had happened was give her the benefit of the doubt.

After she started talking it quickly became apparent that Ino was a master at sussing out the juicy bits of a story. As Chikako shared her tale, just about everything that had happened to her from the day Kakashi had gotten her out of Orochimaru's lab to how she'd ended up in Bird, the blond always knew which questions to ask. Chikako glossed over quite a few details, especially the classified parts and her time in Earth. Ino had a knack for getting the information she wanted though. She wasn't even insensitive about it, which was quite the task considering some of the things she asked.

Choji stayed silent, mostly looking out of the window, but Chikako didn't hear or see him chew even once, a clear sign that he was completely enraptured by her story. Shikamaru for his part seemed to be asleep on the kitchen counter. His chakra was calm and his breathing even the whole time. If he hadn't suddenly told Ino to stop interrogating her when the blond wanted to start over from the beginning, Chikako would have thought he'd actually taken a nap. It was kind of scary if she thought about it. They all appeared harmless, the friendly fat guy, the vapid girl, more concerned with her looks than anything else and the lazy bum that couldn't even be bothered to stay awake most of the time. When in reality Choji's natural kindness and stature masked the fact that he could crush her like a stick, Ino's pretty exterior and easy laughter concealed that her questions weren't thoughtless small talk at all and Shikamaru's brilliant mind as well as the fact that he could probably outrun most people were hidden by his obvious sloth.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side," Chikako said to no one in particular. She was confident that, individually, she could take all of them, but their true strength lay in their teamwork. If Team 10 ever decided she was an enemy things were going to turn ugly fast.

"Same here," Choji smiled, "We should just all remain friends."

"Yes, yes," Ino chimed in impatiently,"back on topic though. You didn't mention why you were looking for crazy strong and possibly homicidal missing-nin in the first place."

"To kill the Mizukage," Shikamaru drawled. He sounded bored, but couldn't hide the smug grin at Ino's incredulous, "That's ridiculous!"

Chikako let the blond rant for a while as to why that was the stupidest thing Shikamaru had ever said and couldn't possibly be true before she said anything.

"He's right."

"Ha!" Ino exclaimed, seemingly before the words fully registered. "Wait. What?"

The girl, who'd advanced on her teammate to drive her point home, turned around so fast that her ponytail slapped her in the face. It wasn't quite as long as it had been before the chunin exams, but still made for an adequate whip. Ino yelped, pulled the blond strands out of her face and then put her hands on her hips.

"What the hell do you mean he's right?" She demanded.

"Well, he is," Chikako shrugged. "How'd you figure it out?"

Shikamaru didn't answer right away, clearly enjoying Ino's ire. He actually made a show of yawning and eating one of the few remaining cookies.

"Well, you said yourself that you and the Uchiha are friends, which I'm guessing is still true after what happened during his visit to Konoha. So the only reasons you'd be looking for him are if you had information to share, wanted information from him or needed his help.

"It could have been any of those, but considering that you'd met Zabuza right before starting this mad little search I figured the two were connected. And as far as I know the only things the Demon of the Hidden Mist fucked up were killing Team 7 and the attempted coup d'etat in Kiri."

The Nara concluded his explanation with another yawn and then hopped off the kitchen counter to get a glass of water, ignoring the wide eyed gazes of his teammates.

"You didn't also happen to figure out where I can find Itachi or at least Naruto, did you?" Chikako asked. They'd been in Bird a little less than a month ago, but nobody in the last port town had been able to give her directions or so much as a rumor. Maybe Jiraiya had decided it was time to up his game with Itachi so close or maybe she just hadn't found the right person to ask, but unless she got lucky the trail was cold.

Shikamaru shook is head in answer and she sighed. Pity, that would have been mighty convenient.

"What about those guys that attacked us? Are they going to be a problem?"

"Oh, no don't worry about the Watari Ninja," Choji told her before Shikamaru got a chance. "They agreed to help assassinate the daimyo because Moso, that's one of the former daimyo's advisers, had promised them they could start a Hidden Village in Bird. Shikamaru figured out what was going on though, so everything is fine now."

"When was that?" Chikako asked with a raised eyebrow. Even without any details that sounded like a conspiracy and those usually required a lot of investigative work to uncover and prove.

"This morning," Choji said with a wide grin on his face. "See, Shikamaru stayed up all night to make sure you were okay, so he had a lot of time to think."

"Yeah," Ino chimed in, "it was so cute."

The girl practically had hearts in her eyes and Chikako seriously contemplated making a run for it. The Yamanaka wasn't only a shameless gossip, she also fancied herself a matchmaker and liked to butt into other people's business, especially Shikamaru's and Choji's. She seemed to have this idea that they were both completely helpless without her. Her attempts at being helpful more often than not ended in spats or minor disasters though, which was why Chikako wanted nothing to do with them.

Shikamaru just rolled his eyes at all of them, until Ino started making obnoxious kissing noises, at which point he threw a cookie at her head. The blond shrieked like a fury, which Chikako took as her cue to get out of doge.

Physically she felt like shit, but since she'd only just gotten out of bed her mind was wide awake despite the late hour, so she opted to spend some time on the roof. Despite being the daimyo's residence, the house wasn't actually all that big and Chikako needed some quiet after having recounted her life the way she had.

She mostly just stared at the stars for the next few hours, trying to figure out her next move and wondering if Gaara was doing the same. He'd no doubt be awake, but his new kage duties probably meant he had a lot less time to sit on random buildings like the worlds weirdest gargoyle. Maybe he'd make history as the most efficient leader of a Hidden Village. Lee had told her that Tsunade's desk frequently looked as if someone had tried to bury the woman under mountains of paperwork. Chikako figured that Gaara's was probably empty, considering that his days were about seven hours longer than those of most people.

Not to mention that he was secretly a neat freak. At least when it came to his own person and home. He was totally fine splattering other people's guts all over public property, but he always made sure none of the gore hit him. Initially Chikako had thought he was just being practical, after all who liked to be drenched in sticky, smelly things that attracted flies? While she'd stayed with the three Sand Siblings however, she'd learned from Temari that Gaara would sometimes spend his nights cleaning the house. There was also never even a single grain of sand anywhere inside, not unless he deliberately put it there. Which, despite his control over sand, was kind of impressive considering that he lived in a windy desert.

"You know," Shikamaru said when he joined her around dawn, "I figured you'd have already left to find the Watari by now."

"Later, gotta wait for my foot to heal first."

"Your foot?"

"Yeah, I kinda fractured the ankle. At least partly," Chikako said, squinting to see his face in the red glow of early morning. He frowned at her and she waved him off. "It's gonna be fine by nightfall and in a few more days the bones will be good as new."

They spent the rest of the day playing shogi, meaning Chikako lost a lot and Shikamaru filled her in on what was going on at home.

It had taken him a few weeks to get her tanto to Kakashi. Apparently her sensei was going out of his way to avoid running into anyone he knew and Shikamaru ended up having to break into his flat. Quite the feat, seeing as the place was rigged to hell and more of a death trap than a residence. Every time he'd seen Kakashi since then though, the blade had been strapped to his back. She figured with how weird her sensei could be about anything even remotely related to emotions, that was probably a good sign.

Then there was Hinata's internship with Ibiki, which was going so well that she couldn't tell her friends about it because they didn't have the necessary clearance. That in turn rankled both of her teammates to no end. It seemed they were scared shitless of Ibiki, but also so concerned for the Hyuga heiress that they had been trying to get into the lower levels of the T&I building ever since she'd started working there. As far as Shikamaru knew all of their attempts tended to end up as failures of increasingly epic proportions. Apparently the last time Hinata herself had caught them and thrown them out on their asses. Now they operated under the delusion that Ibiki had brainwashed the girl.

"What about Neji?"

"Neji?" Shikamaru frowned at her. "Haven't seen him in a while. Why?"

"He's been keeping tabs on everyone. Filled me in like a good little spy too. I just can't figure out why," Chikako said, grimacing when it became clear that she'd just lost another round. "I thought Hinata might have asked him to keep an eye on everyone, but that still doesn't explain why he'd tell me."

"Think a little more long term," Shikamaru told her while they reset the board. "During your fight in the chunin exams you humiliated him by turning the whole thing into a game. If he hadn't been paying attention to you before, that certainly did it. Then you organized Hinata's rescue, and saved Neji's ass at least twice. There was also that whole Gaara thing and-"

"What Gaara thing?" Chikako interrupted, hoping to distract him from their game. Predictably it didn't work and all she got was a raised eyebrow from Shikamaru when she snatched his silver general.

"That whole part were the two of you couldn't decide whether you were friends or wanted each other dead," he told her, holding a hand out for the piece she'd stolen from the board. Chikako gave him a pawn instead, but the Nara didn't complain. She lost that round anyway.

"So, what you're saying is that he thinks getting on my good side now will benefit him in the future? Because I still don't see how. I'm not one of the big fish."

"Aren't you though? Suna declared you an ally, Konoha has given orders to at the very least leave you alone and Hot Water as well as River essentially marked you as an accepted assassin for hire," Shikamaru listed. "That is four shinobi countries not only willing to let a missing-nin travel unhindered, but actually declaring it to the world at large. You could even count River, because flee on sight orders accomplish the same result. And if your insane plan works it's almost guaranteed that Kiri will ally with Suna and Konoha in the aftermath.

"That sounds like a political powder keg to me and you'll have the dubious honor of being right at it's center."

"You know, I don't like playing with you. It makes me feel incompetent," Chikako said, opting to ignore what sounded like the prelude to the next world war.

"Really? You're doing better than Asuma most of the time."

Chikako frowned at the board, then at him. He hadn't had to draw the games out as much as she was used to because she'd actually managed to hold her own, but she'd still lost every game.

"Does it matter how well you fought when you end up dead anyway?" She muttered, more to herself than to him, but of course he heard.

"It's a game."

"Attacking Kiri won't be."

"So don't do it," he told her flatly and then proceeded to stare her down when she wanted to object. "Fighting when there's no way out is one thing, but what you're planning to do might very well turn into a war if it doesn't kill you outright."

"Yagura is a tyrant. Can you imagine how bad things have to get in a Hidden Village to make even the elite shinobi decide that living as a missing-nin is preferable?" Chikako hadn't raised her voice, but her tone was sharp and her eyes hard. "He has to be taken out and I have a way to make it happen."

"If you're lucky and this ludicrous little plan of finding and getting two S-rank mass murderers to help you works out," Shikamaru mocked.

"Well, someone has to kill him!" This time Chikako did lose her temper, but then so did he.

"It doesn't have to be you!" Shikamaru slammed a closed fist on the board, scattering pieces everywhere. Chikako stared at them. Her king was still in place, but his had flipped over and now lay beside her right leg. She decided she'd won that round.

Shikamaru stared at her as if she'd gone insane when she started to giggle. His panicked, wide eyes told her he wasn't quite convinced that she wouldn't start crying any second now and that he had absolutely no idea what to do if she did. That just had her laughing harder.

"It's going," Chikako managed, gasping for air, "to be fine."

It took her a few minutes to completely calm down, but Shikamaru was either cautious or lazy enough to wait her out.

"I promise not to die," she said with a grin, even though they both knew she couldn't actually guarantee something like that. Then her tone turned solemn again. "And really, would you say the same if Orochimaru had managed to take over Konoha?"

He sighed and lay back on the roof to stare at the sky without another word. What would he have said, really? That it wasn't her fight? Shikamaru knew her too well for that. Knew that she'd only ever been loyal to people, not places, titles or ideas. She'd fought in Konoha's defense because most of the people she cared about called it their home and she'd do the same with Kiri because Zabuza was her friend as well.

. . .

Shikamaru had ignored her for the rest of the day, while Choji and Ino shot both of them curious glances. When it had been time for her to leave though he'd told her to head south-east. Chikako hadn't needed to ask him why.

She found the Watari Ninja a few hours after dusk. They'd chosen to make camp in the middle of the woods. The whole group was pretty spread out, with the children and badly injured at it's center. There wasn't a single fire burning, or any other kind of light source for that matter. They weren't even talking and the perimeter guards were the only ones moving around at all.

Chikako watched them for half an hour or so to gauge how much damage their confrontation had caused. Since the younger children had more or less been taken out by her killing intent alone they had bruises at worst. Most of the older shinobi weren't that lucky though. She could see a man who was missing his left arm below the elbow and another one with a deep gash across his torso. The wounds had been cauterized, but looked untreated otherwise.

A few meters to their left was an old woman who seemed to be smearing some kind of green paste onto the back of a younger one. The skin beneath was oddly gray and brittle. Chikako had no idea what had happened there. It couldn't have been her, but then the Watari hadn't always managed to get out of each other's way and she'd deliberately used them as live shields a time or two, so she probably wasn't completely innocent. Not that she felt sorry for any of them. She did need them in working order though and there were at least half a dozen more shinobi still waiting for someone to look at their injuries.

"One would think you'd have more than one healer with that many people," Chikako said, after using a Body Flicker to, once again, appear in the middle of the group.

There were a few startled yelps, but most everyone froze, starring at her with wide, scared eyes. An image of Team 7 and Orochimaru in the Forest of Death flashed before her eye, but this time she was the snake and they were the frightened rabbits. The thought disturbed her enough that her upper lip curled in disgust, which made her audience even jumpier.

Chikako took a deep breath, rubbed the bridge of her nose in annoyance and then summoned Jiro with a completely unnecessary flick of the wrist. She hadn't used blood this time, since it was really only polite and not actually required. It wasn't like he couldn't guess who'd called him anyway and doing it like this looked a lot more impressive to everyone who knew what the Summoning Technique was. Which was apparently everyone here judging by all the gasps and even a few whimpers that greeted her tanuki's arrival.

This would no doubt go to his head, but making sure the Watari were suitably cowed was more important than keeping Jiro's ego in check. Kit could take care of that later.

"You killed the others," a tall, muscular man said, seemingly answering her earlier question. His skin was so dark that he almost blended into the night without even trying.

"Well," Chikako said with an unconcerned shrug, "that's unfortunate." It sounded as if she couldn't care less, but she actually meant it, which was why she told Jiro to take a look at the wounded.

Nobody protested outright, she did see a few hands twitching though. Some even drew their weapons and fell into a defensive stance.

"I could always finish them off if you'd prefer?" She offered sardonically, raising a single eyebrow. Jiro threw her a glance, but for once kept his mouth shut and did as she'd told him without question. He'd grill her the second he got a chance, no doubt.

"That won't be necessary," the old woman with the green salve said. She'd placed her hands on her hips at some point and glared the rest of her people into submission. They complied almost immediately, making Chikako wonder who exactly the woman was. That could wait though, business first.

"I have an offer for you," she said, watching Jiro go about his task, because she couldn't tell who was in charge. The tanuki was stitching someone's ear back together at the moment. The upper half was only attached by a bit of skin and someone had tried to fix the rest in place with a few band-aids.

"I'm assuming it isn't to slaughter the rest of us?" The big man growled. Chikako ignored his tone, more interested in the young woman who had walked up behind her without making a sound.

"Depends on whether you can manage to play nice," she said with a smile, making a tiny flame of Fox Fire appear and sink into the woman's chest. The kunoichi collapsed almost immediately with a shriek that startled a flock of birds into flight.

Chikako snuffed the Fox Fire after only a few seconds, but the woman's breathing was ragged and her muscles trembled. She clearly wasn't used to pain. Either a good assassin that killed her marks without giving them a chance to retaliate or inexperienced, possibly both.

"What is this offer?" The big man asked. He sounded a lot less aggressive now, despite the clenched fists and his overall rigid stance. He also kept eyeing the woman behind Chikako, so she took a step aside to let him pass.

The gesture seemed to confuse him, but then he glanced at Jiro, who was busy cleaning wounds and bandaging people up, and relaxed.

"Make a few fires and get some food for our guest," he shouted over his shoulder before picking the young woman up and carrying her to a little boy. They both had light green eyes and the same wild, coppery hair. Siblings probably.

Chikako watched as the man gave a few more orders and people almost fell over themselves to comply. The tense atmosphere slowly but noticeably made way for an odd current of wariness, mixed with excitement and hope. The children especially were enthralled by Jiro and had lost all caution after only a few minutes.

"No point trying to hide when the monster has already found you," the big man said when he saw the way Chikako frowned at the many small fires his people were building. She supposed she really was the monster in this scenario.

"Why would you take children that barely know how to hold a weapon into battle?" Initially she'd thought they were intended as cannon fodder, maybe in hopes that an opponent might hesitate if faced with a young child instead of an adult. He clearly cared about his people though.

"There weren't supposed to be any shinobi," he said, waving her over to a spot that was more towards the edge of the large group. "They're more than capable of taking on a few civilians and we needed the numbers.

"We don't have enough fully trained fighters to protect everyone, especially not while traveling around and selling our services like common mercenaries. My clan needs a home and this was our chance to get it."

Chikako let her eyes travel over all of them, young, old, male female, injured and healthy. There were people of all skin colors, with a wide range of facial features and only few looked similar enough to each other to be related. Their clothing was simple, mostly dark blue and light gray, which made them look like part of a single clan, but they weren't family. At least not by blood.

Watari indeed, the wandering ninja. The homeless and unwanted. Some were no doubt the children of missing-nin, but the majority likely had no connection to any Hidden Village. They had all handled their weapons well, but there had been no variety to the jutsu they'd used against her, which suggested a lack of education. The same was true for the mostly uncoordinated way in which they moved. Shinobi with formal training learned tactics and how to fight alongside strangers. The latter wasn't as prominent in Konoha, where teams often lasted for years, but other villages tended to wildly mix and match as the need arose.

"Why haven't you joined one of the Hidden Villages?" Chikako asked, already knowing the answer.

"Because they're not interested in barely trained shinobi that have no special skills to offer. Especially when half the clan is either so old or young that they shouldn't be fighting at all," the big man said, getting more angry with every word until he practically snapped at her. "And if one says it'll take us in I guarantee it's cause they need a few expendable people for a difficult job."

"What if I told you you could earn your place? Be a real part of a village?"

"I'd say you're full of bullshit."

Chikako smiled at him, silently watching as his expression changed. First his scowl faded, then the wrinkles on his forehead smoothed out. His wide nose, that had been broken more than once by the looks of it, twitched and his nostrils flared. When Chikako still just sat there his eyes began to widen and his whole posture straightened.

"For real?" He finally asked, voice so soft she could barely hear it.

"It won't be safe or easy," Chikako caution. She wanted his help, but she wouldn't lie to him to get it. Loyalty was important and that required trust. "You can all come, but I don't want anyone fighting that can't at least handle a chunin."

"That," the man said, frown firmly back in place, "sounds too good. Where's the catch?"

"We'll have to assassinate a kage first. I'll handle that though. Your job will most likely be to protect the civilians while my friends and I take care of business."

"What? What do you mean most likely? And killing a kage?" Saburo, as Chikako learned later that night, asked, incredulity written all over his features. There were many, many more questions, especially as the other clan members joined in. Chikako didn't tell them all the details, especially about the actual plan, just in case someone decided the information was worth more than the opportunity. That possibility didn't seem very likely, but she wasn't taking any more chances with this than she had to.

The older shinobi had been especially skeptical at first. They often tried to asked questions more than once, trying to catch her in a lie. It didn't work of course, since she wasn't lying. Chikako chose not to make them aware of the fact that it wouldn't have otherwise either. She mentioned no names and no affiliations, only ever talking about her friend who wanted to save his village from a tyrant. Someone who'd grown up in a Hidden Village might have guessed that it was Kiri she intended to attack, but to these people all kage were tyrants.

In the end not everyone was happy and even those that wanted to believe her had a hard time actually doing it. That didn't matter though because they did trust Saburo and she'd managed to convince him. When the time came the Watari would be fighting for her and, no matter what Zabuza claimed, he was a good man at heart and would reward them with the home they so desired. He might do it with a lot of snarling and cursing instead of open arms, but if that man appreciated one thing it was loyalty. If he gave these people a chance they'd pay him back a thousand fold and make sure that their children did as well.

Chikako felt a little dirty for the way she'd played on their hopes and was already planning how best to capitalize on the feelings of camaraderie and gratitude, fighting together for a place to call home would cause. First she'd frightened them out of their minds like Orochimaru and then she'd manipulated them like Danzo. Chess pieces for her to play with.

At which point would killing the snake and the man behind the scenes stop to matter because she'd become worse than them?

. . .

Chikako woke up early the next morning. Sleeping with that many people around her was still less restorative than she would have liked, but she'd managed a few hours high up in the canopy. There was a bird on the branch right next to her. It's tar black feathers were glossy and shimmered in shades of purple and green where the sun touched them. The animal stared at her with clear, brown eyes and Chikako stared right back. She didn't know much about birds, but they definitely weren't supposed to have as much chakra as this one did.

"You're a crow, aren't you?" She asked a little chagrined.

Chikako had assumed the black birds were ravens because that was the first thing that came to mind. It was also what everyone in the port town had said and one would think people in a country known for and named after it's birds might know a thing or two about the creatures. Apparently not though, because this one was a summon and, while she wasn't aware of anyone with a raven contract, the Uchiha had held both a cat and a crow contract. Then again, maybe the others were indeed ravens and this one had simply hidden in the mass of regular birds. It wasn't like she could actually tell the difference. The only thing she did know was that the crow was the only summon, beside Jiro, that she could sense at the moment.

"So?" She grumbled. "Have you decided to help me find your master or are you just here to enjoy the show?"

The crow cawed, hopped onto her shoulder and dug it's claws into her flak jacket. That was all it did though. It probably couldn't talk, but the fact that it hadn't simply taken off made her hopeful that it might actually intent on being useful at some point.

Chikako walked down the tree trunk instead of letting herself fall to the ground. She'd try to get information out of the bird later, but for now she'd better not scare it off.

Saburo was already awake and keeping watch as Jiro played with the children. They were running all over the place and frequently stepped on people. In a few more minutes the whole clan would be up.

"We're leaving then?" Saburo asked in lieu of a greeting.

"You are," Chikako told him, waving her tnauki over. "I have a few things to take care of first, but Jiro will show you the way."

"No! I don't want to go back to Zabuza, he's so mean and boring!"

The big man almost fell from the stump he'd been sitting on at the tanuki's exclamation. He didn't get a chance to say anything though because the children had followed in Jiro's wake.

"The Demon of the Hidden Mist?" A little girl gasped in wide eyed wonder. She sounded equally impressed and frightened.

Chikako raised an eyebrow at her.

"Are you saying he's scarier than me?"

She'd been joking, but the girl snapped to attention like a little soldier.

"No, miss Wraith, ma'm!"

Chikako blinked at her stupidly, while Jiro burst into howls of laughter.

"Oh, please call him Mister Demon Sir when we get there," he begged.


	48. XII - Wayward Bird, Lonely Snake

**A/N:**

Since this came up a few times:

No Itachi in this chapter, but I promise he'll be in the next. What I can't promise is that anyone besides me is going to be happy with that chapter.

I have this huge graph with branching paths for what I could do with Kiri and ... well, I picked the one that made the most sense to me, but there are a so many interesting possibilities that I'm liable to change my mind ...

 _Kragh50_

I don't think Zabuza likes his new nickname very much, so it's likely going to come up again. As for the anime, I didn't watch/read everything either. It got really weird in the later chapters/episodes. I'm working quite a bit with the wiki though, so I just thought I'd let you know what the time frame for the timeskip is. I'm sorry if that sounded like a reprimand.

 _Peruna_

Yeah, I think everyone needs a Shikamaru pillow from time to time. Maybe Chikako, Gai and Lee should have a contest to determine who makes the best entrances. I guess Naruto could joins them as well. If I had to estimate I'd say Kakashi will make an appearance in about 3 chapter, but take that with a grain of salt (or a few spoons).

Neji stuff has to wait until I decide what exactly I'm doing with him (and the other rookies). I always thought there should be more political intrigue in a military dictatorship that has literal clans. Especially with the Hyuga, because they are divided into main and branch. I'm not sure yet how big a part of this story that is going to be though.

Hah, it would be way to easy if the crow just played nice. You underestimate how unnecessarily complicated I'm willing to make things.

 _Elise142_

I don't think I can comment on anything you said without spoilers, but thanks for letting me know what you think.

 _KadeBear_

Thank you. I almost cut the end short before the little girl got her five minutes in the spotlight. It didn't really fit with the way the chapter was initially written. I'm still not sure it fits all that well, even after rewriting the end, but I just had to insert it. I'm glad I'm not the only one who liked it.

 _NightsBlackRose13_

Thank you, lets hope you can manage to wait one more chapter.

 _korohoshi_

Thank you. The word monster generally has a negative connotation when applied to people or animals. If used as an adjective on the other hand the term can be good or bad. Tsunade's monstrous strength for example. Were you to call her a monster because of her strength, it could be a compliment or an insult, depending on how she used it. So it's mostly a matter of context, even when we're only talking about the actual word.

And like you said, people are individuals. Nobody is purely bad or purely good. Not to mention that it's always a matter of perspective. Orochimaru's experiments are brutal and he performs them with no regard for human life. The knowledge he gains could be used in a myriad of positive ways though. To Chikako he is a monster, but to Kimimaro he was almost a god. There is also the fact that his initial motivation wasn't bad, so when did he cross the line (if there even is one, I'd describe it as more of a gradient)?

Okay, I'm done rambling. Sorry about that.

. . .

 **XII - Wayward Bird, Lonely Snake**

Chikako glared at the crow. It sat on a toppled over trash can, smug as you please, pecking at a dry piece of toast. All around them were more crows, or ravens she still wasn't sure. The birds followed them like puppies, but Chikako had no idea why because not a single one was anything other than a regular animal. Maybe they had hierarchies like dogs and Itachi's summon had earned the spot of alpha. It wasn't like the thing made an effort to communicate with her to explain anything. Most of the time it didn't even feel inclined to bob or shake it's head when she asked a question.

And the one time it had, had lead her here, in a tiny village that was located less than a day from the border to the Land of Swamps. The place was half abandoned and whoever still lived here produced enough trash for five villages. The birds seemed to like it, but Chikako's sense of smell vehemently disagreed.

"Can you please just show me where the fuck Itachi is?" She asked with a clear note of frustration in her tone because it was far from the first time. "Or at least shake your head so I know that that's never going to happen?"

The crow pecked at the toast once more, then looked up and nodded. Chikako eyed it with a healthy dose of mistrust. Last time it had done that it had lead her here. She'd actually asked everyone she'd come across about visitors, just in case this place was more than a landfill waiting to happen, but each person had told her she was the first one in over three years. Nobody came here, ever.

"If you make me run for three days straight again and we end up in another dumpster I swear-"

The crow cawed. It did that a lot. Especially when she wanted to sleep, which was why she had been awake for the past thirty-six hours, give or take. Of course the stupid crow had taken the time to land on her shoulder to nap whenever possible.

Chikako scowled at the thing, contemplating how mad Itachi would be if she bound it's beak shut and maybe stabbed it a few times. The lack of sleep clearly wasn't good for her mental faculties. Even Kit had allowed her a few hours rest every day, every second day at the very least.

The crow cawed again. It sounded kind of indignant, but that could just be her imagination. At this point she wouldn't even bat an eye if it pulled out a top hat and started tap dancing. What it did instead confused her though. The crow oddly balanced on one leg and held the other up, claws splayed wide as if offering her a high five. Then it hopped a little and took flight. Chikako made to follow, but the second she did, the crow landed and made the same weird gesture again.

"Wait?" She guessed.

The crow nodded and proceeded to stare at her as if to make sure the command had sunken in. Chikako was pretty sure it thought she was stupid. She sighed, but obediently sat down to demonstrate that she was going to stay right there. The annoying bird glared at her for another twenty seconds before it finally left.

After an hour of sitting in the dirt next to a toppled trash can later Chikako was pretty pissed. She had half a mind to hunt the bird down and hang it upside down from a tree. She was also paranoid enough to think that the stupid thing would swoop in to caw at her the second she stood up, so instead she scooted over to the nearest house wall and leaned against it for a quick nap.

It lasted approximately ten hours and ended when a book landed on her head. She tucked and rolled out of the way an instant later, but the cacophony of cawing around her told her that she'd made a fool of herself. The other birds had stayed behind when the summon had left. Now it was back though and it seemed to be perfectly aware of her sensing range because it had flown just high enough that she wouldn't feel it's return.

"What is wrong with you?" She demanded, much more rested, but just as annoyed as she'd been earlier that day.

The crow ignored her, sailing through the air in increasingly tighter circles until it was low enough to simply snap it's wings shut to land in front her. It had to hop twice because it's momentum forced it forward, but it managed to end up right next to the little book. After it came to a stand still it flipped the pages expertly with it's beak and pushed a clawed foot between them to make sure the book didn't fall shut again. The whole process repeated several times and about a minute later the bird cawed in triumph and flapped it's wings.

Chikako yawned, then stretched, channeling her inner Shikamaru. The crow cawed again and she smiled. It seemed at least she could annoy the thing as well. She didn't dare test her luck too much though and, after another long yawn, leaned over to take a look at the pages.

It seemed the bird had brought her a Bingo Book. It was open to an entry for a woman called Widowmaker. She was an A-ranked nukenin, formerly member of Kumogakure's ANBU. Apparently she'd specialized in infiltration and assassination, but turned traitor two years ago. Nobody had seen her since, but for someone who was used to undercover work that wasn't surprising. Especially considering that her preferred tools were poison and genjutsu. If that woman decided to stay away from shinobi and make her home, say at a daimiyo's court, nobody would ever notice who she was. And if her political rivals just happened to suffer from debilitating illnesses, well that was hardly her fault.

"What exactly do you want me to do with that?" Chikako asked the crow skeptically.

In answer it tapped the bounty with it's right foot, twice just to make sure she got the massage.

"Yes, yes fifteen-million ryo is a lot of money. I don't need cash though, I need to find Itachi."

Another caw. This time the crow stamped it's foot more than that it tapped it. Chikako raised an eyebrow, making it caw again. Then it squatted down on the book and glared at her.

"This would be so much easier if you could talk," she complained, but eventually agreed to go hunt this woman, if for no other reason than that the bird wouldn't shut up.

"Do you at least know where to start?"

The next caw sounded suspiciously gleeful. The crow actually got up though and Chikako followed it south.

. . .

It took them a little less than two months to track this Widowmaker to a Swamp noble's estate. The man was rich, but had apparently been exiled by the land's daimyo for a fashion offense of all things. There were dozens of rumors about what exactly he'd done. They ranged from wearing women's clothing to mock the daimyo's effeminate sense of style to walking the halls naked. From what Chikako had learned the real reason was that he'd had an affair with the daimyo and when a servant had caught them undressing each other the daimyo had claimed it was because he thought the other man's clothes were an affront to good taste.

She wasn't quite sure why the whole thing was such a big problem in the first place. Both men were single and of age, so there really shouldn't have been an issue. Amongst the shinobi population sexuality wasn't exactly a controversial topic. The same was true for the civilians as well, only for the exact opposite reason. With an average life expectancy below thirty most ninja were of the opinion that what they did outside of work was nobodies business. For some that meant drugs, gambling or orgies. For Ibiki it was baking, Kakashi tended to spent his free time reading ridiculously bad porn or confessing his perceived failings at the memorial stone, and some people simply wanted to enjoy a few peaceful hours with their partner. If said partner happened to be of the same sex it wasn't a big enough issue for anyone to mention. After all, everyone knew that life was too short to spent it caring about the opinions of strangers.

Civilians rarely shared that view though. The nobility especially was under the impression that ancient bloodlines had to be continued and heirs born. To achieve that end things like adoption, sperm donors, surrogacy or even just having a child out of wedlock were completely unacceptable. So the daimyo had exiled his lover the instant they'd been discovered, and the Widomaker, who called herself Mai at the moment, had seen her chance. She'd married the noble, thereby making sure everyone knew he couldn't possibly be gay. In turn he only expected her to be discreet when she took lovers and allowed her full access to his funds and staff.

It wasn't a bad deal for either of them. As far as Chikako could tell the Widowmaker had actually settled into civilian life. Her chakra moved sluggishly enough to suggest she hadn't actively used it for months. Her black her was in an elaborate updo, she wore jewelry that just begged for someone to grab it and strangle her with it and generally made the perfect picture of a pampered princess that had never fought a day in her life. Even her bright green clothes were completely impractical and, while Chikako was as stealthy as always, the crow hadn't even tried to hide. Yet, the Widowmaker hadn't so much as glanced at it.

"Are we sure this is the right woman?" Chikako asked her annoying companion. The bird nodded emphatically, going so far as ti mime slitting someone's throat with the tip of it's wing.

"Fine," she sighed. She'd listened to the thing so far. Killing a random woman on a bird's orders wasn't any more insane than anything else she'd done lately. At least she knew this one wasn't actually innocent or harmless.

As night fell Chikako made her way into the house, silent and unseen. The noble was still awake, rummaging around in his office, but the Widowmaker had retired early. Chikako immediately knew why when she entered the bedroom and felt dizzy only moments later. Maybe dear Mari wasn't as oblivious as she'd thought. The poison the woman had used was invisible and odorless. As a liquid in food or drink even small doses could kill within seconds.

First the victim got hit by a bout of vertigo, quickly followed by a headache, confusion, seizures and then death. Because the stuff ate away at the nervous system, including the pain receptors, it wasn't a bad way to die, as far as poisons went anyway. The Widowmaker had even gone through the trouble of mixing it with water and spraying it into the air like a fine mist so she wouldn't have to get close enough to inject Chikako.

It was a good tactic, utterly useless against her though. That particular poison had been one of Orochimaru's favorites, because taken over a long time in tiny amounts it was a perfect tool to discredit someone without actually getting involved. He could just pay some underling to mix it into the food and then lean back and watch as his victim slowly deteriorated mentally, making increasingly less sane decisions and suffering from constant headaches. Taken like that it also caused restlessness, which resulted in lack of sleep and that in turn often caused paranoia or even hallucinations.

What that meant for Chikako was that she didn't even have to use her chakra to burn the poison out of her system because she'd developed an immunity to it. That light dizziness she'd experienced was as bad as things were going to get. Something Mari seemed to have realized as well. There was a panicked spike in her chakra and then the whole room was suddenly flooded with it.

The genjutsu was impressively strong, but just as useless as the poison. Chikako didn't wait to see if the Widowmaker had something else to fall back on if her two favorites didn't work. She used a Body Flicker to close the distance between them, wakizashi appearing out of thin air just as she did and a moment later Mari's fake little life was over.

Chikako snatched one of the cushions from the bed and relieved it of it's pillowcase. Afterwards she walked back to the fresh corpse, grabbed the head and stuffed it inside. She made a face at the expensive looking cloth, already half soaked with blood.

"Now what?" She called to the bird, after opening every door and window to get rid of the poisoned mist faster. It would just be her luck if the thing accidentally got itself killed.

The crow cocked it's head, watching the dangling pillowcase in her hand for a moment. Then it jumped from the branch it had been waiting on and sailed into the room. As soon as it's feet touched ground again it started to direct Chikako to various drawers, chests and anything else that look like something could be hidden inside. It demanded to see anything and everything she found and ignored any attempt she made to ask what the hell she was supposed to find.

Two very frustrating hours later, during which Chikako had to evade just about every member of the household because the noble had found his dead wive approximately ten minutes after the fact, she finally came across an unassuming stack of papers. They were all perfectly white, but she knew what they were long before the crow saw them and started cawing as if possessed.

Chikako snatched both it and the papers, vanishing into the night before anyone noticed the commotion and came investigating.

"First of all," she said to the struggling bird as soon as they were a safe distance away, "be quiet before I shut you up. And secondly, there was no reason at all to kill that woman. If you'd just made the effort to write down what you wanted me to look for I could have done it without anyone ever knowing I was there."

The crow cawed, shook it's head and made a weird gestured with it's wings that might have been a shrug.

"You know, I would have expected one of Itachi's summons to put more value on human life, but then I guess by that logic you should be a lot smarter and more stealthy too."

This time there was no caw. Instead the crow made an offended noise somewhere between a huff and a bark. It also tried to peck her, but Chikako had anticipated the attack and already formed a chakra barrier around herself. While the angry bird scratched at it from every side to find an opening, she sat down and inspected the papers.

There was a special seal on them. It required only a tiny amount of chakra and acted as a signature, identifying the shinobi who had written the notes. Jiraiya himself had invented it and she only knew it existed at all because Ibiki had often complained how useful it was and how hard it was to get any paper prepared with the seal because the Sannin was the only one who knew how to make it.

What made the seal truly ingenious though was that it hid everything that was written on the paper until the chakra of the person that had been keyed into it touched it. It wasn't practical for regular communication because that particular aspect of the seal couldn't be changed once it had been worked into the paper, but from a safety perspective it was invaluable because the sender was guaranteed that only the rightful recipient would be able to reveal the message, and in turn the recipient could use the chakra signature to verify who had written the note.

Chikako had always been able to sense even these small amounts of chakra, which had annoyed Ibiki to no end, but he'd been mollified by the fact that she couldn't trick the seal into revealing it's contents. She'd never told him that that wasn't exactly true. In theory anyone who could mimic chakra signatures and knew which one the seal expected could unlock it. The problem was that the seal deteriorated a little more with every time someone tried to activate it, likely by design to prevent a brute force approach. Even then it would take incredible luck or intimate knowledge of the required chakra signature, but it wasn't entirely impossible for someone to crack the seal that way.

She was ninety-nine percent certain that this particular message was for Jiraiya himself. After all as Konoha's spymaster and the man who had invented the seal he had both access to and use for it. The problem was that, while she could easily recognize his chakra signature, she didn't know it nearly well enough to mimic it. But maybe she didn't need to.

Chikako laid the notes out side by side and activated her chakra sight. The world went completely black for a moment and then pale blue lines shimmered where the empty pieces of paper had been. She didn't know about the Sharingan, but there was a Hyuga in T&I who claimed there wasn't enough chakra in the seal for him to read the text. She guessed either he'd lied or her eyes were more sensitive to chakra than his.

Then again, from what Hinata had described to her the Hyuga didn't perceive chakra the same way she did. With the Byakugan active the regular world turned into shades of gray and chakra was overlayed in light blue. As far as Chikako knew the dojutsu could not distinguish between different chakra signatures or even just types and it didn't perceive natural energy at all. If one of them looked at a note that was hidden by Jiraiya's seal they'd likely either see nothing because there was barely any chakra involved, or the whole note would glow.

To Chikako the paper did indeed have a faint glow, but in a darker shade on top of which was the actual text. The lines were almost translucent, but clearly there. It was a little like trying to read what someone had written with a light gray color on white ground, or rather blue on blue in this case. So in the end the only reason she could get around the seal was because the chakra of two different people was involved.

The only problem now was finding out what the hell the squiggly lines meant. She hadn't expected the notes to be written in plain text, but a code she recognized would have been nice. No such luck though.

A caw drew her gaze to the crow. It had apparently given up and settled down enough to leave her chakra barrier alone. Chikako watched it for a moment, decided it probably didn't want to scratch her eyes out anymore and let the barrier vanish.

The bird hopped over, eyeing the papers and then expectantly looked at her. At least she thought it did. She'd gotten better at interpreting the crows body language, but most of the time she was still just guessing.

It hopped forward another step, then gestured towards one of the notes with a wing and looked at her again. She figured it wouldn't hurt so see if the bird could read and write after all.

. . .

It took ages to copy everything she saw. For one, drawing on dirt with a stick wasn't very accurate and for another, she constantly had to activate and deactivate her chakra sight. With it she couldn't see what she was writing and without it she couldn't read the notes.

On the bright side, the crow seemed to not only be able to understand the code, it also helpfully used it's claws to scratch the translation into the dirt besides the originals. With that much text to analyze and the correct solution right there Chikako even manage to break the actual code. Meaning she could erase the translation without having to memorize it first. Not that she didn't anyway. Ibiki would be proud, provided he got over the fact that his precious secret message paper wasn't so safe after all.

She'd also gained a few more puzzle pieces in the process. For one, it appeared as if Itachi's summon had already been familiar with Jiraiya's code, which meant they probably communicated with each other. There was also the fact that this particular report had been written by none other than her friend Gatsu, so Mari had either been supposed to deliver it or more likely managed to steal it at some point.

The actual report itself was interesting as well. Gatsu seemed to act as a sort of information broker for Jiraiya. He gathered the information his local sources brought him, analyzed it and then put it all together. It was exactly the same thing he'd done when he'd told her about Zabuza. Only this report was about possible locations of snake dens. One guess as to who that meant.

Chikako was half-tempted to head back to Frost and demand some answers from Gatsu, but a closer look at the papers revealed another interesting fact. Close to the bottom of the list naming suspected hideouts the word Obokeyokai was written. There was also a description of a location in Frost, not too far from where she'd come across that huge bear and another one that pointed to a place deep in the heart of the Land of Swamps.

If Jiraiya was really investigating each of these, that was likely his next destination, or had been. It didn't tell her why he'd taken the much longer route through Bird though. Or how the crow knew where to get the information she needed to continue her hunt, but wouldn't just lead her straight to Itachi.

Or maybe it wasn't wouldn't, but rather couldn't. Jiro had a knack for finding her, but summons weren't actually linked to their shinobi in any way beyond the contract. If the shinobi was close enough they could sustain the yokai's presence with their chakra, but as soon as it got out of range it had only it's own reserves to draw on. If the crow was lost though it could simply go back to it's summoning realm and wait until Itachi called on it again. Unless he wouldn't.

"Did you run away or did he tell you to leave?" She asked out of the blue, hoping that the bird would be taken off guard. It worked, in a way. The crow squawked and beat it's wings wildly in it's agitation. The only problem was that Chikako had no idea what that meant.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's go, we have a snake den to check out."

. . .

Just like Bird, Frost and River, the Land of Swamps more than earned it's name. At least half the country was made up of marshes, swamps, bogs or fens, and the rest were forest and grasslands that looked only one good rainfall away from turning into one of those as well. In other words, the whole place was wet, Chikako had to constantly use chakra or risk sinking knee deep into mud and there was a faint smell of decay that clung to everything.

She had no doubt that some parts of the country were beautiful, but the description in Gatsu's report led her deep into no man's land. Even worse, because of the milder climate in this region the myriads of mosquitoes seemed to have missed the fact that it was still winter. Something else that annoyed her to no end and made the crow very happy.

"I swear I you don't stop-" Chikako grumbled because the bird was being stupid again, but then cut herself off when she sensed a very familiar chakra signature ahead of them. Not the Uchiha she'd been looking for, but at least someone who wouldn't just caw at her.

He was underground and with him was another person. A ROOT operative, and one that was very eager to talk if the constant flaring of Danzo's seal was any indication.

Chikako hurried to find the entrance to the compound, but once there she moved slowly. It was never a good idea to blindly rush into anything if Orochimaru was involved in any way, shape or form.

The corridors in this complex were just as wide as in the last one she'd been to and the structure seemed almost as empty. The walls were rough stone, slick with water, moss and green slime that might have been algae. Sasuke and his new friend were the only people besides her though. No corpses or old skeletons either. There were a few mice and a giant swarm of bats though.

It took Chikako a while to reach her former teammate because the compound was built like a labyrinth. Knowing in which direction someone was, wasn't very helpful when one had no idea how to get there. But at least the crow was content to sit on her shoulder and didn't fly off in random directions. It clearly wanted to investigate, but seemed unsure whether she'd come and get it when she left. She wondered if it had figured out that she didn't need it anymore. Not that Chikako would leave it behind, but she'd let gladly let it think that if it meant she wouldn't have to chase it through the corridors.

She hated being underground in a place that had Orochimaru written all over it. It wasn't all bad though. For one, it was nice to know that he didn't have the people to keep all of his hidey-holes staffed at all times, and for another she found a storage scroll for dead bodies. Thankfully the thing was empty. Chikako didn't have a weak stomach, but anything the snake wanted to preserve had to be bad. In any case, she was glad to have something other than a pillowcase to stash the Widowmaker's head in. The thing was starting to give off a very unpleasant scent and if it decomposed to the point of being unrecognizable she wouldn't get any money for the kill.

She found Sasuke in a badly lit room that was almost empty and smelled as if someone had lost more types of bodily fluids in it than Chikako was comfortable with. He stood with his back to her. His top, a plain white uwagi with overly long sleeves, stood in stark contrast to the dirty surroundings. This type of jacked was usually worn as part of a martial arts uniform and held in place by an obi, but even from her perspective she could tell that it barely hung on his shoulders and wasn't actually closed in the front. His pants were black and vanished into the tops of his sandals half-way down his shin. For some odd reason he also had a blue piece of cloth wrapped around his waist that hung down to his knees. On his hip, held by the ridiculous, purple rope belt Orochimaru's people all seemed to favor, was a chokuto - a straight, one edged sword that was a few centimeters longer than her wakizashi. If anyone deserved to be exiled for a fashion offense it was most definitely the Uchiha. And then someone should slap him for being an idiot.

The ROOT agent, a woman in her mid twenties, was tied to a chair with ninja wire. She had several wounds from electrical burns, that weeped clear liquid. Her skin was ghostly pale, probably from blood loss and her body was wracked by coughing fits every few seconds.

"You are embarrassingly bad at this," Chikako drawled. She'd leaned against the wall to watch him and had to create a chakra barrier in front of her, to avoid getting hit by the barrage of kunai he flung her way. Dodging would have taken far less chakra, but then she couldn't have enjoyed how badly he'd startled when he realized he had company.

"Are you insane?" He demanded heatedly, blood red Sharingan eyes almost glowing. "I could have killed you."

Chikako crossed her arms in front of her chest and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Uh-huh," she said and the crow cawed as if to punctuate her statement. Maybe they'd get along after all. Sasuke had been glaring at her, but at the noise his gaze briefly shot to the bird before fixing on her again.

"Where is he?"

"No idea," Chikako shrugged, not mentioning that, even though the statement was true, she did have a pretty good idea of how to find Itachi. "I've been tracking him for the past five and a half months, but I keep losing the trail. It's annoying as hell."

Sasuke scoffed at her, apparently feeling the need to seem superior after she'd surprised him. Chikako had no doubt though, that he hadn't so much as heard a rumor about his brother since waking up in the hospital after their last meeting. Otherwise he'd already have tried to go after him. That meant two points to her and zero for the grumpy Uchiha.

"What are you doing by the way? The woman isn't going to talk."

"We'll see about that," he growled, pulling his chokuto. He laid the side of the blade across the ROOT operative's thighs and then channeled lightning chakra into it. What followed were a strangled scream that broke after only a few seconds and the biting stench of burned flesh.

Chikako wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Did your mother drop you on your head as a child?" She snapped. "If she could have talked she would have done it a long time ago. There's a fucking seal on the back of her tongue that literally prevents her from telling you anything."

"And how would you know that?" He snarled right back, but was already grabbing the woman's jaw to force her mouth open and take a look for himself. When he found exactly what Chikako had predicted, he kicked the chair so hard that the wooden leg snapped. The thing fell forward and the woman's head smacked against the stone floor hard enough to knock her out.

"I see Orochimaru's training is good for your anger management issues."

"Why the hell are you even here?"

"Just checking something, I'll be on my way now, see you around."

Chikako turned in one fluid motion, raising her right hand to wave at him over her shoulder as she left. Behind her Sasuke stabbed the chokuto into the unconscious woman's head to finish her off and then hurried after her. He'd grown quite a bit and was now half a head taller than her, so it didn't take him long to catch up.

"Why are you looking for Itachi?"

"I need his help with something. Why aren't you with Orochimaru?"

"He sent me ahead to clean the place up."

"You didn't happen to run into Naruto, did you?"

"Naruto?" Sasuke repeated dumbfounded. "Why would the moron be here?"

"Jiraiya is dragging him all over the Elemental Nations for their little training trip," Chikako said with a shrug and then proceeded to share what she knew about the other rookies. She didn't tell him anything that might be used against them and he looked incredibly bored from the second she started talking. He also never even tried to change the topic or get her to stop.

By the time they reached a small town, about two hours later, Sasuke knew just about everything it was save for him to know. She wasn't entirely certain whether he actually missed Konoha, or if he was just glad to talk to someone that wasn't Orochimaru or one of his insane minions, but she supposed it didn't matter. What surprised her though was that he offered to pay for lunch.

"Don't tell me you're getting pocket money," she joked.

Sasuke shot her a glare, then ordered his food with so much venom in his tone that the waitress practically ran back to the kitchen. The restaurant he'd chosen wasn't big, but it was clean and the locals seemed to like it. Chikako wasn't convinced that nobody would spit in his meal though.

"You remember that he kidnapped me and then used me as a guinea pig for years, right? I don't see how getting money and being allowed to leave on your own is a bad thing."

"I'm sorry," Sasuke sighed. "It's just ... I hate him, okay?"

Chikako stared at her former teammate, speechless.

"What?" He snapped, clearly uncomfortable with the drawn out silence.

"Did you just apologize for being rude?"

"I- what?" He frowned. It turned into a scowl almost immediately when Chikako started to giggle.

The rest of their lunch wasn't much better. Well, the food was good, but Sasuke's mood got worse with every joke she made about how various people would react when they heard that his grumpiness, Sasuke Uchiha himself, had apologized of his own free will. By the time they'd both emptied their plates though, he was mostly just pretending and when she theorized that Sakura and Ino would probably have a nervous breakdown or start a small war he actually smiled.

"How do you even know what is going on in Konoha? Last I heard Kakashi killed you."

"Aw, I didn't know you cared," Chikako cooed, but then had to grin at the expression he made. He looked kind of constipated. "Also, sensei did kill me, can't you tell? I'm very, very dead and going to stay that way for a little while longer."

"Orochimaru's spies said that he received a direct order from the Hokage to take you down. Are you telling me he just decided not to do it?"

"Yes, Uchiha," she bit out, mostly annoyed at herself because she'd believed Kakashi was going to kill her. "See, when someone is loyal to you they tend not to want to murder you in cold blood, but you wouldn't know that would you?"

A pained expression flitted over his face for a moment before it turned into an empty mask again. Chikako knew what she'd said wasn't exactly true, but he'd needed to hear it. She'd told him once that she'd put him down like a rabid dog if he ever again went after anyone she cared about, and this was the only reminder he was likely to get. She didn't want to argue with him though, so she changed the topic before he could reply with a scathing comment of his own.

"Hey, would you mind writing a list with all of Orochimaru's hideouts for me?"

He blinked at her, taken off guard by the non-sequitur, but then easily went along with it.

"Sure, if you tell me what's going on with that whole Wraith business."

"How much time do you have?" She asked, grinning at his raised eyebrows. He'd expected her to turn him down and now he'd have to weight his curiosity against the possible punishment for defying Orochimaru. Surprisingly enough Sasuke agreed without hesitation.

"You know, you could always leave," Chikako told him after they'd exchanged information. Predictably, Sasuke's answer was another scowl.

"What are you going to do with that?" He waved a hand at the, impressively detailed, list. It not only contained the names of locations and how to get there, but even held additional information on how big the respective compounds where, how often, long and frequently he'd been there and what they were used for. Quite a few were marked as abandoned and some he'd only heard about but never seen himself. She was willing to bet there were more he didn't know about at all, but this was still probably the most comprehensive list anyone outside of Orochimaru's inner circle had ever been in possession of.

"Catch a fish or two and take over a Hidden Village," Chikako sang, happily.

"Yeah, right." Sasuke shook his head at hear, but didn't ask again.

They went their separate ways a few minutes later. From what he'd said Orochimaru would arrive in the Land of Swamps in less than a week and he had to clean the compound out before then. Apparently he'd stumbled over the ROOT agent by accident. The woman had seemingly been looking for something, but he hadn't gotten anything useful out of her and Chikako hadn't enlightened him about the connection she suspected between Danzo and Orochimaru. Not that he'd cared all that much. Helping the snake wasn't very high on his list of priorities.

If Chikako hadn't been on a quest to find Itachi she'd tried harder to convince Sasuke to leave with her. As things where however, she needed the elder Uchiha and couldn't risk bringing Sasuke anywhere near him. She had no doubt that Itachi would easily win a fight, but even just seeing her former teammate for a few hours had given her a good idea of how much stronger he'd become. More ruthless too if that scene in the compound had been any indication.

The Sasuke that had left Konoha sixteen months ago had been an asshole, but he hadn't killed that easily. Otherwise Naruto wouldn't have survived their last confrontation. She really hoped there wasn't going to be another one. That didn't seem very likely though. Knowing Naruto, the first thing he'd do once his training was over, would be trying to reunite his team.

Chikako bit her thumb, smeared blood on her Summoning Tattoo and called Kit. He appeared immediately without so much as a chakra cloud to indicate that he hadn't been there all along.

"If you head north-west for two hours or so, you should come across an underground compound. There's a boy in there. I'd like you to keep an eye on him."

"Why is there a bird on your shoulder?" Kit asked, eyeing the other yokai with more than a little distrust.

"Please?" Chikako tried.

"I mean sure, it can fly, but you can't possibly tell me that a crow is better than a kitsune," he went on, completely ignoring her.

Chikako groaned, throwing her head back in a wordless prayer for patience.


	49. XII - Well, Shit

**A/N:**

 _Kragh50_

Kisame is a big, blue shark on two feet, he doesn't get to be confused about anything for more than two seconds.

 _Elise142_

I think the number of people questioning her depends on how insane her plans sound. Kakashi and Ibiki are the only people that have first hand knowledge of her friendship with Itachi. To anyone else he is just a mass murderer with no reason not to kill her. And then there is the whole invading a Hidden Village and killing a jinchuriki/kage thing. It's dangerous and really only her concern because she decided it was.

I didn't expect her to run into Sasuke either, but it fit well and I realized that I couldn't actually have them meet much later if I wanted to do it before the end of the timeskip.

 _Guest_

Thank you.

 _NightsBlackRose13_

Well, Orochimaru told Sasuke that the Hokage ordered it. So either he lied, the Hokage did order Chikako's assassination or his spy sucks. It's not like Kakashi told Chikako what was going on at the time.

The Watari aren't mentioned in this chapter, but they would have arrived in Wave around the time Chikako met Sasuke, maybe a month later if they didn't hurry.

 _Peruna_

Hope the exams went well and thanks for your forgiveness, I'll put it in a box for safekeeping.

I can never decided whether I do or don't like Sasuke. He mostly just annoys me, but he does have his moments. I wish cannon Sasuke wouldn't have been such an idiot though. There was really no need to kill Itachi.

Kit has fluffy fox ears, he'll be adorable no matter what he does. You are, of course, still a bad person for liking the little jerk, but the dark side has cookies. It's obviously the better choice. Think about it, cute fox demons and sugary baked goods.

. . .

 **XII - Well, Shit**

Finding a ship that traveled from Swamp to Lighting was considerably easier than finding one headed for Bird from Tea had been. Chikako didn't even have to pay an arm and a leg for passage, which was convenient because she was broke until she exchanged the Widowmaker's head for the bounty.

Chikako was well on her way to Lighting when she noticed that the drain on her chakra - caused by keeping Kit around - increased, instead of decreasing as it was supposed to. When she left Jiro on his own, he had to conserve his chakra to be able to stay outside of the Void, because once she was too far away from him, he couldn't pull on her chakra anymore. With the addition Kit had made to her Summoning Tattoo though, it seemed they were permanently connected. Something the little prick could have mentioned while he'd been waxing about the advantages of kitsune over crows. She suspected the amount of chakra she had to expend was directly proportional to the distance between them. If it kept increasing linearly that wouldn't be a problem, but she'd have to keep an eye on it.

The journey didn't take very long, but it was exceptionally boring. No pirates or hungry sea monsters tried to stop them and most of the crew and passengers wouldn't go anywhere near Chikako. Not even when the crow made a nuisance out of itself.

It hadn't been a problem the first three days, but there was a bounty hunter from Hot Water on board that had recognized her. He'd been spreading rumors ever since and because she hadn't shut him up people believed whatever he told them.

The crow seemed to greatly enjoy the freedom it gained because everyone was too afraid to shoo it away, but it greatly annoyed Chikako how everyone ducked their heads and suddenly remembered they had to be on some different part of the ship whenever she entered a room or spend too much time in one place.

On the bright side, nobody asked her stupid questions and there was always some of the good food left when she felt peckish in the middle of the night. That last one was mostly due to the fact that the head cook liked her though. He enjoyed threatening his underlings with the wrath of Wraith if they didn't do as told and because she ate all of her meals in the galley instead of in her cabin or the mess hall, they tended to take him seriously.

Another advantage of being a scary nukenin was that nobody protested when she claimed the crow's nest. There was one old sailor that occasionally came by to get drunk in peace, but he only rarely talked to her. So she spent most of her time looking out over the water or practicing katas on the quarterdeck when it wasn't too busy.

During the last week of the trip they sailed almost parallel to Lightning's coast, which gave her a great view. The Coastline was incredibly crooked because of the many rivers that flowed from the countries central mountain ranges into the sea. Chikako had to admit that it looked beautiful though.

The old sailor claimed that there was a giant, domesticated turtle somewhere in the Land of Lightning. Apparently it's name was Genbu, but most people simply called it the Island Turtle because of how big it was. He said it carried a whole forest on it's back and was home to a number of ferocious animals. From what she gathered Kumo's shinobi used it as a training ground in the same way Konoha used the Forest of Death. The turtle could move around though and was protected by a barrier seal and a giant squid.

Chikako would have to come back some other time to take a closer look at the whole thing. It sounded unbelievable that an animal could get that big. Especially because the sailor insisted it wasn't a summon.

. . .

They docked in a big port town called Kanazawa. It's architecture was an odd mix of traditional and very modern buildings, that gave it a unique charm. From what she heard there were several beautiful parks as well, but she went straight to the nearest bounty station instead of exploring the place.

The woman that manned the desk didn't bat an eye when Chikako plopped the Widowmaker's head down in front of her. All she did was verify that it was the correct person and then handed over the money without argument. She did, however, politely request that Chikako write a report if she had the time.

Her eyes almost bugged out of her head when Chikako handed over ten pages detailing everything she had learned about the Widowmaker and how she'd killed the other kunoichi.

"I got bored on the way here," she shrugged in explanation. The woman nodded in response and made a note in her log next to the name Wraith that said 'give preferential treatment'. Then she handed over another one and a half million ryo as well as an updated version of Kumo's Bingo Book.

"There is a ten percent bonus for good reports," she smiled.

Chikako nodded in thanks and left. Ten percent seemed quite generous. She'd never even heard of another country that payed extra for reports. Kumo could easily afford it though, seeing as Lightning was the strongest of the Five Great Shinobi Countries economically. To them information easily had to be worth more than the ten percent bonus, especially because they could use it to get more money.

. . .

Chikako reached Frost ten days later and it only took her three more to find Gatsu. She'd actually just meant to ask the children he'd helped if they knew where he was, but he'd stayed with them, which made things considerably easier.

Akio, the boy whose brother had wanted to kill Gantetsu, practically dragged her into the living room of their hideout. There wasn't a lot of furniture, only a couch and two chairs, but pillows and blankets lay everywhere and Gatsu sat in front of a big fire place with a book in his lap and a gaggle of children around him. She couldn't sense Gantetsu anywhere nearby, but Akio had happily babbled on about how awesome the rescue had been, so she figured the ex-Shinobazu member was fine.

Gatsu smiled when he saw her, but it froze on his face the instant she pulled out a stack of blank papers and waved them in greeting.

"We need to talk," she said very seriously. The crow, who had been marvelously silent on the ship, cawed loudly, startling the children.

"Kids, give the Foxlady and me some space please," the bounty hunter ordered, ushering them out of the room. Once he'd made sure that they were alone he sat down on one of the chairs and motioned for her to take the other.

"I'm not going to insult you by pretending I don't know what those are," he sighed, without so much as a hint of his usual speech patterns. "What do you need?"

"Just like that?" Chikako asked, blinking at him stupidly. She'd at the very least expected an argument. In fact she'd looked forward to it. And he was just giving in?

Gatsu shrugged, staring into the flames.

"Only way you'd know what those are and that I wrote 'em is if you'd read 'em, and that's only possible if he showed you," he reasoned, easily falling back into his rough way of speaking. Apparently the slip-up had been because he was nervous. Interesting.

 _Way to shoot yourself in the foot Jiraiya_ , Chikako thought gleefully, but didn't correct Gatsu's assumption.

"Fine, be boring," she said out loud. It sounded appropriately annoyed, which she kind of was. Whenever something was easy something else went horribly wrong. That was just how her life worked. "I've come by a better list since, but I have no way of getting in contact. Be a dear and call him here for me?"

"Could just send the message the usual way," he offered, but she shot him down immediately.

"Not happening. Unlike you I don't work for him, which means if he wants this I'll need something in return."

"How good is your information?" He asked with a frown, not even trying to see for himself. Smart man. As a spy he was likely able to memorize a lot of information quickly. He'd be lucky if she ever again shared anything that she expected to trade.

"Comes straight from the snake's mouth, so to speak. Names, locations, descriptions," she listed, very satisfied with how wide Gatsu's eyes got. "I even have a timeline that outlines where the inner circle was over the past year."

"An' that's all real?"

"Well, I obviously didn't gather the intel myself, but I have no reason to doubt my source."

"Okay," he said and then again, "Okay, I get the big man, but it might take a month or three."

"Sure, I'll just stay here while we wait."

. . .

It took precisely seventy-five days, four hours and thirty eight minutes for Jiraiya to arrive in Frost and meet with Gatsu. Not that Chikako had counted or anything. She might have instructed all of the kids in basic weapon handling and chakra exercises though.

In Konoha's Academy they wouldn't have been given real weapons for at least the first year, but these kids had been handling sharp and pointy things for quite a while already. She figured teaching them how to properly used them would result in less accidents, not more.

She was right too. Almost all injuries the kids suffered after the first two weeks of her training were entirely intentional.

Just like Zabuza had been with her, Chikako was strict but not unreasonable. She expected the children to handle their weapons with care. That meant proper cleaning, no running around with the pointy end swinging all over the place and lots of practice to make sure their form was at least adequate. The latter was a little bit of a challenge because she didn't really use staffs or speers, the most common weapons among the kids, to fight and so had to figure out how best to wield them first.

Most were very eager to train with her, but the younger children lacked discipline. If they did something they weren't supposed to be doing Chikako had to correct them, which meant she couldn't instruct the others. After that had happened a few times, the older kids took it upon themselves to reprimand the others, usually by smacking them upside the head or boxing them in the arm.

So in the end there were quite a few bruises, but nobody got stabbed. Since neither Gatsu, nor Gantetsu complained about the training she counted it as a win.

When Jiraiya did finally arrive though, Chikako demanded to see him alone and well away from the hideout and the nearby town. That meant she didn't get to see Naruto, but that was really the whole point. If she told the children to scram they left her alone before she'd even gotten the whole sentence out. The blond wouldn't be so easily deterred though.

Chikako missed the idiot, but he'd never be able to keep secret that she wasn't as dead as she should be. For one, Naruto wouldn't know how to lie convincingly if his life depended on it, and for another Danzo would keep a much closer eye on him than the other rookies once he was back in Konoha. And that didn't even account for the fact that the moron would likely try to drag her back with him.

"Ibiki's brat," Jiraiya greeted her as if he didn't know her name. "I heard a few interesting things about you."

"Yes, yes stuff it old man. I'm too annoyed with you to play games, so why don't you just tell me what the information I have is worth to you?"

That seemed to intrigue him, as she'd hoped it would. Chikako didn't know if he was aware of his tail, but since there was a good chance that Itachi was either a spy or at least occasionally in contact with the Sannin, it seemed likely. He might not object to the fact that she was actually after the Uchiha, but she wouldn't risk it, not when she was so close. Meaning her best bet was to distract him.

"Annoyed huh?" Jiraiya asked, threading a hand through his unruly white mane in mock dismay. "And why is that?"

"Well, for one Ibiki is practically in love with the seal you use to keep messages secret, but the thing isn't nearly as safe as he thinks it is. He'll be really disappointed. Do you have any idea what a pouting Ibiki looks like? Because let me tell you, it's not pretty."

He starred at her and for a moment Chikako thought she'd overdone it, but then the Sannin bellowed in laughter. It was kind of infectious, yet even as they bantered back and forth he never lost track of why they were here.

"Now, as fun as this is, how do I know your information is worth anything?"

"Name any of Orochimaru's hideouts that wasn't on the report Gatsu sent you. I guarantee it's on my list." It was a little bit of a gamble, but Chikako highly doubted that Jiraiya knew about a compound Sasuke didn't.

"Okay, what about the one his people call the Northern Hideout?"

"It's on a tiny island in the Gaikotsu Bay. About fifty kilometers north of Rice and twenty to the east of Iron. Used exclusively for human experimentation with juinjutsu, the Cursed Seal of Heaven and Cursed Seal of Earth specifically. The snake has been there twice during the past year. Once, directly after Sasuke defected, from the end of September to about mid November, and a second time for two weeks at the beginning of April," Chikako listed without ever even consulting her notes. Memorizing important information was just good practice. Not that she didn't have a second copy to keep for herself anyway. Ibiki's upbringing and all.

"Impressive," Jiraiya said. He seemed to mean it too. "And how, if I may ask, did you come by this knowledge?"

Chikako contemplated simply telling him that he may not, but she figured this was another test. One she couldn't risk failing if she actually wanted to get something out of this trade. Him simply being here had already given her what she needed, but there was no point in wasting the opportunity.

"I asked Sasuke," she told him casually, leaving out the fact that she'd only met her former teammate by coincidence. "He doesn't seem very fond of his current master, but then I guess he isn't very fond of anyone."

"And he just gave you the information to sell to Konoha's spymaster?" Jiraiya gaped at her. Had Naruto told him so little about the Uchiha? Sasuke could be very petty, especially when his pride was insulted by putting him on cleanup duty. Given half a chance he'd do much more than hand over a few of Orochimaru's secrets. There certainly was no actual loyalty involved in his current allegiance.

"Nah," Chikako shrugged, waiting for the sannin to relax a little before she continued, "he didn't care why I wanted it."

"You're worse than Naruto," Jiraiya moaned. He sounded as if he was actually in pain.

"Let's get back to how you're going to pay me," Chikako sang cheerfully. Ibiki and Kit would be so proud. Well, actually they'd probably berate her for going easy on the Sannin, but she decided it was the thought that counted. If she played any actual mind games with Jiraiya he might catch on and she couldn't have that.

"I'm guessing you don't want money?" He asked, already resigned to the fact that it wouldn't be that easy. "How about a full pardon and reinstatement as a Konoha shinobi?"

"Dead people don't need pardons silly," Chikako chided, waggling a finger at him. There was no way she was going back to Konoha before she had a way to deal with Danzo and his minions. "I want anything and everything you know about fuinjutsu."

"That's ridiculous, writing all of that down would take weeks."

Chikako had to bite her tongue to avoid saying something very, very stupid, like 'Oh, my god you would actually do that?'. She had never in a million years thought he'd even consider agreeing to a demand that outrageous, but if time was his only objection. Well, she could deal with that. A sealmaster's knowledge was practically invaluable.

"No problem," she said, having a hard time suppressing a grin. "just make sure Gatsu gets the notes once you're done."

He narrowed his eyes at her, probably unhappy that she'd refused to take his statement as the brushoff it was meant to be.

"I can't wait that long for the list. Take the pardon and I'll teach you myself once I get back to the village," Jiraiya countered.

"You can have the list now, but your notes better be comprehensive."

Offering up the knowledge she'd gained form Sasuke had been nothing more than a lure, a shot in the blue, but if Jiraiya really wanted it this much she couldn't waste the opportunity. He'd made a mistake with that first remark and they both knew it. He'd told her it would take him weeks to write everything down, in the hope that she'd ask for something else, but thereby he'd also admitted that he was in fact willing to trade his sealing knowledge - which was ridiculous. If Jiraiya had just shot her down by claiming that the list wasn't worth that much it would have worked, because the list really wasn't worth that much. Now though, there was no way she'd accept anything less.

"Fine," he finally sighed after a silent starring contest that lasted several minutes. This time Chikako couldn't hide the shit eating grin. She didn't know why he was willing to give this much. Maybe it was because of who her sensei was, maybe he knew why she'd left Konoha, maybe he thought she wouldn't be able to figure his notes out on her own or maybe he just needed the information she had on Orochimaru that much. It didn't matter. If the deal had been with anyone else she would have never handed over the list in advance and trusted she'd get what she'd bargained for later, but if Jiraiya tried to swindle her she'd stick Ibiki, Kakashi and Naruto on him. Something he was very aware of if the look of dawning horror on his face was any indication.

The Sannin left Frost as soon as the deal was made, meaning all she had to do now was wait.

. . .

Chikako bought dango for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next three days, which made the children very happy and had Gatsu shooting her curious looks that she ignored. She wanted to be prepared. The crow was also surprisingly helpful, flying wide circles over the area every half hour or so. On day four, around ten in the evening, it actually spotted it's master before he was close enough for her to sense.

"I think we can be friends now," Chikako told the bird.

It made an odd huffing noise, but then it bowed and held a clawed foot out for her to shake. Weird little thing. She'd kind of grown to like it though.

"Time to hunt," she smiled and then added, "Since you are as stealthy as a herd of elephants it's probably better if you stay a few minutes behind me."

That earned her an indignant caw, but the bird didn't protest otherwise. That was probably as much confirmation as she'd get. She didn't say anything else, just in case it wanted to be contrary. Instead she checked that all her usual stealth techniques were in place and headed out.

Because of Hoshigaki's massive chakra, Chikako could easily follow the two Akatsuki from a save distance until they stopped. Apparently they were going to camp in the woods, two kilometers outside of the town Jiraiya had stashed Naruto in during their meeting. That suited her just fine.

Chikako very slowly and very carefully snuck up on them, even going so far as to use Camouflage before it was strictly necessary. At the pace she was going the jutsu was a lot easier to hold, so she figured better save than sorry. She also made sure to approach Itachi from behind, because with the Sharingan he would definitely be able to see her, or rather the cocoon of chakra that Camouflage needed to deflect and bend light around her.

She made it to within five meters of him, which was more than close enough for an assassination attempt if she were so inclined. It wasn't likely to succeed anyway. To attack she couldn't move as slowly as she currently was and a Body Flicker would immediately give her away. Chikako was fast, but so was Itachi, and he had both the Mangekyo Sharingan and the reaction time to use the dojutsu to it's fullest potential. No, her goal was to poke him with one of the dango sticks she carried.

She had to abruptly abort that plan though, when Itachi suddenly whipped around and a kunai flew straight at her face. Chikako slapped a chakra barrier in place that shattered like glass and barely gave her enough time to bodyflicker out of the way with a startled yelp.

"What the hell?" Hoshigaki shouted. He stared at his partner, then spotted a wide eyed Chikako, with a shallow gash on her right cheek.

"I come in peace?" She asked, quickly holding up the bag of dango, her heart beating a million miles a minute.

The sharkman glanced between her and his partner, seemingly unsure what to do and bewildered by her sudden appearance. Itachi wasn't much help though. He looked unsettled in a way she'd never seen before, which was really bad for her nerves.

"Don't do that," the Uchiha eventually said. His voice had been calm and his stance was relaxed as he held out a hand for the bag of food, but there was still a tightness around his eyes.

Chikako nodded immediately, but hesitated for a few seconds longer before she decided it was safe to walk over.

"Okay, don't sneak up on people that might accidentally kill you," she murmured, touching the cut Itachi's kunai had left on her face. That had been way too close.

"Or on purpose," Hoshigaki added helpfully. He was decidedly too amused for her taste and, while he was a lot stronger than her, Chikako's adrenaline flooded brain apparently concluded that he was in no way dangerous because he hadn't noticed her.

"Don't be an asshole," she snapped at him.

His answer was a wide grin that showed her all of his pointy teeth. When he grabbed for the food she was too startled to notice that the angle wasn't right for an attack though and used another Body Flicker to put several meters between them. The nukenin had a hearty chuckle at that.

"Aren't you supposed to be blind kiddo?" He asked, chewing on a dango stick as if it was the best thing he'd ever eaten. "And dead?"

"Be nice," Itachi sighed, motioning for Chikako to sit down besides him.

"I'm always nice!" Hoshigaki protested in an affronted tone. She might have believed him if his expression had matched at all.

Itachi took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It gave the impression that he was talking to an unruly child, not a man that was over a head taller than himself and had teeth like saw blades.

"Be nicer."

Kisame was about to reply, when a black bird swooped down to snatch his last dumpling. The crow landed in Chikako's lap with it's price, cawed loudly and then had to jump out of the way because the former Kiri nin did apparently not like to share food.

While the crow, dumpling in it's beak, fluttered around and the big, blue man chased after it, Itachi turned to her, holding out another dango stick.

"I wondered where he was," he mused, watching the spectacle.

"So he actually did run away?"

"Kind of, he was supposed to keep an eye on you, but he stopped reporting in at the end of October."

"Wait," Chikako said, looking away from Hoshigaki, who had just demolished a tree with a single swing of his sword, "How long has that bird been following me?"

"Since you almost died in Wind," the Uchiha told her with a flat look. As if it was somehow her fault that an insane asshole and his army of fanatics had tried to invade the place.

Chikako frowned at him. That had been over a year ago.

"No," she said, because there was no way in hell she'd missed the crow for that long.

Itachi offered her a sad smile.

"I admit he had to stay at a considerable distance and lost you more than once, otherwise the situation in Earth would have been ... different."

"I'm assuming that means you don't know why I'm here?" Chikako asked, unwilling to talk about the prison. He didn't protest the change in topic.

As Itachi shook his head, Kisame, who had clearly been listening, walked back over to them. He'd lured the crow in with a few more dumplings, snatched it and then wrapped it up in the bandages that usually covered his sword until, only it's head was visible. It didn't look very happy.

"Is it something fun?" The big, blue man asked. "Chasing your friend and his babysitter around is boring as hell."

Chikako raised an eyebrow at him.

"I don't know. How do you feel about invading Kiri and killing the Mizukage?"

He laughed, jostling the crow this way and that. It only took him a few seconds to snap back to attention though.

"Oh, you're serious?" The question sounded almost wistful and the carefree grin on his face turned into something sharper. "Momochi rope you into this?"

"No. I mean he wanted to go after Yagura again, but when I found him he'd just given up on the whole thing. Asking you for help was my idea."

"How the hell does that follow?" Kisame asked, a little baffled. "You just thought 'Oh, hey this weird guy that wanted to kill me wants to murder a kage now. Let me just ask these nukenin if they're interested.'?"

"Yagura needs to die," Chikako said with a conviction that surprised even her a little. "He's destroying lives with no rhyme or reason and driving his village into the ground. I don't expect you to care about any of that, but I know that Akatsuki is after the Tailed Beasts. I'm presenting you a jinchuriki on a silver platter. What more do you need?"

"Well, you got spunk I'll give you that," Kisame grinned. "Gotta ask the boss for permission first though."

He exchanged a look with Itachi, who had been suspiciously quiet during their exchange, and then both of them walked into the forest. Chikako figured they had a way to quickly contact this boss and so didn't attempt to follow.

. . .

They weren't gone for much more than half an hour, but the looks on their faces when they got back didn't bode well. Itachi seemed conflicted, but not surprised and Kisame's expression was was a mixture of anger and confusion.

"He said no?" Chikako guessed.

"He said to kill you and stay away from Kiri," Kisame growled.

She couldn't tell which order he was more unhappy with, but was glad to note that he liked neither. She could probably run from him if she had to, Chikako wouldn't loose sleep if she never had to find out though.

"I guess I'll take my leave then and you pretend you lost me?"

"No," Itachi told her, holding out the last stick of dango. "You can head back in the morning. We'll say you were gone by the time we returned. Since you are clearly able to sneak up on me you could have easily overheard our side of the conversation. Kisame was very ... expressive. That would have been more than enough to clue you in."

"Yeah," Hoshigaki grunted with a full mouth. He wasn't quite sulking, but it was close. Whoever this leader was, the sharkman was not happy with him, or her.

"That reminds me," Chikako said, fixing Itachi with a suspicious look, "how did you know I was there?"

"I felt the air shift with your breathing."

"Bullshit!"

Itachi only smiled though and kept insisting that it was true, no matter how often she asked.

. . .

Chikako ended up staying with the two nukenin until lunch the next day. Kisame, for all that he was a mean bastard with a morbid sense of humor, was also honest, humble and genuinely appreciated kindness.

When it had started to rain in the early hours of morning, he'd thrown his cloak over her without a word and headed into the woods to find them some breakfast. The man might not bother with manners and his blunt honesty was just plain rude more often than not, but Chikako didn't mind. In fact, she much preferred it to white lies, sugarcoating or outright pandering. If Hoshigaki said something it was because he meant it, nothing more and nothing less.

Being respectful was one thing, but since she'd begun using the alias Wraith, Chikako had noticed more than once that some people would just tell her whatever they thought she wanted to hear. And she'd just started to make a name for herself.

Itachi had been hailed as a prodigy even as a young child and he was also the heir to one of Konoha's founding clans. She hadn't really noticed it back then, because they usually hadn't spent time with other people, but Chikako was willing to bet that almost nobody, except for his father and the clan elders, had ever disagreed with him.

It was probably why he so rarely offered an opinion of his own volition and why he liked Kisame. After all, once a genius had made an assertion, the average person wouldn't question it. In that respect the sharkman was like a breath of fresh air. He'd argue if he thought he was right and if it turned out that he wasn't, he'd accept it without complaint. No pandering and no hard feelings.

When she'd first seen them together in Konoha, Chikako had assumed Kisame followed Itachi's orders out of fear, but that wasn't true at all. The boisterous man simply thought that Itachi was smarter than him and thus deferred to his judgment.

"I like him," Chikako offered after Hoshigaki had left to get breakfast.

"He is a good man," Itachi agreed.

He hadn't said much since the day before, seemingly content to listen while his partner questioned her about how they knew each other and what she'd done since she'd left Konoha. Judging by his reactions to her answers, there were a number of things his little spy had failed to mention, which made her smile at the crow.

After breakfast it was Hoshigaki's turn to tell stories and Chikako learned that he'd defected from Kiri because of all the lies and deceit, even among comrades. Ibiki had already told her that the man had killed the members of Mist's Cypher Division to ensure their knowledge wouldn't fall into Konoha's hands, but it seemed that incident had been far from the only time Kisame's orders had forced him turn against those he was supposed to protect.

His superior, Fuguki, had valued information above all else. It was a hard stance, but one she could have respected, if the man hadn't also sold Kiri's secrets to the highest bidder, friend or foe. Not only had he betrayed his village and Kisame's trust, he'd also made all those deaths in the name of protecting information meaningless.

When the sharkman found out, he'd killed Fuguki and taken his sword.

He hadn't gone into great detail while talking about his past, but Chikako had sensed a lot of guilt. It struck her as odd at first, considering how easily he would resort to lethal force and how much he enjoyed fighting, then she realized that it was about loyalty, not murder. Kisame didn't mind killing, what bothered him was that his orders had forced him to attack his own people. Even worse, the person who had given those orders, a man he'd trusted and respected, had turned out to be a traitor.

Kisame hadn't mentioned any dates, but she was pretty sure he'd joined Akatsuki shortly after killing Fuguki. Within weeks likely. That meant he'd been with the organization for almost ten years. Yet, this man, who valued loyalty so much that he felt guilty about doing his job even a decade after the fact, apparently hadn't even considered following the order to kill her.

Chikako wasn't sure what exactly Akatsuki's leader had promised him for his service, but it seemed he held Itachi's friendship in higher regard. She'd never be happy that the Uchiha had just vanished out of her life all those years ago, but she was glad that he'd found someone he could rely on. The world was cruel enough that nobody should have to face it alone.

In the end it didn't matter how well they got along though, because neither man would come back to Wave with her. They had to continue following Naruto, and now that she'd found them it was time for Chikako to report to Zabuza.

"I assume asking you not to do this won't have any effect?" Itachi asked when she stood to leave.

"You tell me," Chikako said, giving his cloak a pointed look.

"I thought as much."


	50. XII - Murphy's Law

**A/N:**

 _Kragh50_

Well, they would have helped, but daddy said no. What can you do? Itachi has always been a very obedient child.

 _Diehard gamer_

No need to apologize. You're under no obligation to write reviews. Thanks for taking the time anyway.

I agree that Jiraiya trading his sealing knowledge for nothing but the list Chikako had to offer is unrealistic. I figured he would have a soft spot for her though. She's important to two of his favorite students (Kakashi, Naruto) and he seems to feel guilty for just about everything Orochimaru has ever done. He also trained the members of the original Akatsuki, so I think it wouldn't be out of character for him as long as he doesn't think Chikako is a threat to Konoha.

 _Peruna_

Oh god, that pun was soooo bad, but it actually made me laugh, so good job.

Not sure if the Joker is a fan favorite, but he's certainly the only reason I've ever watched anything related to Batman. It's definitely all about the friendly smiles.

I kind of want to put Itachi on a leash and drag him out of all that Akatsuki muck, but he wont play nice. Duty and all that rot.

 _Elise142_

Canon Kisame knows that Tobi/Madara is controlling Yagura, but not only does that not fit with my story, it also doesn't make sense to me. He left because of all the lies and then joined Akatsuki because T/M promised him a world of truth, but I don't see why the hell he would ever believe that, when he knows that his new boss can basically use mind control on people. I mean if a stranger revealed to you that he could make you do just about anything and had manipulated someone else for who knew how long, would you believe that his intentions are pure?

Maybe I'm cynical, but power tends to corrupt people and opportunity makes thieves, or liars in this case. There is no logical reason to think that T/M wouldn't lie to Kisame if that's the easiest way to get what he wants. So in short, for the purposes of this ff Kisame is unaware of the fact that Yagura is being controlled by someone else.

 _cassianaswindell123_

He is the best shark too, that makes him twice as awesome.

. . .

 **XII - Murphy's Law**

The crow stayed behind in Frost when Chikako left for Wave. It had agreed to wait until Jiraiya's notes arrived, at which point Gatsu would seal them into a scroll if they weren't already and the crow would deliver them to Chikako. Usually she would have asked Jiro to perform the task, but the bird would be much faster and since it was supposed to keep an eye on her anyway it might as well make itself useful.

Itachi had also informed her that the crow didn't have a name and so she'd decided to call it Yatagarasu, after the crow that had been sent to guide an emperor. She figured it fit well enough, seeing as she planned on conquering a Hidden Village. Yata certainly seemed happy with his new name.

Not nearly as happy as Jiro was when she returned to the camp in Wave though.

Chikako had decided to make a normal entrance for once in her life and immediately regretted it. She wasn't sure if just appearing out of nowhere the way she usually did would have saved her from the little tanuki, but at least then he'd have had less time to plan his attack.

Jiro had alerted everyone to her presence the second she'd come into view and the children apparently thought that was their cue to surround her. Most just welcomed her back, but some wanted to hear everything about her adventures or they felt like they needed to tell her about theirs. Then to make matters worse her tanuki jumped onto her shoulder, wildly waving his paws around and complaining about one thing or other Zabuza had done while she'd been gone.

Chikako was completely overwhelmed by all the attention. She actually stood frozen in indecision because she wasn't sure she could get out of there without knocking someone over. Blasting them with a wave of killing intent would probably work, that didn't seem like a very good tactic though. It was kind of nice that the children weren't afraid of her anymore, especially after how much time she'd spent with the kids in Frost.

In the end Haku had to save her by creating an ice maze for them to play in. It only took him a few seconds, which made her think he'd used that distraction several times already.

He offered her a smile in greeting, but thankfully didn't ask any questions. The older members of the Watari Clan kept silent as well, watching from a distance, some wary, some with friendly or expectant expressions, but not a single one approached.

They were waiting for what she had to say. After all Chikako had only told them that she had to take care of something and that something was why they were still in Wave and hadn't attacked Kiri yet.

As she walk through the camp Haku followed like a silent shadow. There were tents everywhere, organized in neat rows and squares to form roads, and at the center of the camp was a big fire pit that seemed to serve as a meeting area. It was surrounded by at least a dozen logs, but right then only Zabuza and the leader of the Watari, Saburo, occupied any.

"Still alive then," the former said. It sounded a little odd to Chikako, but she couldn't tell what about his tone it was that bothered her.

"He was worried," Haku stage whispered helpfully, which made Zabuza scowl hat him.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh," the nukenin growled. "First you leave to find people that I still don't believe wouldn't just kill you for fun, then your cat disappears without warning and comes back over three months later with a whole freaking clan of homeless shinobi, that apparently all wanted to murder you too, and then there were another five months without a word from you."

Chikako blinked at him stupidly.

"You know Jiro isn't actually a cat right?"

"Just sit down kid."

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, choosing the empty log to his right. She hadn't really thought about how long she'd been gone. The hunt and how much distance she still needed to close to finally catch up with her target had been her sole focus. "I didn't mean to make you wait so long and I'm afraid it was all for nothing."

Zabuza shook his head at her and took a deep breath. Either he was more annoyed with her failure than she'd thought or she'd completely missed the point.

"I tracked the wrong pair of Akatsuki at first," she hurried to explain. "That did actually end up putting me on the right path though. I even found the ones I was looking for and they would have helped too, but then their leader ordered them to stay away from Kiri."

She winced at the hard look Zabuza shot her and added a mumbled apology for letting him down and wasting his time. His eyes had fixed on her halfway through that flimsy report and his gaze had turned sharp the second she'd mentioned the Akatsuki, so Chikako opted to leave out the part were Itachi and Kisame had been supposed to kill her. It obviously hadn't happened, meaning there was no need to bring it up when he was already angry. Good thing the cut on her face had healed by now.

"You found them?"

"Yes."

"And they agreed to help?"

"Yes."

"But they're not helping, because their leader said they couldn't?"

"Still yes. Do you want me to write it down?"

"Brat," Zabuza smiled. It wasn't even one of the mean ones, which just confused Chikako even more. Was he or wasn't he annoyed with her?

"Yes?" She tried, a little more confident.

He smacked her upside the head. Tried to at least. What actually happened was that his palm impacted with a chakra barrier she hadn't even meant to form, and she just barely managed to keep her wakizashi from appearing in her hand. Chikako was still a little jumpy after that incident with Itachi. Her subconscious didn't seem to care that the Uchiha would have never attacked her if she hadn't surprised him. She would have ended up just as dead if she'd been even a fraction of a second slower.

On her way back from Frost Chikako had actually killed a rabbit by accident. Well, not by accident exactly, but without thinking about it first. She'd sensed it, known it was there and harmless, but when the animal had noticed her presence it had startled, suddenly jumping sideways and her first instinct had been to eliminate the threat. The very scary, innocent rabbit threat.

Apparently what she'd taken away from finding out that there was a point at which one could be simultaneously too stealthy and not stealthy enough, wasn't that she needed to make smarter decisions, but rather that the best defense was a good offense. After all, dead things couldn't kill her. Probably.

Zabuza raised an eyebrow at the way her finger's twitched, as if to grip the hilt of a weapon that wasn't there, but didn't comment. He wouldn't have a hard time figuring out what it meant, if he had to guess at all. Reactions like that were pretty common among shinobi that had spent some time in the field and fought in something other than friendly training matches.

"I can't decide whether to be proud of you for managing to find them or yell at you because you tried," he mused. She might explain at some point, but he wasn't going to force the issue. As a nukenin himself Zabuza no doubt kept at least one current Bingo Book around at all times, chances were he'd read one of those silly entries that declared her an insane killer. He wouldn't believe them of course, but where there was smoke the fire usually wasn't too far.

They'd both killed, and people had tried to kill both of them. Hell, they'd fought each other only two years ago. If she was jumpier now than she had been then, well that might just ensure she survived past a shinobi's average lifespan.

Chikako didn't know why she'd thought she could sneak up on Itachi, but that he'd still somehow know it was her and not someone trying to murder him. No matter how good of a ninja he was, he was still just a man and that particular lesson had been cheap at least. Nobody had died for her idiocy this time.

There were monsters in this world, but there were no gods. Everyone was fallible and everybody fell, eventually. There should be an easier way to learn these things, but for now she'd settle for the out Zabuza had offered.

"How is asking a friend for help worse than trying to kill a kage?"

"I actually have a plan. You just wandered around hoping to find the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow."

"Yes, the plan. Has it evolved to include how you're going to kill Yagura yet?" Chikako groused. "I mean the whole part where we make sure the civilians are save and lure him out of the village so that he doesn't destroy everything is all nice and thought out, but it seemed a little light on on the whole murdering a jinchuriki bit."

Zabuza glared at her, likely contemplating if he should try smacking her again.

"You'll break your hand," she warned, just in case. If he used his sword, shattering the barrier wouldn't be much of a problem, but bone was far more fragile.

When it looked like Zabuza might argue, Haku interjected, filling Chikako in on what had changed while she'd been gone.

Apparently there were several contingency plans, but they all ended with Yagura outside of the village and not a single one involved Itachi or Kisame. She was more than a little miffed by that. Even if he hadn't believed she could find them, Zabuza could have at least humored her with a best case scenario. Not only that, each an every one of those plans placed her with the Watari, either evacuating the civilians or keeping Kiri shinobi from interfering while Zabuza and a woman called Mei took on Yagura.

"Yeah, I don't think so."

Zabuza hadn't seemed very concerned when she'd started to glare at him after Haku had explained the actual plan and the first two contingencies, but in her anger she'd let go of her chakra. It had become habit for her to just keep it perfectly matched to the environment, thus ensuring that it couldn't be sensed. The only time she ever fully relinquished her hold on it was when she needed it to project killing intent. This particular situation required something different though, so Chikako took a page out of Kit's book and let the chakra whip around her in an angry storm to make her displeasure known. It was nothing more than a fancy temper tantrum if she was perfectly honest, but it felt good and made everyone around her snap to attention in a heartbeat.

"New Plan A," she declared. "I'm going to sneak in and cut Yagura's head off. If that fails for whatever reason I'll run like hell and you won't have to put on a show to get him to come outside."

It would have the added benefit of not relying on this Mei Terumi. All Chikako knew about the woman was that she had people inside of the village that were ready to help them fight, not even Zabuza trusted her though. According to the nukenin the kunoichi was powerful, with a kekkai genkai that allowed her to use both Boil and Lava Release. Incidentally that same kekkei genkei was also the perfect reason to oppose Yagura, seeing as his policy regarding people with Bloodline Limits ranged from shunning them to killing them.

For now their goals aligned, but who knew what Mei would decide once the current Mizukage was out of the way. Not that Zabuza seemed all that concerned with that particular problem.

"Absolutely not!" He declared loudly, as if volume was an argument.

Admittedly, she was kind of surprised that he'd let her finish more than half a sentence, but that didn't win him any points. Chikako was an assassin, and a good one at that. It was just plain stupid not to use her in the way she'd be most effective.

Of course the nukenin had about a million bullshit arguments for why she shouldn't go in alone, or at all really. The most ridiculous was probably when he told her she was just a genin, to which her answer had been a very eloquent 'What?' That was also when she realized that none of this was about coming up with the most effective tactic.

He placed her where he thought it was safest, just like he'd done with Haku when he'd attacked Team 7. If the boy had fought during that first confrontation Chikako probably wouldn't be alive today. The bridge builder certainly would have never survived. Instead he'd allowed Haku to watch things from a safe distance. It had all worked out in the end, but it hadn't been smart then and it wasn't now.

"I'm a goddamned shinobi!" Chikako finally shouted, when she had enough of his nonsense. "I've killed before I ever even joined Konoha's military, because a madman kidnapped me and kept me in an underground lab to experiment on. I don't know my biological parents, but my adoptive father is the head of Leaf's Torture & Interrogation division. I have been trained by him as well as Itachi Uchiha, Kakashi Hatake, numerous ANBU and you, to name only a few.

"I survived Orochimaru, the chunin exams, two invasions and spending weeks in a prison in Earth. I had to flee the only home I ever knew because one of my best friends had been ordered to assassinate me and later he died for me.

"I have fought, bled and killed as much as any other shinobi, so don't you fucking dare tell me I'm not good enough!"

"It's not about-" Zabuza started, but she cut him off with a look that was just a hair's breadth from being lethal.

"Yes, it is. Only an absolute moron would waste an advantage when he is already in the weaker position, so you must clearly be under the impression that I'll get myself killed without achieving anything useful first," she snarled. "Or is it only Haku and I that aren't allowed to die while you risk your life? Because that is not only idiotic, it's also hypocritical and makes me want to throw pointy things at you."

"I agree," Haku chimed in out of nowhere, taking both her and Zabuza off guard. "It would be safer for everyone to use Chikako and myself to our fullest potential. I do not believe that the Mizukage would be fooled by a fake Hunter Nin."

The argument didn't end there, but it had been a losing battle from the start and when Saburo made it clear that he would not lead his people into a fight if Zabuza wasn't willing to risk his, the nukenin finally gave up. He wanted them safe, but he wanted Kiri safe more. That wasn't to say he didn't use any opportunity to remind Chikako - and order Haku - to stay out of harms way and not take any unnecessary risks. It was both heartwarming to know how much the gruff man cared and incredibly annoying.

Zabuza came up with about a million variations for how things might go wrong while she snuck in and how best to get out. His worst fear wasn't even that she'd get caught. If nothing else he trusted in both her speed and stealth. She'd made the mistake of mentioning how fast Naruto healed though. There was a very real possibility that she'd reach Yagura only to find out that she couldn't cause enough damage to kill him with a single blow, which would not only expose her presence, but leave her well within his reach.

Zabuza almost called the whole thing off at that point. Not the coup, but her involvement in it. He only relented when Chikako vanished right in front of his eyes and pointed out that he couldn't actually keep her from going with him. That time she was smart enough to keep to herself that Itachi had noticed her anyway. She could hold her breath for a while if she had to.

The fact that she'd regenerated her eyes seemed to calm the nukenin a little as well. At least as much as it disturbed him. Well, the growing back her eyes part was okay, but that they turned completely black when she used her chakra sight apparently made her look exceptionally creepy, which was probably a compliment coming from the Demon of the Hidden Mist.

. . .

Zabuza gave all of them two days to pack up camp before it was time to head out. He also sent a bird towards Mei, so the woman had some advance warning.

Since Chikako had nothing to pack she experimented with the Summoning Tattoo instead. It did not allow her to call Kit while he wasn't in the Void, but she assumed he could sense the connection. So she spent a few hours figuring out how to cut off and recreate that chakra bond to send him a message in Morse Code.

All it said was 'go back', because even just that meant she had to create and cut the connection nineteen times. She wouldn't have minded if all she had to do was flare her chakra, but of course it wasn't that easy. She had to guide her chakra through the runes that belonged to Kit's part of the tattoo. If she did it too fast, too slow or in the wrong order the connection snapped and reset itself after a while, that could take up to five minutes though and the backlash gave her a headache.

They'd have to figure out a less annoying way to communicate. Which became especially apparent when Chikako learned that Kit didn't actually know Morse Code. He'd just gone back to the Void to find out what was going on.

When she summoned both him and his sister, Sune looked like the cat that ate the canary. Apparently Kit was usually better than her at everything except for genjutsu, but now she'd found another area in which she could beat him. Unlike her older brother, who refused to even try, it took Sune about fifteen minutes to memorize and use Morse Code. Something she was incidentally also willing to accept as payment for helping with the attack on Kiri.

Chikako thought Sune just needed an excuse not to demand an actual deal, but she wasn't about to complain. If the female kitsune feeling left out meant she could rely on three summons instead of two that was alright with her.

Unlike some people, the demons also had no problem with Chikako's plan to try and assassinate Yagura. All three enjoyed trickery, which was reflected in their abilities and would make them very useful in case anything went wrong.

If it came down to an all out fight, Sune and Jiro would go with the Watari and cause chaos, while trying to subdue the shinobi that were loyal to Yagura and getting the civilians out of harms way. Meanwhile Kit would stay with Chikako.

Unlike Jiro, who had an earth affinity that he didn't know how to use, Sune and Kit knew techniques that relied on their chakra nature, fire and lightning respectively. Sune's were mostly parlor tricks that she employed to make her genjutsu more believable. Kit on the other hand could use the lightning affinity to strengthen his claws in almost the same way that Chakra Flow strengthened weapons, meaning he could cut just about everything. He was also able to cause numbness or even temporary paralysis by essentially short circuiting an opponents nervous system, that required direct contact though. What Chikako was most interested in was his claim that he could call down lightning. That seemed like something that might come in handy when fighting someone who relied almost exclusively on Water Release ninjutsu.

. . .

When it was time Zabuza made them leave Wave in small groups, spread out over a whole day. That way, if anyone got caught it wouldn't blow the whole operation out of the water. Three or four unaffiliated shinobi wandering around was a little odd at worst. Thirty, plus three summons, was an entirely different matter.

It might not sound like much, but more than two thirds of them could be considered jonin, even without an official rank, and the rest were on par with mid to high-level chunin. In the shinobi world that was a small army. Especially when taking into account that this Mei woman Zabuza had on the inside had promised him another two dozen people. It wouldn't have been enough for Konoha, but Kiri's population was considerably smaller.

The first group that left was comprised of Zabuza, Haku, Chikako and Kit. They'd be the most suspicious if caught, but they were also the most stealthy. Not that that was any help in the end.

They'd traveled from Wave to Noodles and then used small, wooden boats to reach Kiri. Only, they never made it that far. The main island on which the Hidden Village was located was surrounded by hundreds of islets they could use to hide behind and stay out of sight. That got them within viewing distance.

At least it would have on a sunny day. They'd arrived in the middle of the night, which meant it was too dark to make out anything more than a few lights in the distance and those were blurred by the mist that seemed to constantly surround the village.

They'd only had to dodge a few patrols so far, which did not sit well with Chikako. The whole thing seemed too easy. She found out why when a massive amount of chakra exploded below them and shot upwards through the water.

"Move!" She shouted, grabbing Kit and pulling him backwards by the collar. Haku and Zabuza jumped to either side and only moments later their boat was ripped to shreds. Wooden splinters flying everywhere as an icy geyser shot into the sky.

A roar pushed over the ocean, deep and reverberating. It made the air in Chikako's lungs vibrate and her heart stop when she saw the creature it belonged to.

The Sanbi had risen from the bottom of the sea, like one of the monsters sailors liked to go on about. It's underside was red, leathery muscle that didn't look much weaker than the spiked, gray plates that covered it's head, arms and back. Behind it three long, vaguely shrimp-like tails swished, creating gusts of wind with each motion.

It was said that the Sanbi looked like a turtle, but this thing was neither slow nor did it's shell seem to be primarily for defensive purposes. Water ran down the plates, adding to the fog and filling the air with a briny scent.

The Tailed Beast opened it's mouth for another roar and it's chakra spread out into the sea below and the mist all around them.

"Shit," Chikako cursed. It was doing the same thing she'd done to compensate for her lack of sight. That meant it would know where everyone in contact with it's chakra was at all times. So much for stealth. "Kit, find the Watari, sent them around and directly into the village, then prepare that lightning you promised me."

He didn't argue or even acknowledge the command, just turned into a fox and ran.

"Plan D?" Haku asked. There was a soft smile on his lips and Chikako had the sudden urge to smack him. Plan D was the one in which she got caught before making it to Yagura. It involved Mei's people and the Watari, not just the three of them fighting the goddamned Sanbi on their own. That smile looked like a goodbye and the last time she'd seen it was on Sai's face, when he'd lain on the ground in front of her, blood spattering his pale skin and light fading from his eyes.

She wouldn't let Haku die here. Not today. He was too gentle, too kindhearted to end up in a watery grave on the bottom of the sea.

"Take him, find Mei," she told Zabuza. The nukenin looked like he was going to argue, but then dozens of fist-sized water bullets shot their way. Haku erected a wall of ice in front of them that shattered like glass and Chikako had to tackle him out of the way.

Neither of them got hit, but Zabuza wasn't as lucky. One of the projectiles had grazed him at the hip, tearing cloth, skin and flesh. He could walk, but he wouldn't be dodging any more of those. Chikako shot him a hard look. She was faster than all of them and he knew it. She could keep the Sanbi's attention on her, but there wouldn't be any point if there were no reinforcements.

The nukenin growled, nodded and then she was alone with a livid Tailed Beast. It's right eye was closed, but the left one, blood red and ringed by gold, was entirely focused on her as she let go of her chakra. Pale blue flames sprang into existence around her, like ghosts come to watch the show. They seemed to fascinate the monster and she let them dance until Haku and Zabuza were well out of range. Then Chikako ran, pushing into one Body Flicker after the next to circle around the Tailed Beast.

It's massive body didn't turn to follow, but one of it's tails was suddenly right in her path. She managed to jump, dodging it only to get blindsided by a second. Chikako had barely enough time to throw several chakra barriers in it's way. They all shattered on impact, but each slowed the tail down a little more, absorbing some of the force. When it hit it still broke a few of her ribs and pushed the air out of her lungs.

Chikako shot through the air, randomly sending out short spikes of chakra in hopes of breaking the waters surface tension before she impacted. Since she sank in instead of skipping over the ocean like a stone it must have worked. That didn't make her situation much better though, because now she was surrounded by black water on all sides with no sense of up or down.

She had no idea how long shed drifted, probably mere seconds, when another roar made the world vibrate. It came from somewhere to her left, so she turned that way and followed the sound. Moments later a massive, clawed hand tried to grab her out of the freezing sea and she pushed the Fox Fire at it. The flames didn't need oxygen to breathe, so they worked just fine underwater, but they eagerly latched on to their new target.

At the sudden pain the biju's hand pulled back so fast, that it created a rip current that dragged her upwards and out of the water. Chikako gasped for air. Her lungs were burning and so were the broken ribs.

The Sanbi's momentary distraction as the blue fire consumed it's energy, gave her enough time to fix her bones in place with chakra, so that they wouldn't pierce her lungs or impact her ability to move, but that didn't make them hurt any less, and once she lost control of the Fox Fire the Tailed Beast was even more enraged than it had been before.

It lifted both hands, then slammed them down onto the ocean's surface in a hammer blow. The shock wave spread outwards through both air and water. This time Chikako didn't get thrown around like a rag doll though. Her chakra control was perfect and allowed her to surf the resulting waves, meanwhile two angled chakra barriers deflected the harsh winds around her.

The Sanbi didn't immediately realize that it's attack had failed, giving her enough time to close the distance between them and scale it's back. Getting closer seemed counter-intuitive and every fiber of her being screamed that she was moving in the wrong direction as the beasts chakra pressed in on her, drowning the rest of the world out, but at least this way it couldn't smack her with it's tails again. Not without hitting itself anyway.

Chikako's wakisashi appeared in her right hand as she ran towards the Sanbi's head. There was no way she'd get through the plates, not even with Chakra Flow. She wasn't even willing to bet that she could cut the leathery, red skin. There was one weak spot in it's armor however.

As the Sanbi shook to throw her off and clawed at it's back, she jumped and rolled to dodge between it's fingers, using the spikes on it's shell to hide behind and jump of off. When she finally reached it's head, she vaulted over the odd protrusions that looked like a mixture of hair and horns, landing right in front of it's left eye.

Chikako pushed her wakizashi into the soft tissue and then ripped it upwards without warning. When the pain registered the Sanbi threw it's head back and she had to vanish her blade or risk losing it, as first inertia pressed her down and then momentum flung her sideways. The movements were so abrupt that she lost her hold. For a moment it seemed as if she hung in mid-air, wind rushing in her ears, and then massive teeth closed around her, cutting off what little light the moon had provided.

 _Eaten_ , she realized. The fucking thing had eaten her whole.

Chikako called her wakizashi back, turned around and pushed it into the beast's flesh, all soft and squishy on the inside. She was pretty sure the slime was already starting to dissolve her clothes though, so she coated them and her skin in a layer of chakra.

Outside her chakra sight wouldn't have been much help, what with all the energy in the mist, but in here it gave her a pretty good impression of her surroundings. If a Tailed Beast's anatomy was in any way similar to that of a human, it's heart would be in the upper part of it's rib cage somewhere. Then again, she wasn't entirely certain turtles had rib cages and this thing wasn't even really a turtle. When it came down to it biju were chakra constructs, their flesh formed by raw energy, so who knew which, if any, rules of physics and biology applied to them.

The more important question was how she'd get out of there without suffocating. Maybe it was safer if she searched for the lungs. Or even better, the maw. Was she already getting lightheaded? Low levels of oxygen would do that.

Chikako shook her heard, pulled out a kunai and used both it and her wakizashi like ice picks to climb up the Sanbi's esophagus, slimy flesh pushing at her from all sides. About thirty seconds later the beast's chakra surged and then her world turned into a spinning mess. By the time it finally stopped she was completely disoriented, had lost her kunai and barely held on to her sword.

Whatever had just happened, she blamed Zabuza. She was covered in the vile goo, her left side was probably black and blue by now and she was pretty sure she'd end up as a snack after all if she didn't get some fresh air soon.

Couldn't his dream have been to become the worlds best chef or something? That sounded safe and normal. Haku could have gathered herbs for him and Chikako could have hunted a few of those scary rabbits, and- Actually, that wasn't such a good idea either, she'd probably have ended up in the same situation because Tailed Beast flesh was some rare delicacy or something equally stupid. Why was she even thinking about this?

Air.

Yes, she needed some air.

Chikako shook her head again and started climbing once more. Thankfully it didn't take her too long to reach the Sanbi's throat. Just as she wanted to collapse though, the thing opened it's maw, heaved and threw her up together with a whole lot of slime and some other stuff she didn't want to think about. It smelled horrendously and made her gag.

She was pretty proud of herself that she'd reflexively used her chakra to remain on the ocean's surface though. She could bathe once everything stopped dancing and she was sure that she wouldn't drown.

"Oh, hi," Chikako said, smiling like an idiot when Kisame held a hand out to her.

"Get a grip kiddo, you aren't done yet," he told her and she frowned at him. He wasn't even supposed to be here. It was bad enough that Zabuza though he could order her around, she wouldn't even argue with hallucinations.

The swordman seemed to have different ideas though. He flicked her on the forehead, hard.

"Ouch," she complained, receiving a raised eyebrow in answer. Okay, maybe not a hallucination then. With that realization the rest of reality slowly trickled back in as well. She hadn't even noticed how narrow her focus had gotten, but it was obvious as the black receded to the edges of her vision and then vanished completely. Now she could hear and sense fighting though, feel the water shift under her feet. She must have deactivated her chakra sight at some point too.

Right. She was on a battlefield, no time to take a nap.

"What do you need?"

"Someone to get in close." Kisame gestured to where Haku and a woman with long, auburn hair tried to pin the Sanbi down. Mei, Chikako presumed, constantly created lava that hardened into stone within seconds. Neither it nor Haku's ice could hold the great beast for long though. Every time they managed to catch one of the arms or tails it ripped another one free. If that didn't work it curled up into a ball, spinning madly. Well, at least she now knew what that had been about.

"Momochi can crack the plates, but he isn't fast enough to hit anything important and I have to stay here to make sure we don't all get drowned," Kisame explained. Chikako had no idea what he was talking about until she noticed that it wasn't just the Sanbi's chakra saturating the sea anymore. His had spread out as well and the two were fighting to gain control over the water. That certainly explained why neither was using Water Release.

"Okay." Chikako shook her head, trying to clear the rest of the fog from her mind. "Where is Kit?"

"Who?" Kisame sounded confused, distracted even. She couldn't tell whether the moisture on his skin was sweat or if it was simply the mist clinging to him. The game of tug of war he played with the bijuu had to take quite a toll on him though, even with such massive chakra reserves at his disposal.

She didn't explain, already having found her kitsune through the bond. Chikako tugged on it twice, and when he tugged back she moved. Kit might have refused to learn Morse Code, but even he had to admit how useful simple signals could be.

He appeared at her side less than a minute later, back in the form of a little boy with fox ears and tails.

"You ready?"

"Yeah, but it won't be enough to kill that thing and it'll take all of my chakra."

"That's fine, thank you."

Chikako made her way over to Zabuza, while the kitsune used the Sanbi's distraction to get onto it's back. He'd only need a few seconds if the ball of coiled chakra in his system was any indication. It was too dark to tell what color the clouds overhead were, but it didn't matter. She could feel the static in the air, and as soon as she sensed Kit let go of his chakra she shouted for Zabuza to move away from the biju and close his eyes. That was all the warning she had time for, but that was all he needed. The chakra he used to stand on the water would be enough to isolate him against the electricity.

The kitsune's energy crackled and a moment later he poofed out of existence, leaving behind a strong positive charge. It connected to the negative charge at the bottom of the clouds fractions of a second later. Chikako didn't see the lightning strike, because she had turned her head away to avoid getting blinded by the bright light, but for a moment it turned night into day. Then she heard the thunderclap that followed in it's wake and the smell of burned flesh mixed with the sea's briny scent.

Zabuza moved as soon as the electricity had dissipated in the water, jumping onto the falling biju's head and driving his sword deep into the plates. Chikako was right on his heels, close enough to hear him cursing as the flesh healed around the steel almost immediately.

"Again," she ordered, laying her hands flat on either side of the wound.

He lifted the massive blade over his head and, with a roar, swung it downwards like the cleaver it was. It sunk into the biju's flesh hilt deep. The monster's chakra flowed in to heal the damage, but Chikako used her Fox Fire to burn it away.

"Keep doing that," she panted. If she wanted to direct the fire to consume every last bit of chakra headed for the wound she needed to stay in contact with it, otherwise it would burn wild and out of control. It hurt like a bitch, but on Zabuza's third swing blood spurted and didn't stop flowing, on the fourth the whole head plate cracked.

She stopped counting after that, too distracted by the pain that shot through her like thousands of tiny needles, to pay attention to anything but her task. Chikako was vaguely aware that the world started to shake at some point, but she still screamed in surprised when it suddenly dropped out form beneath her.

Strong arms caught her before she hit the water and then she watched as Zabuza cleaved a boy in two. He had wild, tawny hair that hung over his forehead on one side, nearly hiding one of his pink eyes. Below the left one a stitched scar ran down his face. His green poncho almost seemed to drown him and if Chikako hadn't know better she'd thought the Mizukage was younger than her. Had been younger, he was dead now.

Mei and Haku joined them a moment later. The former looked oddly forlorn, the expression reminded her of those the people in Konoha had worn after the Sandaime's funeral. What caught her attention was the boy by her side though. The right sleeve of Haku's green kimono was drenched in blood from shoulder to elbow. It hung empty, torn to shreds.

"What happened to your arm?" Chikako asked with a frown, unable to comprehend that it was missing.

Haku gave her that smile again, soft and a little sad.

"It will be fine," he assured her. His big brown eyes glistening in the moonlight. It took her a moment to realize that he was crying. She didn't understand that it wasn't because of his lost limb until the arms holding her shifted and a wet cough forced itself up her throat. With it came blood, but no pain.

When she tried to wriggle out of the hold to take a look at her side, Zabuza pushed her back by the shoulders. Chikako looked at his hands in confusion, then glanced up only to realize that Kisame had been the one to catch her. She should have known that. After all, Zabuza couldn't have killed Yagura if he'd had his arms full. She should have sensed it too.

Shit. Why didn't she sense anything?

"How b-" she asked, but another cough cut her off and she had to try again. "How bad?"

"There are bits of bone sticking out of your side," Kisame informed her. It sounded a little choked, but she couldn't turn her head enough to see his face and find out why. Every time she tried to move it even a little, the world started to spin, giving her vertigo.

She'd probably burned away the chakra holding her ribs in place, while she'd concentrated on keeping the Sanbi from healing itself. Fuck. Earlier she'd wanted the pain to stop, but now she really wished it would hurt so she could tell how extensive the damage was. Numbness was never good when it came to injuries.

"Don't look like that," she told Zabuza, when she noticed him starring at her side. It was a little hard to tell with blackness pressing in on her vision, but she knew what guilt looked like when she saw it. She'd seen it often enough on Kakashi's features when he visited the Memorial Stone.

"I'll live, just-" another cough. She felt something warm and wet dribbling down her lips and over her chin. "Jus' keep me from bleedin' out," Chikako slurred.

A coppery scent clung to the air and she was aware of how fuzzy everything had become, as if someone had put the world behind a veil and forgotten her on the other side. She could hear voices, but they sounded distant, too far away for her to make out the words.

. . .

Chikako woke up to shouting. She was on a soft bed in a small room with only one window. A black and red Akatsuki cloak covered her like a blanked. It smelled of saltwater, but was dry and warm, surprisingly soft too.

"Move!" Zabuza snarled, his voice muffled by the wooden door between them. She could sense Kisame, Haku and the Watari leader Saburo out there too. They were all gathered in front of her room and further away were dozens of unfamiliar chakra signatures.

"Fuck off Momochi," Kisame said. She could hear the grin in his tone. It probably looked as mean as it sounded. "Nobody's getting in there until she says otherwise."

The answer to that was quieter, but she though she heard Haku say the word 'coma'. Were they talking about her? Because she felt good, better than good actually. Healthy and rested, she was starving though and she really needed to pee.

Chikako swung her legs out of the bed, pulled the cloak around her to ward off Mist's humid air and walked over to the door. It opened inwards and Kisame, who had been leaning against the wood, stumbled when she pulled it towards her.

"What the- kiddo?"

"Is there food?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the baffled looks. "And a bathroom I can use?"

Zabuza's skin was pale and the bags under his eyes made him look a lot older than he was. The black shirt and trousers he wore didn't help his complexion any either, and the blue and white hat with the symbol for 'water' emblazoned on it seemed out of place on his head.

"You look like an idiot", Chikako informed him with a yawn and then Haku suddenly crushed her in a hug so tight she couldn't breathe.


	51. XII - So, how was your day?

**A/N:**

 _Peruna_

Thanks. This is the 'wtf happened while Chikako got eaten and spit out again?' chapter. At least the first half is. That should answer most questions I think.

I thought about ending the previous chapter without making it obvious that Chikako was fine, but that seemed really silly. As you said, we all know she is a human axolotl. I'm glad you liked the ending and the fight. Especially the fight, I rewrote that stupid thing twice, because the first two versions just wouldn't play nice (number one went too smoothly and number 2 was a mess with way too many people jumping around).

It's been a while since I've read DoS (almost half a year I think, gotta catch up with that). I don't know how that Sanbi fight went, but my calculator says that the chapters of Here Be Monster are on average only about 200 words longer than those of DoS. I think the main difference isn't the chapter length, but my bad habit of leaving out a lot of description.

It's not like I'd cut a fight into several pieces because of the chapter length anyway. I just stop writing whenever it feels like the next thing I want to say belongs into a different chapter (glad that I'm getting better at finding a good cut). I've never paid particular attention to the chapter length though and as a consequence the longest chapter has almost three times as many words as the shortest.

 _soapsopas_

Welcome back. When you say 'whos-with-who', do you mean relationships? Because I don't know where I'm going with those either. Lets pretend they evolve organically and then claim it was all planned in the end.

It's more like the mid-season finale, but I'm glad you liked it.

 _Kragh50_

Thanks. What happened to Kisame should become obvious in this chapter, so I'm not going to comment on that. As for Chikako, she didn't absorb anyone's chakra, she's just a little idiot that thinks she can get hit by a giant shrimp tail and end up with nothing more than a bruise.

 _Elise142_

Thanks. Itachi's whereabouts are ... well not explained, but mentioned in this chapter.

 _cassianaswindell123_

Aw, but what about poor Kit? He's going to get jealous if Kisame takes his place as the favorite.

 _Diehard gamer_

Thanks for the critique. When you say everything felt rushed, do you mean the chapter as a whole or just the fight? Also, if there is a really big/drawn-out fight, would you rather it be split into multiple chapters or would one long chapter be better?

Roroy

Thank you. Technically the yokai aren't really an addition. I just changed what exactly summons are. So just to clarify:

The only difference between say Jiro and Pakkun or Gamabunta, is that he doesn't belong to a family of summons that has it's own realm, and that he isn't bound by a contract.

The summoning tattoo Chikako received theoretically allows her to call on any of the unbound yokai. None of them have any obligation to help her though, unlike bound yokai (summons). And even if they do, as seen with Anwei, they aren't necessarily acting in good faith. That is why Chikako doesn't just summon random yokai, but the process itself costs no more or less than summoning a bound yokai would.

As for her bond to Kit. That is a summoning contract. It technically makes him a bound yokai, but in this particular case he is only bound to Chikako and the contract will be voided upon her death.

If you ignore the stipulation that Chikako has agreed to stay with Kit and Sune after her death (provided his assumption that she'll turn into a yokai and remain aware holds true), there is no difference between the contract she has with Kit and the contract Naruto has with the frogs. Ergo there should be no extra cost to that.

Her eyes have nothing to do with her summons. Those are because of Orochimaru's fuckery with her chakra (and may or may not result in more changes/consequences later on).

. . .

 **XII - So, how was your day?**

After her not-so-miraculous recovery - and nearly getting the life chocked out of her by Haku - Chikako spent an hour in the biggest, most luxurious bath she'd ever seen. The floor was heated, the towels were fluffy and big enough for three people and the tub had little jets that created water currents, strong enough to massage her back and shoulders.

It was heaven and only got better when Jiro and Sune climbed through one of the high windows, carrying two bags of food each. Apparently they'd been trying to use the new Mizukage's tub since the second they'd discovered it, but so far Haku had thrown them out every time, claiming they were being disrespectful.

Chikako didn't mind in the least, especially because the bribes they had brought were very tasty. They were also both eager to share what had happened while she'd slept, or rather been in a week-long coma as it turned out.

Kisame had practically set up camp right in front of her door and allowed no one but her summons in, which had led to frequent arguments with Zabuza, Haku and even Mei and Saburo, albeit for different reasons. Not that the sharkman had cared, he'd told all of them to fuck off and it seemed nobody wanted to get into an actual fight with him. No surprise there, after all he had proven that he could actually rival a freaking bijuu when it came to his chakra reserves and the control he had over that massive amount of energy.

Kit's claim that anything that didn't outright kill Chikako would heal eventually, had been backed up with a little more evidence as well, seeing as she was still alive and ostensibly fine. Not quite as well as she'd initially assumed, but most definitely still alive and without any permanent damage. If she put too much pressure on her left side she could tell that the bones hadn't completely healed yet, but otherwise there wasn't a single mark on her.

Of course she'd refused to play tag with Jiro and Sune anyway. Lying, sitting and walking around didn't hurt, but her ribs would probably snap again the moment anyone so much as poked them a little too hard. She was pretty sure she'd felt something shift when Haku had hugged her earlier. So, skin, muscle and lung tissue were fine, but the bones would likely need another week to heal completely.

Her own theory that yokai could in fact successfully use genjutsu on her had also been proven. While Jiro had puzzled the pieces of her rib cage back together so she wouldn't have to completely regrow the bones, Sune had used an illusion to keep her unconscious, which had turned into a mini coma. Apparently the demon's chakra really was similar enough to her own that her natural defense had no effect. She'd still have to ask Kit if that was how he, seemingly telepathically, communicated with her when in fox form, but that could wait. It was better if at least one of the kitsune remained in the Void at all times so they could do their job of herding new shades properly. Sune had earned some time outside of the weird dimension.

"-and then I jumped on his head and turned into a bucket!" Jiro said excitedly, waving around his paws and sloshing water everywhere. "He had no idea what was happening and ran straight into a wall."

"Pff, that was my illusion you second rate trickster," Sune sneered. She threw a cookie at his head. It bounced off his nose and landed in the water before he could catch it. Chikako took the soggy cookie away from him before Jiro tried to eat it anyway. it wouldn't taste good with soap on it and he'd just spit it out again.

The two yokai had been bickering for a while, both claiming they had been much more helpful than the other one during the attack on Kiri.

Chikako had told Sune about Obokeyokai and the stories of ghost children while they'd still been in Wave, so naturally she'd taken it as a challenge. The kitsune had spent all of her time using genjutsu to make people believe there were ghosts haunting the place, all kids of course. She hadn't stopped afterwards either, which meant Zabuza still got daily reports of people that heard crying, but couldn't find the source or that saw horribly mutilated children that disappeared as soon as they looked away for a moment.

Sune thought it was hilarious, but Chikako was pretty sure that the new Mizukage would drown her the second he found out. Right after he was done with Jiro, who had taken it upon himself to steal kitchen utensils as well as tableware and randomly distribute them all over the place.

During the attack on Kiri he had mostly just thrown the things at shinobi to distract and confuse them, or he'd transformed himself so that there was suddenly something in the way for them to stumble over or blind them. Now he was following Sune's example though and played tricks on the general population.

The two of them were a menace, but they were also cute and had taken care of Chikako for the past week, so she'd let them play a little longer. She hadn't seen any reports yet, but while their retelling of events sounded rather fun and innocent, she knew that they'd both been responsible for multiple injuries and likely deaths. Sune had turned several of the shinobi loyal to Yagura against each other with her illusions and Jiro's accuracy was good enough that a thrown pot or kitchen knife would have left a mark on his target.

When they were all fed and clean Chikako had half a mind to go back to bed, but unless she wanted to climb out of the window like her little demons, she'd have to walk through Zabuza's private quarters and the only way out of those was through his new office, meaning she'd have to talk to him first.

In Konoha and Suna the kage's office was completely separate from their home, but according to her snooping yokai, most people in Kiri lived in the same building they worked in.

Chikako sighed as she stepped out of the tub, toweled herself dry and put on the clothes Haku had provided for her. Apparently her old ones hadn't been salvageable, all drenched in blood, biju slime and with several punctures from when splinters of her bones had torn through the fabric. It wasn't like she'd really miss the things she'd salvaged from the prison in Earth though, unlike the Wushu uniform Gaara had given her when she'd left Suna.

As she put the clothes that Haku had brought on, it became immediately obvious that they were of the highest quality. The fabric fit like a glove, neither too loose nor too tight and it wasn't scratchy either. She pulled it in various directions, noting that it stretched to a point, but didn't rip and snapped back into place as soon as she let go. It seemed resistant to cuts as well and a short dip in the tub proved that the material let air through, but not water.

Chikako had only ever seen Kiri Hunter-nin, most in the green kimonos her quiet friend seemed to prefer himself, but she was pretty sure this was a modified version of the regular ANBU uniform. The black pants and sleeveless top looked exactly the same as the ones Zabuza wore, and so did the gray, striped leg and arm warmers that Chikako ignored. She didn't need them to help regulate her temperature and she wouldn't hide her tattoos. They were part of who she was, just like the necklace Shikamaru had gifted her. The only reason she kept the wakizashi she'd gotten from Kakashi in a pocket dimension rather than on her back or at her hip, was that it made the most tactical sense, otherwise she'd show that one off as well. Most people wouldn't recognize a Summoning Tattoo when they saw it, but there weren't all that many reasons for a shinobi to carry a sword.

Unlike Zabuza, Chikako did put on the gray flak jacket. The ones they wore in Earth had seemed like a joke to her, especially with the giant pouches in the front and back, but this one looked like it might actually be useful. It didn't have a neck-guard or special shoulder padding, but was inlayed with a material that was light and pliant, yet hardened on impact and, as far as she could tell, distributed the force evenly across it's surface. Whoever had designed that thing deserved a promotion.

The shoes were her favorite though. Proper boots with flexible soles, instead of the sandals most shinobi wore. She could have kissed Haku for that alone, and when she noticed that they too were made with that odd material that hardened on impact Chikako started to grin like an idiot. Maybe she should let herself get smacked around by Tailed Beasts more often.

The grin vanished the second she remembered that she wasn't the only one who had been hurt during that fight. Haku, unlike her, wouldn't be left without any scars. He'd lost his right arm. Because of a clumsy mistake he claimed, but Kisame had told how the Sanbi had torn it off. Mei had tried to catch the Tailed Beast on her own at first, dismissing Haku as nothing more than Zabuza's pet and ignoring his warning about how fast the Tailed Beast was.

It hadn't worked out very well. She'd initially managed to encase two tails in hardening lava because she'd taken the Sanbi by surprise, but then it had ripped itself free and almost crushed her in one of it's clawed hands. Haku had gotten there just in time to get her out of harms way, but hadn't quite managed to avoid the claws himself.

In the aftermath Terumi had cauterized the wound and because he'd perfected one-handed seals Haku had still been able to fight, but he'd never get the arm back. All because of the woman's arrogance, and he didn't even blame her.

Well, Chikako could resent Mei for both of them. Which was also why the first question she asked Zabuza when she entered his office was, "Want me to kill Terumi?"

"Really?" He groaned, putting his head in his hands. "You've been awake for less than two hours."

"Is that a yes?"

"No, now sit the fuck down and let me lecture you for getting eaten and almost dying," he growled at her. The Mizukage's new hat lay on his desk and the white cloak hung over the back of his chair. Easily visible even though he wasn't actually wearing them. Chikako also noted that the Kubikiribocho leaned against a shelf to his left, close enough to grab in less than a second.

"She just let you have the hat?" Chikako asked, both because she was curious and in an attempt to keep him from actually lecturing her.

Kisame and Haku stood by the door and Zabuza pointedly glanced from one to the other before he answered.

"Didn't really have a choice, did she?"

"So you trust her?"

"Fuck, no."

Yeah, Chikako hadn't thought so. Mei's people at the very least would be loyal to her and there were probably a number of shinobi that weren't happy with a former nukenin as Mizukage. Not to mention the ones that had actually liked Yagura. Couldn't be all that many, but then one was enough.

Zabuza was strong, but he wasn't a jinchuriki, which made him exponentially easier to kill. If Chikako used a Body Flicker and her chakra claws right now she could lay his throat open before anyone even realized that she'd moved at all. And then there were of course the more subtle methods of killing, poison for example. Something Kiri nin liked at least as much as those from Suna, probably even more.

Chikako didn't even have to look at Haku to know that the boy hadn't left his master's side for a second during the past week. He might not be a real Hunter-nin, but he knew how they operated and could think like them. He'd have come to the same conclusions as her. And so would Zabuza, otherwise he would have thrown at least Kisame out of the office when he told her everything he knew about Mei, what he planned to do now that he was kage, where potential problems lay and which factions he was worried about.

That Zabuza trusted her with all of these things wasn't surprising, considering that they were friends and she was part of the reason he now sat in this office. The sharkman was more like a distant acquaintance with uncertain loyalties and motives though. He didn't wear his Akatsuki cloak or the scratched out Kiri hitai-ate anymore, but neither had he put on a new headband or even a uniform. His clothing was simple, plain black and he wore no weapons or any kind of shinobi gear except for his sword.

Kisame shrugged when he noticed her scrutiny. "Waiting for your decision kiddo."

"What?"

"He means this," Zabuza told her, putting a Kiri hitai-ate down in front of her.

She starred at him, then at the four wavy lines that symbolized his home and back at him again. The offer was completely unexpected and she didn't even know why she hadn't seen this coming. If Chikako had become kage she would have offered Zabuza a place in her village as well.

"I can't take that," she said. It was almost a question, an apology. She wasn't loyal to Konoha, but she was loyal to her friends and most of them happened to be Leaf shinobi. If she took that hitai-ate Zabuza would become her kage and Kiri would become her home. That meant she'd either have to betray him by keeping secrets, or them by telling him everything she knew about Konoha and it's people. And if she didn't do either she might as well not join Kiri at all.

When the Sandaime Hokage had made her the offer of becoming a shinobi there hadn't been much of a choice. This was different though. If Chikako ever again chose to wear the symbol of a Hidden Village she wanted it to mean something. Not just a pretense of allegiance, but actual loyalty, no holding back, no secrets.

Zabuza didn't look disappointed. He'd made the offer, but he hadn't expected her to accept. His next words were another surprise though.

"Just keep the damn thing," he said when she tried to push it back towards him. "I don't care if you wear it, I mean it's not like you ever listen to me anyway, but as long as I'm Mizukage you're welcome in Kiri."

Chikako didn't cry. Her eyes watered a little because there was dirt in them and she had to rub it out, but she did not cry. She did however hit Kisame in the stomach on her way out when he told her not to be a baby. He complained in a rather dramatic and entirely fake manner that involved a lot of completely unnecessary limping.

Zabuza had offered him a place in Kiri a few days ago, in keeping with his policy to allow any nukenin that had left during Yagura's reign back into the village. The Hunter-nin had been called off for the time being and a new batch of Bingo Books would be printed before the end of the month.

Since Chikako had opted to remain independent, Wraith would receive an entry that marked her as an ally of Kiri, just like the one Kankuro had wrangled out of Suna's council. Everyone who was eligible to come back home would simply be removed from the new version of the book. Unless they committed any other crimes against the village they wouldn't be hunted, no matter whether they actually did return.

That was actually one of the few things Mei and Zabuza agreed on. The other was that Bloodline Limits should no longer be outlawed. They also both wanted to reform the shinobi academy and bring back the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, but their ideas on that front weren't exactly aligned. Especially when it came to the former.

Mei wanted to model the academy after Konoha's, prioritizing teamwork above all else and forming three man teams that would be trained by a jonin sensei. Something that was as much a political move as it was because she actually cared about the next generation. She also wanted to completely do away with the fight that was still part of the graduation exam, even though opponents weren't required to kill each other anymore. Instead her idea was to test students in the basic disciplines twice a year and make their scores public, so that potential senseis could choose which three students they wanted to train.

Zabuza on the other hand was of the opinion that one on one training as someone's apprentice or individual study would be best. He'd made the academy classes non-mandatory and opened them up to everyone. Over time he intended to add new courses for more advanced shinobi that would rotate depending on who was available to teach. In his short summary he'd only said that Mei hadn't been happy with that. Kisame had later informed her that the woman had actually gone on a tirade about why Zabuza was a fool for thinking young children were mature enough to not skip school when they didn't have to go.

He didn't give a shit how old his genin would be though, and he thought if they weren't mature enough to take all the courses they needed rather than just the cool ones, they weren't mature enough for the battlefield anyway.

Chikako had to say she agreed with Zabuza's stance, even though Mei's concept seemed more familiar. Shinobi, even fresh genin, were considered adults, be they six, thirteen or forty. Kakashi had graduated from the academy at five and been promoted to chunin at six. Granted, that had been during war time and as far as she knew no Konoha shinobi had ever graduated younger, but she didn't think age should be the defining factor.

If a thirteen year old didn't know how to handle confidential files and that leaving the village could result in death, then that person shouldn't be a shinobi. Likewise, if a seven year old understood these things and could fight, then Chikako didn't see why he or she would have to wait five to six more years before officially joining the military. It was a different matter if a child didn't want to graduate yet or even become a shinobi at all, but there was no reason to artificially hold someone back.

Zabuza's system meant that nobody who was ready would be forced to wait and nobody who wasn't would be forced to make a decision between graduating or giving up on becoming a shinobi.

There was also the graduation exam itself. What he planned on implementing reminded Chikako rather a lot of her chunin exam. Fighting, mind games, information gathering, simulated real world situations in which everything suddenly turned to shit, and no guarantee that you made it out alive. Anyone would be able to take the exam on their own, without needing the permission of a sensei or other authority figure though. Half of it was designed to be completed alone and for the other half teams would be created randomly.

That would ensure genin could fight and work in groups as well as on their own and that they actually knew what being a shinobi meant before they were sent out for the first time. Which was especially necessary because the next batch of rookies wouldn't start of with something as simple as yard work or babysitting as their first mission.

Yagura had already weakened his village and quite a few shinobi had died during the coup. There weren't nearly as many casualties as there could have been, but Mist needed to look strong, now more than ever. Their military was small and without allies to rely on they made an easy target until things stabilized.

Zabuza would have his hands full in the coming months, but lucky for him he didn't have to do it on his own. He could count on Haku and her. Even Mei - despite arguing about everything - hadn't disobeyed a single order so far either, and Kisame had promised to help out as required. There was also the Watari clan, whose members were very eager to prove themselves useful.

. . .

"Why didn't you take the hitai-ate?" Chikako asked her big, blue shadow as she walked through the village after the conversation in Zabuza's office. He seemed very determined to follow her around and ignored any and all other people that crossed their path. Unless they tried to get in her way, then he'd offer one of his saw blade smiles and put a hand on the handle of his sword. So far nobody had been stupid enough to see if he'd actually draw it.

"Well, how the hell am I supposed to leave with you if I'm a Kiri nin and you're not?"

She stopped short at his cheerful reply. The ocean was visible from almost everywhere in Kiri, sparkling blue water on the horizon. Right then Chikako was too busy starring at her companion to admire it though.

"Wait, were you actually waiting for my decision?"

"'Course I was kiddo," he frowned at her. "Why else would I have said that?"

"I thought that was a joke. Why the hell would you let me decide something like that for you? You barely even know me!"

He shrugged, looking over her head and out at the ocean.

"Itachi says you're family, that's good enough for me."

She stared at him some more, not sure what to say to that. Itachi had told her that Kisame was a good man and she would have taken his word for it even if she hadn't met the guy herself, but she wouldn't just make such a drastic change. Not unless-

"He asked you to keep an eye on me didn't he?"

"Look out for."

"What?"

"He asked me to look out for you. I'm no spy."

"Whatever," Chikako grumbled. "Where is he anyway? He can't just cast a genjutsu on a freaking biju and leave again without even saying hello."

This time Kisame was the one staring.

"What the hell are you talking about? He didn't come with me."

"I- What? No, I know what I sens-" Chikako started, only to realize that she hadn't actually sensed Itachi. She'd felt a genjutsu with characteristics that were specific to the Sharingan, but she'd never once felt Itachi, or any Uchiha for that matter.

"Kid?" Kisame asked, he seemed worried by her sudden silence, so she just thought out loud.

"Yagura was definitely under a genjutsu. I'm certain it was cast by a Sharingan-user, but I can't tell if it was Itachi. I mean I don't know why he would put the former Mizukage under a genjutsu in the first place if it wasn't to help with the fight, but Sasuke is the only other Uchiha I know and there is no way he could have done something like that. He told me that there was another Uchiha though. Actually, Itachi told him that and-" she frowned when Kisame held up a hand to stop her rambling.

"Madara," he said. "He isn't Akatsuki's leader, but he's involved somehow. Are you saying Yagura was controlled by a genjutsu the whole time?"

"I don't know. I didn't even notice at first because it was such a tiny trace of foreign chakra. It only became obvious when Zabuza and I were trying to kill the Sanbi. I remember being happy that Itachi was there as well, but I was kind of out of it at that point.

"I didn't actually sense Itachi though, just inferred his presence from the illusion and I'm certain now that that was already in place before the fight started. I would have definitely been able to tell if someone had used a genjutsu before the rest of you showed up, and I assume there was no surprise Uchiha visit while you were playing without me?

Kisame shook his head. He seemed angry, but there was also a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth in response to her last words.

"Fucking liars everywhere," he growled.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," the sharkman sighed, slowly relaxing his muscles one by one. "Just promise you won't lie to me kiddo? You don't wanna share something that's you're business, but don't make shit up."

"Okay, I can do that," Chikako agreed easily. She wasn't sure what exactly to do if he actually decided to play babysitter twenty-four seven, but honesty wasn't too much to ask. "So, Madara Uchiha? As in one of the people who founded Konoha more than half a century ago?"

"Doesn't look that old to me, but neither do the Zombie Twins."

"Who?"

"Hidan and Kakuzu, freaky fucks. One doesn't die and the other is stitched together like a rag rug."

"Wait, isn't Hidan ten years younger than you?"

"How the hell would you even know that?" Kisame grumbled and Chikako started laughing. She'd told Itachi and him about looking for them, but only the short version that glossed over any and all deaths involved and especially those of the Jashinists she'd come across in River and their devotion to Hidan. She rectified that now. If the sharkman was really going to stick around he should know what he was getting into.

"Well, at least your life isn't boring," he said when she was done. He actually seemed happy about that, which was a nice change from the worried looks she usually got.

. . .

A few days after she'd woken up Yatagarasu had arrived with a scroll. The crow was keeping his distance from Kisame most of the time, but frequently tried to steal the swordsman's food, which led to a few really odd chases through the village.

The scroll he'd brought was the one with Jiraiya's notes she'd been waiting for. Part one of many if the title was to be believed. Chikako got the distinct feeling the Sannin was trying to hit her over the head with so much boring theory that she'd give up. Little did he know that she'd already worked through the basics and could not only concentrate on all his little notes in the margins, but also understand how significant some of them were. For example the almost illegible scrawls that casually mentioned how a certain seal could hypothetically be modified to work with natural energy instead of the user's chakra.

"Problem?" Kisame asked, when he saw her features shift from anger, to glee and then annoyance. He was currently on the other side of the little room she'd first woken up in - and that they now shared because he'd only end up sleeping outside of her door otherwise. On his lap sat Samehada. The sword was unbound and he was petting it like one might a cat. Chikako couldn't decide whether that was more or less weird because the thing seemed to be sentient and actually purred every so often.

"Pretty sure Jiraiya is trying to wriggle out of our deal, but either he hasn't decided if he actually wants to risk pissing me off or he thinks I'm stupid."

"Why the hell would one of the Sannin be afraid of pissing you off kiddo?" Kisame grinned. "You're not that scary."

"I totally am," Chikako pouted, but it quickly turned into a mean smile. "Also, I'm friends with very mean and a few exceptionally annoying people."

Kisame's answer were an eye roll and a deep laugh. Humor in all it's forms seemed to be his default reaction to anything. It wasn't fake either, the man was just genuinely upbeat. Not in the same way as Naruto though. Her former teammate always saw a spark of goodness in people, no matter how horrible they seemed at first glance. The sharkman on the other hand just tried to enjoy whatever situation he found himself in instead. Where Naruto would have talked to Yagura in hopes of changing his mind, Kisame had trash talked the Sanbi to amuse himself. She wished she could have heard that, Haku's retelling had been seriously lacking in the sarcasm department.

Not that she couldn't listen to Kisame's remarks every day now. Chikako really enjoyed his attitude. It kept her from getting frustrated when her sealing experiments turned out to be colossal failures. What she liked even more about him though were his uncompromising honesty and the fact that he really seemed to have accepted her as family, simply because Itachi had told him she was.

Kisame never took shit from her and he called her out the second she was being unreasonable or pushed herself too hard during research and training. She'd managed to rebreak her ribs anyway during their first sparring match, something he made sure to remind her of every chance he got. He'd bicker with her and generally behave like a rude asshole half of the time, but if someone even looked at her sideways the big, blue guy was right there, ready to have her back - be that in a verbal confrontation or an actual fight. Good thing too, because it had become necessary more and more often with every day they spent in Kiri.

At first people had been pretty tolerant. Even among the ones that didn't like Zabuza there were only very few that would have preferred Yagura remain Mizukage. Kisame and Chikako staying in the village was fine with them because they'd helped free their home.

As time passed though, some grew resentful or suspicious. Neither her nor the sharkman wore a hitai-ate, yet Zabuza frequently had Chikako relay his orders, which at this point automatically included Kisame.

Usually when someone didn't want to play nice Chikako took a step back, as not to strain her ribs, and let Kisame handle matters. The sharkman would then either scare his victim into compliance, or beat them up a little and drag them in front of the Mizukage for punishment if they were especially stupid.

The whole thing would probably be less of a problem if someone else was delivering the orders, but the only people Zabuza really trusted were Chikako and Haku. Two children, and not only that, since Haku rarely ever argued with Zabuza and even then only about his safety, the Mizukage tended to bounce ideas of off Chikako instead. He'd include Mei, Saburo or some of the higher ranking jonin in some of his decisions, but he always talked to Chikako first. He didn't necessarily listen to anything she said, yet she'd somehow become his adviser, something that did not sit well at all with most people. Especially the ones that thought she was trying to grab power for herself.

She was young and even worse, an outsider. One that had refused to join Kiri and wasn't even fighting her own fights as far as anyone could tell. They weren't wrong that she shouldn't be giving orders on her own, but so far she hadn't done that even once. Everything she'd ever told any of them to do had come directly from their kage. It pissed her off immensely that they thought her weak and doubted her word.

Chikako wasn't fool enough to risk breaking her ribs a third time though. Kisame was there and more than willing to put a few assholes in their place, so she let him handle matters while she recovered. A month after Yagura's death though, she felt confident that the bones were finally done knitting themselves back together.

"Where are we going?" Kisame asked when she deviated from their usual morning route, that would have taken them straight to Zabuza's office. He sounded only mildly curious, still half asleep. The swordsman was not a morning person.

"To teach some people a lesson."

"The fun kind I hope," he yawned.

Chikako shook her head at that comment, but she was smiling anyway. Kisame was likely to be the only one who would have fun today. He didn't ask for an actual explanation, more than happy to go with the flow and see what happened. Just as well, if he had any idea what she was going to do he might get it into his head to stop her. Zabuza would probably have a cow when he found out.

She'd have to worry about that later, right now Chikako needed to concentrate or things might turn ugly. Her feet took her past the mission office, down increasingly seedier alleys and directly to Hunter-nin Headquarters. It wasn't actually named that of course. Officially the Hunter-nin didn't have headquarters.

The building was just an old warehouse that looked abandoned from the outside, but Chikako had made it her business to know where everyone that might want Zabuza dead could be found. With her sensing abilities it was an easy thing to scout all the meeting spots and hidey holes. The chakra sight had even allowed her to see past ANBU masks and watch the elite train when they thought they were away from prying eyes.

None of the Hidden Villages ever openly stated how strong exactly there were, but the official consensus was that of the five major ones Kumo and Iwa had the strongest military. The former because of the quality of their shinobi and the latter because of the quantity. Then followed Konoha and lastly came Suna and Kiri.

From what Chikako had seen though, if Wind and Water were to start a war right now, there was no way Kiri would win. She knew Gaara and his techniques well enough to fight him and Kisame was simply strong enough to hold his own against the Kazekage, but neither of them were actually Kiri nin. The forces that Zabuza now commanded had lost their best and brightest during Yagura's reign, either to death or defection, and the Hunter-nin had suffered worst of all.

There were only eighteen people that actually had the training required to be part of the division. Everyone else had simply been forced into the role because Yagura had demanded that all traitors be found and executed. Those people had gone back to their actual jobs as soon as Zabuza had allowed them to.

Of the rest only about half had been Hunter-nin for more than a few months. They were the people that knew the protocols for defection best and also who would come after them if they ran, consequently their division had seen the most defectors. On top of that, the fact that they were usually sent out alone made it especially easy to simply not come back.

What was left was an odd mix of veterans stuck in their ways and rookies too new to have opinions. They met in the warehouse once a week to go over Bingo Books and train, but even then there were only small groups at best. Lone wolves, the lot of them.

Chikako had read and memorized their files, thinking that a bunch of trained assassins would be the greatest threat to Zabuza. Hunter-nin were the best of the best, ANBU's elite. At least they were supposed to be. This group was certainly deadly, but they hardly deserved the kind of respect and fear that their predecessors had earned.

She didn't knock on the door, merely walked into the warehouse and motioned for Kisame to close it behind them. Every last person in the room immediately turned to stare at the newcomers. There were a few angry looks and some sneers, but most of them wore either blank or slightly confused expressions. They also all focused on Kisame, completely dismissing Chikako as a threat.

The sharkman didn't say anything. He just stood there, grinning like a madman and waiting for the fun to begin.

"Who am I?" Chikako asked into the silence. Gaze's snapped to her, but it took a moment before someone actually answered.

"Some kid," a man scoffed. Ren Iwasaki, short, reddish-brown hair, not broad in the shoulders, but a lot stronger than he looked. Prefers mid to close range combat, primary weapons are two daggers. Not a rookie.

Chikako smiled at the man that was often referred to as the Angel of Death. An impressive name to be sure, but there was far too much information about his kills, which told her that he was neither as fast nor as stealthy as he should be.

She picked up a pebble form the ground and threw it at him, using a burst of chakra for extra speed. The little rock collided with the hitai-ate that covered his forehead, denting the metal and knocking him out cold. Nobody even reacted until he hit the ground.

"Lets try this again. Who am I?"

The next answer came from a woman with long, emerald hair. Lyn the Viper. She was fast and exceptionally skilled with poisons. There was a chokuto strapped to her hip, not dissimilar to the sword Sasuke carried.

"The Mizukage's adviser," she said, voice clear but laced with menace.

"Good. Anyone else?"

A young woman raised her hand. Rei Iwasaki, Ren's younger sister. Her nickname was the Dancer, because she specialized in infiltration, luring her targets in with shy smiles and sinuous movements before she killed them.

"Wraith," she stated when Chikako raised an eyebrow at her.

"Is that all you got?"

They fidgeted, or shuffled their feet, looked away or stoically tried to stare her down, but not a single one spoke.

"Who is Wraith? Where did she come from? What can she do?" Chikako prompted after two minutes had gone by in silence. At that another one finally found his voice. One of the rare shinobi that liked bows, Takehito Koyasu. His white hair was at least five shades lighter than his skin tone, which made him look quite exotic.

"There is no way to know," the rookie told her and then proceeded to give a number of reasons. For example the lack of a headband and the different styles of clothes she'd been seen in as well as the fact that no Village had declared her a missing-nin, apparently made it impossible to find out where she came from. No Bingo Book even mentioned her fighting style, at best declaring her dangerous.

It went on like that for a while. Chikako listened to the whole spiel, but behind her Kisame snickered as if he was having the best day ever, something that clearly made the Hunter-nin nervous.

"So let me summarize that," Chikako said with a bland smile. "You are Kiri's elite and all you know about your Mizukage's adviser, after a whole month of being allowed to use your time however you see fit, is that you know nothing?"

"Seems kinda incompetent to me," Kisame commented. She could hear the wide grin in his voice. She was also pretty sure it would vanish soon.

"Is that why you came here? To mock us?" Another man asked, Saizo Shingaki. At thirty he was the oldest of the Hunter-nin, only two years younger than Kisame. His file noted him as untrustworthy. Chikako rather thought that was because, while he had always been loyal to Kiri, he hadn't made a secret out of the fact that he disliked Yagura's policies.

"I wouldn't dare," Chikako told him, voice dripping with sarcasm. Then she added in a more serious tone, "I came here to give you a chance to kill me. Everyone gets one shot."

Kisame made a choking noise at that, but didn't move a muscle to interfere. That was exactly why she liked him so much. He might have tried to change her mind before they'd entered the warehouse, now that the decision was made though, he'd trust that she knew what she was doing.

Lyn wasn't nearly as supportive. The woman didn't even wait to see if Chikako was joking. The Viper threw a pair of senbon almost before she'd finished talking. The needles struck true and the woman smiled.

"I hadn't said go yet, but I guess I should have expected that," Chikako said with a mock frown. She politely kept standing in place and looking at the other kunoichi. It took a moment for Lyn to realize that her poison had no effect at all and the second her expression changed from a triumphant grin to confusion Chikako used a Body Flicker to appear right in front of her. She pressed the tip of a kunai into the woman's throat and cheerfully called, "Next!"

Lyn did not look happy, but she wasn't a sore looser and actually sat down to watch the rest of the show.

The next attack came from behind. Takehito had shot an arrow at her back, not even aiming for anything vital. Either he was a really bad shot or unwilling to risk her death. Chikako sidestepped, then turned on her heels, leaped forward and punched him in the solar plexus. He went to his knees wheezing. If she'd released chakra with that hit his lungs would have exploded.

"Okay, admittedly this is a little unfair, because none of you stand a chance," she mocked, "but you could at least try." And she really needed them to, because otherwise this was a waste of time. The whole point of this exercise was to prove that she was the better assassin, even when they had the advantage of being allowed to strike first.

Or at least when they thought they had the advantage. Thanks to her little round of ask and answer she knew that none of them were aware of her skill set. All of this was a set-up, entirely in Chikako's favor, because she wasn't suicidal.

If bluffing could convince a whole clan to back off and follow her lead, then playing to her strengths could damn well get these assholes to behave. At least she hoped it could, because if she made the same offer of letting people try to kill her to the regular ANBU or jonin she'd likely end up with her head caved in.

Chikako was about to throw out another insult when Saizo moved in to strike. He was good. Fast, silent, no warning, from above and behind her. Without being able to sense his chakra she wouldn't have known he was there. In fact, she was pretty sure a regular sensor wouldn't have been able to tell.

As it was however Chikako used her own stealth techniques, ostensibly vanishing into thin air. She ducked Saizo's blade, then put a kunai to his throat and became visible again. His eyes flared, but it was with admiration rather than resentment. He held both hands up, palms out and took a step back.

"Apologies Wraith-sama," he said with a bow. She nearly gaped at him, but didn't get a chance to contemplate the unexpected behavior further before the next Hunter-nin tried his luck.

It didn't take long to get through all of them. Assassinations, even mock ones, were a matter of seconds. The whole point was to kill the target with the first strike. None of her attackers gave up without trying, but after it became clear that she was faster than all of them, seemingly immune to poison and genjutsu and that they could neither detect her nor hide from her, the attempts were halfhearted at best.

Chikako wasn't only a good assassin, she was also very well suited to fighting other assassins. That didn't make her a well rounded shinobi, but the rest of Kiri didn't need to know that. Precisely why she'd chosen to go through with this little charade.

That the Hunter-nin were respected among all of Kiri's shinobi forces was a nice bonus. To many people perception was reality and defeating the elite as if they were nothing more than a bunch of rookies would make people perceive Wraith as strong. Hopefully worthy of respect as well, but she'd settle for being someone that shouldn't be fucked with.

That would afford her the necessary authority to actually help Zabuza and strengthen his position. And not having to convince everyone that taking orders from her wasn't, in fact, optional would give her enough time to concentrate on her sealing studies.

It was a win-win situation.

Really.


	52. XII - Chigiri no Sato

**A/N:**

 _soapsopas_

Thanks. I think you're plenty articulate. And yes, there is more, we still have all of Shippuden to get through after all.

 _Elise142 & cassianaswindell123_

Thank you both. There isn't much happening in this one, the prologue to the second half if you will, but I hope you'll like it anyway.

 _Kragh50_

It's more like Kisame is doing Itachi a favor. In canon Zetsu actually speculates whether Kisame would leave Akatsuki after Itachi's death, so I don't think him leaving the organization last chapter is too much of a stretch.

Don't take that S-rank listing from River too seriously. At that point there were mostly just rumors about Wraith with barely any facts to back them up. The only major thing she'd done was help Suna during the invasion of Wind and her involvement in that isn't common knowledge. Of course things are a little different now, after the Kiri coup, but we'll get to that later.

 _Guest_

Thank you.

 _sarahmchugs_

Thanks. You know I'm surprised how much I write as well. It's kinda getting in the way of my reading, but I guess that doesn't matter as long as it's fun.

 _Adam218_

Welcome and thank you very much for picking up this story and sharing your thoughts on it. It's always nice to read which parts people especially liked/disliked so I know what to improve and which areas of storytelling/writing to focus on.

. . .

 **XII - Chigiri no Sato**

Chikako sat atop a cliff, looking out at the sea. A mild wind blew the briny scent of the water in her face. It was still early morning, so the sun bathed the sky and the rolling waves in hues of red, purple and gold.

It made for a pretty picture if one ignored the fighting children on the shore. This was the first group of new graduates that had decided to take the exam. At least the ones that had made it to the final round, a simple knockout tournament. Their ages ranged from eight to seventeen. The oldest, Azusa - the Watari assassin with the coppery hair and green eyes, had been offered a field promotion to chunin after the coup. She'd insisted that she wanted to earn her rank like anyone else did though. It seemed silly to Chikako, but most of the Watari shared the girl's opinion.

Old or young, they'd all gone to the academy and chosen as many courses as their time allowed. Unlike Azusa, the other ones that were clearly of chunin level or above, had taken a separate test instead of graduating with the new genin though.

A test that Zabuza had forced Chikako to participate in, as punishment for telling the Hunter-nin to kill her. At least that had been his intention. She obviously hadn't gotten a rank, seeing as she wasn't a Kiri nin, but he'd made her fight just about anyone. As far as she could tell the point of that had been to show her how easily she could have died. What he hadn't anticipated was that Chikako had already seen every last one of the Watari in combat and knew their techniques.

Unlike with the Hunter-nin or that demonstration in Bird, she hadn't gotten out unscathed, but she'd won all of her fights. By the end she was covered in blood and grime, with several broken bones, but grinning from ear to ear. He hadn't expected her to. That disgruntled expression when he had to congratulate her in front of the whole village, paired with the right to gloat, were worth the nearly three weeks she had to spend in bed recovering afterwards.

If Zabuza pitted her against the same people today she might even beat them without receiving so much as a scratch. Maybe.

That little, almost illegible comment Jiraiya had left in the margins of the first set of notes he'd sent her? The one about adapting a seal to use natural chakra? It had to be the most brilliant thing Chikako had ever read.

As far as she knew the Sannin had never done anything with that idea, but she had.

Chikako wasn't a sealing master by any means. Just as with her fighting style, she'd opted to become a specialist rather than a jack of all trades. In the case of juinjutsu that mean barrier seals. She could slap them in place with a touch and they were entirely fueled by natural energy, meaning she only lost as much chakra as creating the initial seal took.

The whole process was a little tricky. Most seals required a minimum of three corners to form a barrier, and both keeping them stable until then and forming the next seal required a lot of concentration. It was also best if the properties of the barrier were tailored to what it was supposed to block. A process that took more time and, while considerably stronger, was more prone to leaving loopholes. Of course in the case of an emergency she could always just slap a very generic seal onto her regular chakra barriers to strengthen them.

Something that became necessary only a few seconds after she'd though about it.

Chikako body flickered to the beach below, placing herself right in the path of a massive wave and using a barrier to shield the children. The water smashed into her shield with enough force that it would have broken bones. The barrier merely glowed pale blue though, as the energy spread out across it's surface.

"Really?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Kisame grinned at her. He stood waist deep in the water, already forming the seals for another wave.

He'd been supposed to provide distractions while the kids fought, not kill them. The sharkman tended to be a little overenthusiastic with his help these days. Staying in Kiri bored him to no end, because since Chikako had proven that she wasn't just some kid, there hadn't been a lot of trouble for her, and thus no excitement for him.

That Zabuza still might be assassinated any day was apparently not relevant at all to the other swordsman. She wasn't even sure that the two had spoken a single word to each other during the past two months. The Mizukage mostly ignored Chikako's self proclaimed bodyguard and Kisame only talked to her, her summons, the pretty, blond woman that owned his favorite bar and the rowdy customers he threw out on their asses night after night.

So far he'd left the village three times on his own to meet with Itachi, but otherwise he mostly just trained, drank and read books. If anything official or potentially dangerous was going on Kisame was usually somewhere close to Chikako, but he'd given up following her around like a lost puppy. It wasn't particularly interesting and she clearly didn't need the protection.

After she'd beaten the Hunter-nin in private and then the Watari in public most people had accepted her as a sort of honorary Kiri shinobi. That didn't mean they all liked her, but her orders were followed and nobody tried to give her shit just because they were bored.

Kisame and her did still share that same tiny room though. Not that it felt like it. Most days he only got back from the bar when it was almost time for her to get up again. She'd never seen him drunk, but he usually smelled as if he'd bathed in booze. Chikako rather suspected he'd picked up people watching as a hobby due to general boredom.

She was busy most days and even though they spent at least an hour together every day, she didn't have much time for Kisame otherwise. He also had the tendency of scaring people off with his special brand of friendliness, that involved too many sharp teeth and hard truths for most. He wasn't an outcast by any means, but one could easily become lonely if everyone kept a respectful distance.

Which was why Chikako made sure Jiro and Sune were around to be brats and keep the sharkman entertained. That also had the, completely coincidental, side effect of keeping them out of her hair while she worked.

Saizo, the oldest of the Hunter-nin, had asked her to train with them a while back. Almost half a year now. A week after that Chikako had introduced a little game. The Game, thanks to Jiro's and Sune's propaganda.

Every Monday morning each of the Hunter-nin present in the village received a token in the form of a flat, white stone. On it was the name of another Hunter-nin. Their goal was to mock assassinate their target and steal their token without getting noticed by Jiro or Sune. Then they went after the next target and so on until only one was left.

Points were awarded for speed, number of kills and detecting the two summons. Besides the Hunter-nin any shinobi was allowed to join the game, but they didn't have to follow any of the rules. That way, there was always room for something unexpected to happen. Then at the end of the month it was everyone against Chikako for one full day.

Kisame usually used that last game as an excuse to flood the streets, or more specifically Zabuza's office. Chikako was pretty sure he only did that because it gave him a reason to fight Momochi. Except for her, the Mizukage was the only person in the whole village that was willing to spar with him. Well, and Mei, but he avoided her like the plague, because the woman kept trying to convince him that he should track down the rest of Kiri's legendary swords.

One of her people, Chojuro, had the Hiramekarei. That meant three of the blades were in Kiri and four were still missing. Mei wanted to get them by whatever means necessary, whereas Zabuza was still waiting for the other swordsmen to come home on their own and Kisame wanted nothing to do with the whole thing.

For her part Chikako still acted chilly whenever she came in contact with Terumi, but she didn't distrust her anymore, at least not when it came to the woman's ambition to become Mizukage. Mei was genuinely sorry for how Haku had gotten hurt and the two of them had actually become good friends over time.

By now Chikako's behavior towards the other kunoichi was more habit than anything else. Sometimes the only reason they argued during meetings with Zabuza was because it drove the man nuts. He'd ask something really inane, like would they rather something start at seven or eight in the morning. Mei would chose one option, Chikako the other and then they'd come up with the most ridiculous reasons for why their completely arbitrary choice was obviously superior. If he felt especially bored Kisame - who wasn't actually allowed in those meetings, but just like Chikako and Mei, never got thrown out - joined in as well.

At one point Zabuza had left his own office, declaring that Haku was in charge for the rest of the day. It had been surprisingly interesting to see which people thought they could bully the quiet boy into agreeing with them, only to receive a very polite, very sharply worded verbal beating. Haku would never, ever knowingly do anything that went against his master's wishes, unless it was to protect Zabuza from himself.

Something Kisame knew very well, but the rest of Kiri was apparently ignorant of. Or rather had been. The sharkman had lured dozens of people into the Mizukage's office to talk to Haku that day. Right up until he himself had received a lecture about disrupting the government, at which point he'd decided it was safer to hide in the room he shared with Chikako.

Life in Kiri wasn't always fun and games though. There had been four attempts to assassinate Zabuza. None came even close to succeeding, but that several people had tried was worrisome enough.

The man was a good leader. Rough around the edges, but fair and down to earth. He'd gone through the whole system, from student to ANBU, to missing-nin to kage. He'd seen the best and worst of his village and genuinely cared about all of it's people.

There were some though to whom none of these things mattered. They saw a village weakened by tyranny, then a coup, and divided by clashing opinions. They saw their chance to grab power.

The quality of Kiri's shinobi had gone up quite a bit since Zabuza had taken over, but less than six months wasn't enough time to undo years worth of damage. Even now there were still people coming back, alone or in small groups, which made keeping an eye on everyone especially difficult. Every newcomer was potentially a threat, which was why either Chikako or Kisame had remained in the village at all times.

His trips to meet up with Itachi took a minimum of two weeks each, so he'd only gone out three times while she'd stayed back. She would have liked to see the Uchiha again, but didn't feel comfortable leaving for so long. Kisame was a lot stronger than her, but that wouldn't mean shit if he didn't know that Zabuza needed his help because an assassin had snuck past him.

So, instead of personally meeting with her friend, she used Yatagarasu like a messenger hawk. The crow seemed to enjoy his little trips, but he still made a fuss every time she gave him a letter. Apparently being a messenger was beneath him and before he could agree to do such menial work his ego needed stroking.

Chikako usually obliged the bird, more than used to difficult summons. Kisame on the other hand tended to just chase Yata down, wrap him in bandages and refuse to let him go until he complied. Likely the reason the swordsman now had to ask Chikako to send his letters for him.

In any case, the graduation exam was going well so far. Baring any last minute disasters, two thirds of the children that had entered would be promoted to genin today.

The exam wasn't exactly safe, which was by design, but that didn't mean Zabuza wanted unnecessary deaths. Chikako's job was mostly to make sure nobody died. She was pretty sure that not a single one of the participants had remained uninjured, but they were all still alive and in comparatively good condition.

There weren't any rules on how they had to fight their matches, but since examiners would call a fight as soon as one participant was in a situation they couldn't get out of, there was no need for lethal force. It certainly wasn't rewarded. In addition any and all poisons that might be used had to be registered beforehand, so that an antidote was on hand.

One kid had failed to follow that rule and been disqualified. The girl he had fought had only survived because Chikako had managed to burn the chakra out of her system before it could do too much damage, she'd be out of commission for weeks though. The boy would make a good poisoneer one day, provided Zabuza deemed he'd learned his lesson and let him out of the holding cell he currently resided in.

Other than that there hadn't been any problems though. Well, almost.

One of the examiners for this last tournament had fallen ill on short notice. So Chikako had asked Kisame to lend a hand. Something she'd regretted the second they'd reached the beach and he'd drenched everyone in sea water for no reason whatsoever.

Now he was just being ridiculous though.

Chikako moved her chakra barrier and angled it so that the next monster wave would roll over it, rather than smashing right into the thing. That way it wouldn't endanger anyone, but could still serve as a distraction when the mass of water flowed back into the ocean.

"Killjoy!" Kisame shouted, but even without turning back to him Chikako could hear the grin in his voice. He wouldn't back off until he'd torn her barrier down. It was always the same.

The bastard was cheating too. Instead of trying to overpower her shield with stronger attacks or finding a loophole in the seal to get through, he simply walked up and leaned his sword against the glowing barrier. Samehada made these odd purring sounds as it slurped down the chakra. The shield flickered out of existence a moment later and Chikako barely managed to throw up another one before the next wave hit.

There were still some definitive flaws with her design. Rather, she had some really good designs that specialized on certain aspects, but they just wouldn't work well together. For example the single seal she used to strengthen her regular chakra barrier was very fast and worked well against brute force, but as soon as the chakra got disrupted the thing became useless. Then there was the seal she'd specifically created to counter Samehada's chakra leeching. That one couldn't handle nearly as much force, but it regenerated very fast. The other problem was that setting it up required five seals and took ages.

Layering them was a nightmare as well, because if she used the minimum number of seals for each barrier they all had different shapes and sizes. Then there was the fact that she had to either draw the actual seals or hold her chakra in the correct shape for each one. Not to mention that some of the barriers interacted with each other, which could have interesting results.

By which she meant the only reason she hadn't suffocated herself when she'd noticed the effect for the first time, was that she'd passed out from the lack of oxygen, which had caused her chakra seals to dissolve, thereby destroying the barriers and allowing fresh air to reach her again.

It was Kisame's go to argument whenever anyone called him lazy. He figured the only reason she hadn't died was that she was too lazy to actually draw the seals in ink. That line of reasoning incidentally also worked really well to distract Zabuza.

Every time someone, meaning Kisame, brought it up Chikako could practically hear him think about supervised training. Of course the Mizukage knew better than to suggest she reveal her seals to anyone, so instead he clamped his mouth shut and glared at her.

"Try not to kill anyone," Chikako told Kisame when she felt Saizo approaching from the village. She poked the swordsman in the chest for good measure and he went to his knees with a dramatic gasp.

"How could you?" He whined. "I though we were friends. Friends!"

"I think you missed your calling," Saizo told him, appearing out of thin air at her side. His Body Flicker range was impressive, but he lacked the chakra control to perform the technique completely without waste. It didn't much matter in this particular case, seeing as he used the resulting chakra smoke to obscure his movements, but he still spent an hour every day, trying to perfect his Body Flicker.

"Did something happen?" Chikako asked. Outside of training Saizo usually didn't seek her out, unless he had orders to do so that was. He seemed to respect her a great deal, but they weren't friends.

"Mizukage-sama would like to see you after the exam has concluded Wraith-sama."

"Okay," she said, drawing the word out and raising an eyebrow. Saizo waited for a heartbeat, but when she didn't ask a question or gave him any orders he vanished again.

"What was that?" Kisame asked, still on his knees. "Weren't you supposed to give a report anyway?"

"Everyone who was involved, that means you too," she glared at him. "And don't think I can't sense the whirlpool you're creating underwater."

He grinned at her.

She was never again asking Kisame to help out when fragile rookies were involved. Ever.

. . .

Chikako and the other examiner's walked out of Zabuza's office an hour later. She wasn't surprised when he called her back. It got her attention though, when he waved for Kisame to stay behind as well.

"There have been rumors that Akatsuki has started to move," the Mizukage informed them. He never wore the robes or the hat, but they were always on display in his office. Haku had tried to convince him that he should carry something that symbolized his status. He'd disagreed of course, so the boy had made sure that the symbol for water just so happened to be on the back of every single shirt he owned.

"How sure are we about that?" Chikako asked, crossing her arms. Last they'd heard from Itachi there had been no plans to actively hunt any of the jinchuriki, but that had been a few weeks ago now.

"The information comes directly from your spy friend in Frost. According to him Iwa's Han and Taki's Fu have both gone missing. There is no official word on the matter, but it seems suspicious that the jinchuriki of two neighboring countries would just so happen to vanish from the public eye within days of each other."

"And he sent those notes directly to you?"

"That a problem?"

"I don't know," Chikako shrugged, which had Zabuza raising an eyebrow. "Gatsu wouldn't have done that unless it was on orders. I'm wondering what game Jiraiya is playing."

"Lets assume it's a warning given in good faith, for now."

"Why though?" Kisame piped in. He was leaning against the wall by the window, playing with the petals of a flower. A pretty indigo plant that had no doubt been placed there and was cared for by Haku. "Kiri doesn't have a jinchuriki anymore."

"Utakata," Chikako said, making Zabuza lean forward in interest.

"You found him?"

"Saburo did. He isn't ready to come in, but with the threat of Akatsuki hanging over his head he might change his mind. Question is if you want that kind of heat."

"He is one of ours," Zabuza said with a glare. "If he chooses to come home we will defend him."

Chikako gave him another shrug. It was his call and she didn't care either way. Whatever Akatsuki planned to do with all the Tailed Beasts, would have to wait until after the Sanbi resurrected, which could take years. So keeping Utakata out of their hands, while important, wasn't one of the concerns at the forefront of her mind at the moment.

There was also the matter of Kisame's ring. From what he'd told her, the thing played some role in the extraction of bijuu, but it wasn't actually necessary. There was, however, the fact to consider that Orochimaru had kept his ring after defecting and had never been replaced because of that, meaning Akatsuki now had only eight official members.

Kakuzu and Hidan - the Zombie Twins as Kisame liked to call them - the leader, who went by Pain, and his partner Konan as well as Deidara and Sasori - two people who apparently constantly argued about art - some odd plant-creature called Zetsu and of course Itachi.

Kisame didn't know a lot about the other members. Unsurprisingly they weren't exactly the sort of people that liked to share their backstories and reasons for joining an organization of S-ranked criminals. Well, except for Kakuzu and Hidan, whose motives were money and the opportunity to kill strong opponents, respectively. Deidara on the other hand seemed to have been forced into joining but Kisame had no idea why he stayed.

Thanks to the swordsman Kiri now had all of their descriptions and whatever he knew about their respective fighting styles. They also knew that Pain was the leader of Amegakure, where people referred to him as a god, and that that was Akatsuki's base of operations, but that the individual members also tended to have their own contacts and spies. Especially Kakuzu and Sasori. Kisame had never been particularly interested in these things though, so he couldn't share much more on the topic, other than that the organization as a whole barely ever met up and that members were mostly just in contact with their partner and the leader.

Itachi may or may not have given Konoha other details, Chikako still didn't know whose side he was on because he refused to talk about it, but she was pretty sure that no other village had more information on Akatsuki.

Which made it especially silly that some of them seemed to think the organization was operating out of Kiri. Not to mention that Kisame's presence in Mist wasn't even common knowledge. He wasn't hiding, but he barely left. The shinobi wouldn't give information like that away and the only civilians allowed inside the walls were those that lived in Kiri, everyone else had to conduct their business outside. They too knew better than to spread rumors about the ninja that protected them and Chikako wasn't even convinced that all of them knew who the sharkman was.

Either there were no spies in Mist, they were exceptionally bad at their job or the other villages simply picked the easiest target to blame. The fact that Zabuza had opted to keep the moniker Chigiri probably didn't help in that respect either. Not that Chikako thought he was wrong. In fact she'd advised him to do exactly that.

Kiri needed strength and the name Bloody Mist, despite it's negative connotations, spoke of exceptionally powerful shinobi. The village had received it because of Yagura's reign, but thanks to the leeway Zabuza had allowed her, Chikako, the Hunter-nin and a bunch of regular ANBU and jonin volunteers had given it new meaning.

Instead of going out and killing their own people, they had picked up bounties. About half of them for Lightning, because of how well they paid. The hunters appeared out of nowhere to deliver heads and carefully crafted reports, that were useful but left out any details Kiri would rather keep for later use.

Instead of going out on their own, as had been the norm, Chikako made sure that there were at least two people to every team. Sometimes it was because one was deadly and the other could track, or one was backup because the other was a good assassin, yet bad in open combat. There were plenty more reasons, but in the end they all came down to the fact that no single shinobi was perfect and having someone at your back just in case was always a strength.

One they made sure to keep a secret. When the heads were delivered it was, without fail, by a single ninja. Just because Kiri had discovered value in teamwork, didn't mean the rest of the world needed to be informed of that fact. After all, the only thing better than having an ally at your back, was having an ally at the opponents back.

They'd argued with her at first. Too inefficient, they didn't have the numbers to send two or three people after nukenin that weren't even necessarily jonin. They also quickly changed their tune when the first few groups got attacked and managed to eliminate their opponents without casualties or downtime due to injury.

Nukenin rarely ever went down quietly, but in addition to that Kiri had been perceived as unstable and weak right after the coup. It had made both the other villages and the missing-nin eager to test the waters. Having backup on bounty missions, even though they were often easily completed by a single person, had proved invaluable.

'With regards from Wraith,' had become their hunters greeting, seeing as it afforded them preferential treatment in several countries. The phrase had become so common in fact, that, even though she hadn't been to Lighting herself since handing in the Widowmaker's head, Kumo had added a Bingo Book entry for her that named her as and officially recognized bounty hunter.

By now Chigiri didn't mean that they slaughtered their own people until only the most powerful were left. It meant trackers and assassins second to none. Where Mist's executioners went blood flowed and the dusty stories of legendary hunters had once again started to circulate in the Elemental Nations. Something that made it incredibly hard for anyone to gauge Kiri's effective military strength.

The other villages might not trust them, but at least they saw Kiri as strong. Not to mention that the connection to Chikako, or rather Wraith, muddied the waters further. Mist had no official alliances, but Wraith was recognized by several nations and an ally of both Kiri and Suna.

Speaking of.

"How are negotiations with Gaara going?"

"That's the other reason I called you back," Zabuza said with a sour look on his face. "Sand's council is apparently vehemently against an alliance, but the Kazekage is willing to consider it. Provided you head to Suna as Kiri's ambassador."

"Sure," Kisame snickered. "Send the one shinobi that is not and has never been part of the village."

"That's not what bothers me," Zabuza growled at him, rubbing his forehead as if to ward off a headache. "As far as I'm concerned Chikako is a Kiri shinobi. The problem is that it paints a target on her back."

"You think the elders will come after me?"

"Or anyone else who doesn't want this alliance to happen."

"So what?" Kisame piped in again. "Kid can handle herself and I'll be there to-"

"No," Chikako cut him off. "One of us has to stay here."

"Aw, c'mon," he whined. "I'm getting cabin fever and nobody has tried to kill Momochi in almost two months now."

"Yeah, and me leaving for weeks will be a perfect opportunity. The Hunter-nin are almost back to their old glory, but with the strong focus we put on offense for all those bounty hunting missions, there wasn't a lot of time to teach them how to prevent assassinations.

"I mean seriously, I can't teach them most of the things that make it easy for me, because they simply don't have the ability to sense or control chakra well enough. And it's not like we can suddenly put a ten man personal guard on Zabuza."

"Sure we could," Kisame grinned. "It'll make him look like a pussy, but he'll be alive so who cares."

"Don't even start-"

"Shut it!" Zabuza cut both of them off before the argument could really start. "I'm the fucking Mizukage and this is my goddamned office, at least pretend you're listening to me once in a while."

. . .

"You're staying." Chikako glared at Kisame as soon as the the door to Zabuza's office closed behind them. He sighed, but didn't argue, merely complained a lot about how bossy she was. It wasn't like she could actually make him do anything though. No matter what he said about Zabuza or how much fun he had riling the other swordsman up, in the end he cared for his village and the new Mizukage was the best thing that had happened to Kiri since before Yagura had worn the hat. Maybe longer.

"I'll be fine," Chikako told him that evening, when for once they both went to bed at the same time. "I'll take Azusa and Saizo with me and it's not like I'm helpless."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just afraid Itachi will give me that disappointed look if you manage to get yourself killed after all."

He was only half-joking and Chikako knew exactly what he meant.

"The one where he doesn't say anything and just keeps looking at you as if he'd expected better, but isn't even angry that you couldn't live up to his expectations?"

"Yeah, that one," the sharkman agreed with a shudder that made his bed creak ominously.

She didn't sleep well that night, too busy dreaming up horror scenarios of what might happen in Kiri while she was gone. It was silly, really. She was just one shinobi among hundreds and her absence wouldn't herald the end of the world, but she couldn't help that feeling of dread in her stomach.


	53. XIII - Reaching Out

**A/N:**

 _Diehard gamer_

First of all, sorry for not responding to you comment on the previous chapter. I read it and even wrote an answer, but it landed in the wrong file ...

chapter 51:

The different POV thing is a problem with this story I've noticed a few times now. It is written in third person, but in the end it's always Chikako's point of view and, as limiting as that sometimes is, I don't want to deviate from it in the middle of the story.

chapter 52:

Thanks. Kiri was five months plus a few days, but I'm explicitly stating how much times has passed in total in this chapter just to be safe.

 _Peruna_

Afraid this one doesn't have much action either, unless you count vaguely described arguing.

Kisame being a sidekick likely feels weird because he isn't meant to be one. I just never got to explain his reasons beyond being asked by Itachi to keep an eye out for Chikako. I hope I can manage to squeeze that in at some point. Maybe in bits and pieces.

Again, thanks for letting me know about the post owl reference that slipped through. I was actually thinking about doves at the time, thought that didn't fit because they weren't used in the world of Naruto and then my brain somehow supplied that post owls would be a better idea ...

 _Elise142_

As of last Chapter it has been 2 years, 5months and a few days.

 _Kragh50_

She trained with all of the Hunter-nin and I don't think Konoha's shinobi would be too happy about that. If everything goes according to plan (which it already hasn't) that should come up within the next few chapters.

 _cassianaswindell123_

Maybe they should start a self-help group for overprotective people.

 _sarahmchugs_

I would never foreshadow anything, ever.

 _NightsBlackRose13_

Aw, why do you hate Jiro? He is cute and fluffy. No idea why anyone wouldn't like Kisame. I mean he is a big, blue shark-man-thing and seems like entertaining company.

 _Risika42tg_

Thank you.

 _InNeedOfTP_

Thanks. I'm pretty sure you can make anything seem like anything if you look at it from the right angle. Of course it's easier when you are an author and get to make all the rules instead of having to conform to reality.

. . .

 **XIII - Reaching Out**

"You gonna be okay?" Chikako asked, probably for the tenth time judging by Kisame's sour expression.

"Kid, I'm supposed to babysit you, not the other way around. Now get the fuck out of here."

"It's just-"

"Yes, yes, bad feeling. I know." The swordsman heaved a long suffering sigh. "You wanna know a secret? Your Mizukage buddy and I are grown ass men. We can take care of ourselves."

"Okay, yeah, fine, I get it."

Didn't mean she was any less nervous. She'd even gone through the trouble of inking barrier seals all over Zabuza's office and private quarters as well as Haku's room and the one she shared with Kisame. It had taken all morning, her wrist hurt something fierce, even with the accelerated healing, and the chakra drain had given her a headache. It wasn't even that creating the seals cost a lot of energy, but setting them up to use natural energy was incredibly tedious, required way too many tiny lines and squiggles and when that was done she had to make her chakra flow though them in a precise manner to connect with the natural energy.

Using chakra for the seals instead of ink would have been faster and she wouldn't have had to worry about drawing a line wrong without noticing, but then the things would have dissolved as soon as she got too far a way to keep them stable. She could only hold chakra in a semi-solid form within a few meters of her body, which limited the range of her seals and Fox Fire and was also the reason she barely used her chakra senbon anymore. There was just no point when the needle was gone before it hit and when someone was close enough she could just use her claws or sword to tear into them instead.

"The room-"

"No," Kisame cut her off again. The word wasn't loud, but his tone was firm and accompanied by a glare. "I was there when you warded the shit out of everything, remember? I was also there when you gave instructions to the Hunter-nin and ANBU and every other fucking shinobi that was unfortunate enough to cross your path. We. Will. Be. Fine. Now leave before I throw you out."

He'd do it too. The same way he'd dragged her away when she wanted to ward the fucking walls. As if she'd manage something like that in the few hours between dawn and midday. Not to mention that her barrier seals weren't meant to stretch that far, she didn't even know how that would affect their integrity.

Chikako didn't say goodbye, just turned on her heels and walked. She needed to stop fussing. Kisame was right, he was more than capable to take care of himself and so were Zabuza and Haku. She'd done all she could do and now it was time to leave. That nagging feeling in the back of her mind, insisting that she was missing something important, would just have to shut up and deal.

She waved over her shoulder and Azusa and Saizo appeared at her side. Officially the girl was just a genin and she certainly lacked Saizo's skills in open combat, but she was damned stealthy and fast to boot. Not to mention that she was a good liar and very observant. She'd make a good assassin or infiltrator. Zabuza was only waiting for her to feel comfortable enough in her abilities to take the chunin exam and then he'd offer her a place with the Hunter-nin or in the intelligence gathering division of ANBU.

That was actually why Chikako had chosen to take the kunoichi to Suna with her. She was good, but she lacked experience. The other was that Azusa had a fiery temper to match her red hair.

Saizo was an excellent shinobi, but he was very bad company. From the moment he'd accepted Chikako as a superior he hadn't spoken a single word to her unless it was to deliver messages or answer questions. He didn't offer opinions of his own volition and asking him only resulted in a tactical analysis. Not very useful when she was trying to decide what to eat for lunch and he listed the ingredients of various meals, how much energy they would provide and how long they would take to digest.

Sometimes she though he was making fun of her. His behavior reminded her of Sai, but where her friend had genuinely not understood that she'd asked for personal preferences and not scientific facts, Saizo merely ignored attempts to be friendly or at least not formal.

Jiro might have been able to crack his shell, but the tanuki had opted to stay in Kiri. To keep an eye on things, he'd claimed, but she was pretty sure that he simply enjoyed playing pranks without Sune there to interfere, while the kitsune and her brother were both in the Void - so Chikako could summon them if necessary.

. . .

They traveled from Water to Noodles via ship and then continued on land. Sneaking through Fire and River with two Kiri nin might not have been the most diplomatic move, but it was faster than trying to find a ship that got them anywhere near Suna. It wasn't like they were trying for an alliance with Konoha anyway, no matter how much Mei liked to push that idea.

If the alliance with Suna worked out it would likely come up again, but until then Zabuza was more than happy to ignore the Land of Fire. The fact that ROOT existed and that nobody seemed to know just how many strings Danzo could pull, was more than enough to make the Mizukage wary.

So, for now, the focus was on Wind. Zabuza had reached out to the Kazekage shortly after the coup, but communication had been slow. Kiri's position had still been week and after a failed invasion Suna had started and one they'd had to beat back, Gaara couldn't afford to openly support a nukenin kage.

Now, almost six months later, the politics hadn't changed, but Kiri's standing had. Their military strength had almost doubled with the reforms Zabuza had made to the academy, the training Chikako had done with the Hunter-nin and all the shinobi that had come back after Yagura's death.

Normally loosing a Tailed Beast would have been a hard blow, but the fact that the new Mizukage was the one who had killed it changed things. Only Mei, Haku, Kisame and Chikako knew that he couldn't have done it alone and none of them were going to share the details any time soon.

As far as anyone else was concerned the Deamon of the Hidden Mist had come home and that was that.

Since Wraith had been declared an ally of Kiri shortly after, it would be assumed that she'd played an important role, but that was all speculation. The facts were that Mist looked stronger than ever. And that Utakata, jinchuriki of the Rokubi, had kept a low profile also helped.

Kiri might not have a Tailed Beast in the village right now, but they did have a second jinchuriki and as long as nobody but them knew his loyalties or whereabouts he might as well be sitting right next to the Mizukage. Of course it would be better if he actually rejoined the village, but that wasn't her problem right now.

Chikako stopped her team as they neared one of Suna's border outposts. She signed for them to follow and then used a Body Flicker to reappear two meters in front of the guard that was posted outside. Close enough to be intimidating, far enough to easily avoid an attack.

Well, at least it would have been had this been a man. The lack of chakra was a rather obvious giveaway, but he played his role well, so she didn't say anything.

The man blinked at her, as if unable to comprehend that the spot she was now standing in had been empty less than a second earlier. When Saizo and Azusa appeared at her back a moment later, he startled violently, taking a step backwards and drawing a kunai. The motion was ridiculously slow and Chikako raised an eyebrow as his gaze flickered between their faces, her tattoos and the hitai-ate of her companions. Impressive control over the facial features, but she rather suspected that fast motions would look jerky at best.

"I believe you are expecting us?" She prompted after a while. She contemplated letting him know just how many times they could have killed him, had that been the plan, but she didn't think that would make a human any less nervous.

"I- I-" he stuttered, then cleared his throat and straightened his back. "Wraith, yes, please follow me." There was an odd squeaky quality to his voice

Inside the building were two more guards, a man and a woman that both looked half-asleep. They were too busy playing a game of cards to acknowledge the newcomers and didn't even look up as the nervous guy walked into a desk.

Chikako glanced at her two companions. Saizo's face was the same neutral mask as always, but Azusa wore an expression that clearly, if subtly, communicated contempt. The girl merely had worse control of her mimic though. The Hunter-nin might not show any signs of what he thought outwardly, but his chakra was almost roiling with disgust and anger. Either because he thought these guards incompetent and therefore bad allies or he felt dismissed, which was probably the worst insult to many shinobi.

Stupid in her opinion. After all, why complain if the prey willingly presents it's back?

'Look - again,' Chikako tapped against her right thigh. A simply Kiri code, because Azusa didn't have the clearance for more.

"No cheating!" The Suna kunoichi suddenly shouted, flipping over the table. The man jumped out of the way as cards flew everywhere, hidden among them a volley of senbon. At the same time the nervous guard vaulted behind a desk to their left and threw a smoke bomb into the room.

"Stand down," Chikako drawled, making both of her minions freeze mid-motion. Lucky for them or they would have collided with the chakra barrier she'd thrown up. Then she turned to the right, where a lumpy sack covered in bandages was leaned against the wall. "Very cute."

Nothing happened for a moment, everyone seemingly frozen in place.

"What-" Azusa started, but got interrupted as the sack burst apart to reveal Kankuro. Black clothes and face-paint, but with a hood instead of his usual cat-eared hat. The Suna hitai-ate was bound around his upper, left arm, but otherwise he looked much the same as the last time she'd seen him.

"You're no fun" he complained, while the three guards creaked, joints popping out of place and skin melting off until only wood and metal remained.

"Wouldn't want your toys to get damaged. You always get cranky when you have to repair them."

Kankuro shook his head at her and made a complicated motion with his fingers, that resulted in all three puppets moving at once. They clicked and their wires made strangled sounds as limbs split apart to reveal weapons. Some spun like drills or rotated like windmills, others shot forward and a few were simply pointy. No matter how deadly they looked though, every last one stopped exactly thirty centimeters in front of Chikako, clinking to the ground, bending or even impacting with so much force that the connected parts broke. Wood splintered, metal screeched and parts flew around.

"Really?" She asked when Kankuro started to curse like a sailor. Both of her companions bristled at the attack, but just as she'd ordered, neither had moved. "Anything else you feel like destroying or can we go now?"

He frowned at her, crouching down to inspect what was left of his humanoid puppets.

"That was almost twice as much force as what Gaara used when you fought him. I strengthened the wood and metal, made sure the points of impact were small and spread out for the maximum amount of stress on your barrier," he trailed off, mumbling under his breath as he picked out parts that might be salvageable. Chikako watched him gnaw on his lower lip and crawl around on the ground for a while before she grabbed a wooden finger and threw it at his head. He absentmindedly fished it out of the air without even looking, but then stood up to face her.

"I use a barrier seal to strengthen the chakra barrier. It distributes the force evenly over the whole surface and redirects it into the surroundings. Creating the barrier and fusing it with the seal is almost instantaneous. I can't tell you how much force it can withstand, because so far I haven't been able to break it, but I bet Gaara could easily do it. There is also a delay when distributing the energy of the impact, meaning the faster it is the less force is required. The barrier doesn't bend at all, so if you get through at one point the whole thing shatters like glass.

"Your tactic of using several weapons was actually to my advantage, seeing as it made the distribution easier. So for the next time, use a single weapon, concentrate as much force as you can on the smallest area possible and do it fast. Preferably in the center, because with this particular design that's where the delay for redistributing the impact energy is greatest."

Saizo's breath hitched at the explanation and Azusa's jaw dropped. It wasn't that either of them understood how much chakra doing something like that would cost normally or how complicated it was to use natural energy for the process instead. They were merely astonished that she would share how a technique worked with a shinobi from a different village, one that had attacked them no less.

Not that it mattered, seeing as everyone in the room was unlikely to want to use that information against her and couldn't possibly hit harder than a determined Kisame. And it wasn't as if she'd told them about the key weakness either, namely that simply disrupting the barrier's chakra was enough to make it collapse. If what she'd shared got out, at worst it wouldn't help anyone who wouldn't have been able to break the barrier anyway and at best it would direct their focus away from the weakness and make them concentrate on trying to overcome it with force.

Fuck. That was definitely manipulation. And she hadn't even thought about it beforehand.

"Aw, hell," Kankuro groaned, completely ignoring them as he waved Chikako forward and into a short hug. She went with a smile, but felt unexpectedly guilty, not guilty enough to tell him about the real weakness of her technique though. "How am I supposed to get through that? I bet Temari that I could and now she'll make me do the dishes for the rest of the month."

Chikako raised an eyebrow at him. "That's three more days. Two if we don't hurry."

"I know! My hand's will end up looking like raisins. I won't be able to handle small tools to fix this mess. It's horrible." He went on for a little while longer, but then broke out into a wide grin when he noticed Azusa's disbelieving expression and Chikako's annoyance. "Okay, okay I'm kidding. We didn't think you'd arrive for another week or so. Otherwise I would have had a few more puppets ready here. Put on a real show, you know?"

. . .

Kankuro led them the rest of the way towards Suna. A surprisingly quiet journey.

He'd started to fill Chikako in on what she'd missed, but often glossed over details or cut himself off abruptly to avoid sharing too much information with the two Kiri nin. Something that annoyed both of them a great deal.

Azusa had snapped at him after about two hours. He hadn't said a word since, but noticeably picked up the speed. Then, after they'd reached the village, he'd taken the first chance that presented itself to offload the Kiri nin with someone that was supposed to show them around.

Chikako had used a Hunter-nin code that time to sign orders to Saizo in the expectation that he'd inform Azusa. Short and crude, to avoid detection, 'don't - wander' and 'follow - orders'.

They might get suspicious, thinking that Chikako wanted them to blindly trust Suna, but they'd do as told. She could always explain later, that the Kazekage would most likely keep an eye on them. Or sand. Or both, really. She'd seen him use a sand eye before.

No need to make this alliance any more complicated than it needed to be. She trusted Gaara and Zabuza. Neither kage was likely to stab the other int he back, now they only needed to learn to trust each other. She wasn't about to let the natural mistrust and paranoia that came with shinobi life get in the way of that.

"Are they going to behave?" Temari asked cautiously, left hand playing with the crimson sash that held her high-slit, black kimono in place. She'd joined them shortly after they'd entered the village, happy to note that Kankuro had miserably failed and lost their bet, but rather disgruntled that her reward would only last a few days because of bad wording. The loser had to wash dishes for the month, not a month. Kit would have had a field day with that.

"Yes," Chikako told her, not even trying to play games.

"No offense, but Chigiri's reputation isn't exactly," the blond trailed off, apparently unsure what she could say without offending. Usually Temari wasn't one to mince words, but it seemed that she wanted this alliance to work out despite her wariness.

"Trustworthy? Reliable? Stable? Friendly?" Chikako offered cheerfully. "Have you read one of my Bingo Book entries lately? Apparently I'm a mentally unstable, psychopathic mass murderer with strong sadistic tendencies."

"Yeah, but that's deliberate to make you seem dangerous," Kankuro frowned and Chikako shook her head.

"Only in part. By now I am actually dangerous, which leads to quite outlandish things, like that S-rank Tani has marked me with. It works in my favor, since it comes without a bounty, but that doesn't make it any more true."

"Meaning Kiri nin aren't actually as deadly as they seem?" Temari asked with an oddly hopeful note in her voice that made Chikako laugh.

"Oh no, they're deadly alright, we've made sure of that. Best assassins you'll find in any village.

"What I'm trying to say is that they won't stab you in the back. Zabuza values loyalty above all else and he knows better than to think the world is just black and white. If you let it, this alliance can be about friendship rather than convenience."

"Shouldn't you save the sales pitch for me?" Gaara asked in an amused tone of voice. He had appeared at their backs only moments earlier, materializing out of a cloud of sand. Something that neither of his siblings had noticed, judging by their simultaneous startled yelps.

Gaara offered them a tiny smile and Chikako was glad to note that they were annoyed, but not even remotely afraid of him.

"I didn't think you needed convincing Panda Eyes," she grinned. "Also don't think that argument is gonna go over well in front of the elders. I hear they are being cranky old coots."

"I wish it was that simple," the Kazekage sighed. Just like Zabuza, he wasn't wearing either hat or cloak. Instead his usual black clothes had made way for a long-sleeved, dark red shirt and trousers. Over that he wore one of Suna's typical flak jackets in that odd hue somewhere between yellow olive and gray. The gourd on his back hadn't changed though.

. . .

The meeting with the council and the elders went exactly as well as Gaara's comment had suggested. It didn't matter what she said, the fools were dead set against an alliance with Kiri. They barely tolerated the one they had with Konoha and even that only because it had been part of their unconditional surrender after the failed invasion.

The two elders Chiyo and her brother Ebizo were well liked in the village. Both old enough to have lived through the Second and Third Shinobi World War. They had many grievances against Konoha, especially Chiyo who's poisons had been countered many times by Tsunade and whose son and daughter-in-law had been killed by Sakumo Hatake if Chikako remembered correctly. If that was in fact the case, she was pretty sure the woman would try to kill her the moment she found out how close Chikako was to Kakashi.

Chiyo seemed to not only be able to hold grudges for decades, she was also perfectly willing to transfer them. Meaning her grievances with Konoha were easily projected onto Kiri. Mist hadn't been a major player in the Second Shinobi World War, but their tactics in the Third hadn't made them any friends. Brutal, merciless and willing to take whatever advantage they could get.

They were the reason that Kakashi had gotten the moniker Friend Killer and Chikako had no trouble believing that Chiyo had some actual grievances with the village as well. She didn't care that most of the shinobi that had lived then, had either only been children or were dead now. Didn't want to hear about Zabuza's politics and the changes he'd made, more than happy to brush him off as a traitor. Who would trust a shinobi that had betrayed his own village, never mind his reasons?

Chikako hadn't thrown in the woman's face that Wraith was a nukenin and Suna's ally. Chiyo had no doubt been against that too and it would only cause problems for Gaara.

The other elder, Ebizo, was much calmer than his sister, almost apathetic, but he shared her opinions just the same. Technically Chikako didn't have to convince either of them, because they couldn't make any decisions, but their opinions were highly valued by most of Suna's citizens and the council in particular.

Unlike Konoha's, which only had three people, or Kiri's which had no power at all and consisted of whoever Zabuza chose to ask for their opinions, Suna's council had twelve constant members. All male, with an average age of about forty-five and features frozen in various disgruntled to hostile expressions.

The council's purpose was to help the Kazekage govern, but at least half of these people talked as if they were the ones making the decisions. Chikako later learned that that wasn't too far from the truth. Many of them held high positions in the military and tended to block Gaara at every turn if he overruled them on anything. He had to pick his battles carefully while they skirted the line of treason.

Yura, the youngest at twenty-eight, was the only friendly one of them, but he made Chikako's skin crawl. Even worse, she couldn't tell why. His expressions seemed genuine, they matched his words and his chakra remained calm throughout. She couldn't detect so much as a hint of a lie in anything he said or did, yet her instinctive reaction was to regard him with the same distrust she would Orochimaru.

The others were blunt in their words, but with them it was easy to tell what was genuine and when they were lying or hiding something. Some were openly hostile, others reserved, Chikako could read all of them though, except for Yura.

Baki, the Sand Siblings' former sensei and second youngest council member, watched him like a hawk, but then he did the same with the rest of the council. He seemed to be the only one who took his role seriously. The intended one that was, not to rule, but to help the ruler. That didn't mean he wanted an alliance any more than the rest of them, but at least he was actually listening to Chikako's arguments instead of trying to shut her down out of hand. Since he never said anything positive either, she wasn't sure how much help he'd be though.

. . .

After the abysmal council meeting Chikako ate with the Sand Siblings before heading back to her minions.

Saizo sat on the windowsill when she entered the room, leaning against the wall and keeping an eye on the streets below. To his right Azusa was sprawled on a bed, limbs tangled in a thin blanket and snoring lightly.

"See anything interesting?" Chikako asked, handing him a paper bag with food and waving a second one in front of the kunoichi's face to wake her up. To room was simple, but easily big enough for all three of them and well isolated against the desert heat.

"The people don't trust us, and even though they seem to almost revere the Kazekage, I doubt they'd accept an alliance on his word alone," Saizo started, without turning away from the window. He continued to list a number of observation, noting the lack of traders and foreign civilians in particular.

Chikako wondered what he'd think if she told him that, the last time she'd been in Suna, Gaara had received wary glances at best. And that was after saving the country form an invasion.

"What about you Azusa?"

The girl yawned, stretching like a cat. Then she snatched the paper bag and stuffed her mouth with food before she so much as acknowledged Chikako's presence in the room.

"The shinobi are nervous. Not afraid necessarily, even though they do seem a little jumpy too, but more like they think our presence is a bad sign," she mumbled in between bites. Chikako raised an eyebrow at the jumpy bit, but didn't comment. Saizo wouldn't have let Azusa do anything that went against their orders.

"How much money do you think they lose to Konoha every month?" Chikako mused out loud. Because of the alliance Konoha and Suna weren't officially competing for contracts and either could take business from the others territory without political consequences. At least in theory. In practice, Chikako was willing to bet, that likely meant Konoha got many contracts from Wind that would otherwise have gone to Suna. That hadn't been too bad right after the invasion when neither had enough shinobi to keep up with the demand, but now, two and a half years later, the lack of business would be noticeable.

It was likely why Orochimaru had had such an easy time tricking Suna into the invasion in the first place. No matter how much the council disliked Konoha, they wouldn't have attacked for that reason alone.

Not even someone like Chiyo, as marked by a life on the battlefield as the old woman was, she wouldn't think that war was the answer. Maybe especially not her. After all she'd have seen with her own eyes was that much death and bloodshed did to a person.

She wanted revenge, sure, but Chikako didn't think she'd risk loosing more of her people to get it. Especially not when many of the people she hated were already dead and gone. Outliving all of your enemies had to be some kind of payback as well.

"It always comes back to money," Saizo said, flawlessly following Chikako's initial line of thought. "Would you like me to look around in their missions office Wraith-sama?"

It was an oddly polite way to offer breaking about a dozen laws. Not to mention that he'd be putting the alliance and his life on the line.

Chikako shook her head, which prompted Azusa to demand an explanation with a very indignant, "why the hell not?"

"Because I said so," Chikako told the girl in an icy tone. It didn't matter that the other kunoichi was almost a year older than her, she flinched back as if slapped and lowered her head. Chikako waited a beat longer, letting the silence stretch, before she continued. "We are here to form an alliance, which means we will behave. Getting caught while browsing confidential documents will not facilitate a friendly relationship."

Saizo frowned at her.

"May I ask why you think I would get caught Wraith-sama?"

Chikako mentally gave him points for not boasting. He was incredibly skilled in stealth. Without her ability to sense chakra as well as she could, he'd easily be able to sneak up on her. Which of course also meant he wouldn't have a problem getting into the mission's office undetected.

Except, for Gaara that was. She brushed a few grains of sand of off Saizo's shoulder and then shook a few more out of her own hair.

"Tell me again what you know about the Kazekage?"

His eyes widened in comprehension and Azusa's followed a moment later.

"Wow, that's kind of cool," she exclaimed with grudging respect.

"I suspect the fourth Mizukage used the mist around Kiri in the same manner," Saizo offered, which Chikako confirmed with a nod. The Sanbi had kept track of her location that way, so it was safe to assume that Yagura retained the ability when not transformed.

. . .

The next day's council meeting went a lot better. At least in Chikako's opinion, she was pretty sure Gaara, the council and the elders disagreed.

Before, she'd tried to appeal with competence and military strength. Exchanges of their poison knowledge and the ability to train their shinobi in environments that were vastly different. Just like Wind, Water didn't have much arable land, but they could offer a few rare plants and animals in trade, poisonous mostly.

Today Chikako went a different route.

"Kiri is too far away to steal business from Suna and even if it wasn't, it hardly specializes in the same sort of missions," she challenged.

That caused an uproar. How dare she even insinuate that Kiri could steal business. As if Mist's shinobi were in any way superior to Sand's. Chikako kept poking and prodding at the wound to stir more outrage.

 _Like a dog with a bone_ , she thought and smiled at the image of Pakkun's disgruntled face that conjured.

In the end they threw her out with a lot of huffing and puffing, but that couldn't stop a satisfied grin from taking over her features. Riling them up had been fun and with how much they had protested she didn't need Saizo to go through their files to know her guess about their finances had been right.

They'd be too proud to ask Konoha for help, but if Chikako made it seem as if they'd won a concession from Kiri because of her rude behavior? She didn't have free reign for this negotiation and Zubuza had to sign off on the whole thing in the end, but he'd given her a few guidelines. Being nice wasn't on the list.

. . .

Later that day, shortly after sunset, she met Gaara on the roof of his office. He'd had to stay behind to deal with the council and didn't look all that pleased to see her.

"I'm assuming there was a point to that?" He asked, looking out over his village. It was beautiful, bathed in the glow of the setting sun and soon it would turn from an oven into an ice box.

"I'm kind of hoping they'll tare into each other about budget allocations and be much more amenable when I offer them money tomorrow."

"Last I heard Kiri wasn't rich enough to throw bribes around."

"Yeah, well," she shrugged, "that was before I told Zabuza how well Kumo pays for bounty missions, no matter who takes them. I mean when you're known for having Hunter-nin, why not use them to make some money instead of having them slaughter your own people. Also did you know Cloud pays a bonus for reports?"

Gaara was about to answer, but an explosion cut him off before he got the first word out. The sound had been distant, but still far too close to the village walls to ignore. Things didn't just explode in the middle of the desert. Certainly not with enough force to cause wind.

"Go," Gaara said, not even waiting for Chikako to offer help. Not that she blamed him, this was an attack or a diversion at the least.

A heartbeat later both her and the Kazekage vanished form the roof. One in a cloud of sand and one without any trace at all.


	54. XIII - Unexpected Visitors

**A/N:**

 _Kragh50_

I have no idea why you would think that. It's completely implausible. There is clearly something wrong with your logic.

 _cassianaswindell123_

Damn, you are right.

 _Peruna_

It should not come as a surprise, in theory. In practice Chikako left for Suna the day after they got the news that the two jinchuriki had probably been taken by Akatsuki, so Itachi wouldn't have known. The rest is explained in the chapter.

Thanks for the story recommendations. I put them on the list of things I'll need to read, but that thing is depressingly long. I definitely like political maneuvering, but I'm also well aware that the last chapter barely scratched the surface in that respect.

The chakra barrier explanation was actually supposed to be Chikako making a point and so was the short mention of her realizing that she'd manipulated her friends without thinking about it. I see that didn't quite work out as planned though. It's sometime hard for me to get a feeling for when things need more explanation and when they really, really don't.

 _soapsopas_

Thank you.

 _Scarease_

How about peanut butter fudge instead? At least that's tasty.

 _Elise142_

Thank you.

 _Risika42tg_

That's precisely why I often wait for stories to be finished before I start reading them. On the bright side, the wait is only a few days instead of weeks or months, so that's something.

 _KadeBear_

Yup, welcome to the start of Shippuden.

. . .

 **XIII - Unexpected Visitors**

The blast had come from outside the walls, so that was where Chikako was headed. Yatagarasu, who hadn't shown his face once since they'd left Kiri, swooped down to join her only moments later. Usually she'd be annoyed that she'd missed the crow, but Chikako rather suspected he hadn't followed in their wake, instead heading to Suna on his own to avoid detection. Not that it mattered much. Right now she was glad to see him.

"Find Saizo and Azusa please. I'll be heading to the eastern gate," she told him and he took off without so much as a caw. Yata was rarely this helpful when he didn't receive some form of flattery first, but it seemed even the stubborn little crow knew when to play nice.

The eastern gate was barely half the size of the main gate. Three times as wide as a regular door, maybe. It wasn't meant for civilian use either.

To reach it from the outside one had to walk through a long corridor, which had been cut into the rock that surrounded most of Suna. The ground was flat, the walls and the corridor itself perfectly straight. It also didn't have a roof, making it easily defensible from above. Anyone trying to enter the village through the eastern gate would first have to travel through that corridor, past the eyes of a dozen or more guards and with nowhere to hide.

It was likely the stupidest possible entry point any intruder could have chosen, but it lined up with the direction the explosion had come from, so Chikako couldn't ignore it. Even if it was most likely a diversion.

When she arrived at the gate, joined a few minutes later by the two Kiri shinobi, she had to reassess. It might very well still be a diversion, but judging by the blood on the walls and the dead bodies on the ground, someone had definitely been here.

There wasn't any sign of ninjutsu use, but that didn't mean much. Only the most destructive attacks would have been able to damage the rock in a noticeable way. More interesting was that the dead shinobi generally only had one or two wounds. Neither clean nor precise enough to be an assassin's work, but delivered with a great deal of force.

Whoever had done this was strong. Likely fast as well, seeing as it would have been one against thirteen. If the guards had had the time, at least one of them would have left to warn the Kazekage once it became obvious that they were losing.

Theoretically there could have been more than one attacker, but if so their fighting styles would have to be incredibly similar. Chikako didn't have a lot of forensic training, she could however read the marks most common weapons left behind. She was pretty sure this had been a single person with with a blade that had a serrated edge. Fast, but not particularly clean and definitely more painful.

"They're still warm," she said, instead of greeting Saizo an Azusa. The desert heat didn't make that bit of information particularly useful though. The sun had just set a short while ago. A much more helpful fact was that not all of the blood had dried yet. That meant this had to have happened less than an hour ago, likely less than thirty minutes, considering the ambient temperature.

"Did they fall?" Azusa asked with a frown. She was inspecting a guy whose head looked as if it had been crushed when he'd impacted with the ground. His blond hair was tinged red in places and a sheen that was probably brain matter coated the stone where he'd landed. There was no way to tell whether the head wound or the one in his chest had been what killed him in the end.

"There are barely any weapons," Saizo observed. He crouched next to another shinobi - checking for any signs of poison, Chikako suspected. He was absolutely right about the lack of kunai, shuriken or even senbon. She had counted a total of five so far, which was a ridiculously low number, considering that, including the attacker, at least thirteen people had been involved in this fight.

One would think someone should have noticed a confrontation this large, even if the eastern gate was out of the way.

A genjutsu might explain what had happened. It could have rendered the guards silent for example. She'd already searched for any kind of chakra residue that might lead to the killer, but found nothing. Regular chakra never lingered long, but for there to be almost no trace here after about half an hour - it was disconcerting to say the least.

"Look at their positions, tell me what you see," she said, unwilling to voice her suspicion, so she wouldn't bias them one way or the other.

Azusa frowned and explained her theory that at least some of them had fallen again. She was likely right and, even though death by fall was rather unusual for shinobi, that wasn't what Chikako meant.

Saizo walked up one of the walls to look at things from a different perspective. She watched him like a hawk, curious as to what his reaction would be. Chikako had done the same thing before he'd arrived here and the sudden stiffening of his posture told her that he saw the exactly what she had.

He took a few more seconds to make sure he hadn't missed anything and then let himself fall back down, landing in a crouch.

"They're facing the wrong way."

"What?" Azusa said with wide eyes and he nodded in confirmation to the silent part of that question.

"Find the traitor," Chikako told them, already moving away. Whoever had done this hadn't come from the outside, but they hadn't left either. There would have been no need to slaughter the guards if leaving was all they'd wanted to do.

Had they let someone in? Or was this just the distraction after all? Both? "Find him and make sure he's alive when I get there."

"What if the Suna nin get him first?" Azusa asked, but Saizo cut over her with an, "Understood."

Chikako ignored the kunoichi's question and picked up speed, turning her walk into a run. She trusted Saizo to handle things. He had both the experience and skill to go undetected and track someone down that didn't want to be found. The only problem would be to identify the traitor.

That wasn't her priority though. She needed to figure out what the point of killing the guards of the eastern gate had been. No immediate attack had followed, which made a diversion more likely. If that was the case though, the traitor's target was likely nowhere near the slaughter. Even worse, they might not be working alone.

And what about the bomb? That had exploded outside of the village and led her straight to the gate. Had it been meant to draw someone out? Gaara maybe, and the bodies to keep him there? If she hadn't been with him, he would have either gone to investigate himself or sent one of his siblings.

Chikako was on her way back to report to Gaara, when she saw a huge, white bird fly above the city. It was far too big to be a normal animal, but without getting closer she couldn't tell if it was a summon or something else.

It flew increasingly tighter circles, one, two, three times, before a figure in black, fluttering clothes jumped off. The person landed on top of a building, but had to vacate it mere seconds later as sand slammed into the roof like a giant's fist.

The bird caught the figure again and by then Chikako was close enough to make out red blobs on the black fabric of the person's cloak. A moment after that her view was obscured by even more sand. Gaara had materialized in the wake of the fist. He created clouds of sand, standing on top of one and using them to chase the bird through the sky.

"Fucking great," Chikako cursed. She couldn't follow them into an aerial battle. She wasn't sure she wanted to either, seeing as Gaara had decided to lift a desert's worth of sand up with him. At first it was shapeless, but as it moved in on the Akatsuki member it grew spikes that then formed into something that reminded her far too much of Shukaku's limbs. Not quite flesh, but with a smooth surface that was marked by purple swirls.

She knew Gaara wasn't loosing control, because his chakra wasn't any more tainted by that of the biju than usually, but seeing that still made her feel uneasy. What made her eyes widen in shock though were the three explosions that blew the arm's upper crust apart.

It wasn't that they did a whole lot of damage. In fact, sand filled in the missing parts almost immediately. No the problem were the explosions themselves.

"You are such a fucking idiot," she ground out, heading away from the fight and towards Gaara's office. One explosion she could have excused, but there was only one Akatsuki member who relied on them to fight and it shouldn't have taken her this long to make the connection. Especially not after Zabuza had told them that Akatsuki had probably abducted two jinchuriki already.

Gaara could clearly handle Deidara's art. He had the desert on his side and sand made for an excellent shield. Chikako couldn't help him right now anyway, so she forced her worry down and redirected it to a problem she could solve.

Where the hell was Deidara's partner? From what Kisame had told her the blond didn't get along with Akatsuki's other artist, but just like every other team, they always traveled together.

Sasori of the Red Sand was a suna nukenin and literal puppet-master. That he hadn't shown his face yet might just mean he was waiting somewhere nearby, but it seemed much more likely that he'd use the distraction to accomplish a different task. He'd know where Suna hid it's secrets and Chikako's chance of finding him on her own was practically nil.

She knew what he looked like from old Bingo Book entries, but that wasn't very helpful in the middle of a Hidden Village. Red hair wasn't all that common, in Suna it wasn't rare either though. If he took off the typical Akatsuki cloak he'd look like a regular shinobi. Without a chakra signature to search for Chikako might as well blindly stick her hand into a hay stack and hope to find the needle without pricking her fingers.

She needed to warn someone. Preferably someone high enough in the ranks that they could order reinforcements around. Convincing each chunin she came across individually would take too long and she had no idea what protocol the jonin followed in case of an aerial attack or where their meeting places were. At least one of them had to be guarding the Kazekage's office though, so that was her destination.

When Zabuza had told her about the missing jinchuriki from Earth and Waterfall she'd assumed that it was the same team that had taken them. After all the countries were neighbors of each other and the loose time frame he'd given her would have allowed for that.

According to Kisame, extracting a biju was supposed to take several days, but someone who could beat a jinchuriki could also keep them prisoner for a while. A single team could have nabbed the two and extracted the biju later.

Itachi hadn't sent word beforehand, but that didn't mean much. Both Chikako and Kisame might write him on a regular basis, but he didn't often sent answers. If their letters got intercepted it wasn't a big deal. They didn't contain any secrets and he could easily claim they were from informants. The information he sent back on the other hand could get him killed if it was discovered.

He may or may not be a spy for Konoha, but he had definitely shared some things with Kisame and her that weren't common knowledge. For example that he hadn't been the one to place a genjutsu on Yagura, which only left the man claiming to be Madara Uchiha - unless there were more Uchiha hiding in the shadows.

Kisame had already suspected as much when she'd initially mentioned the genjutsu, but that confirmation only strengthened him in his believe that leaving Akatsuki had been the right decision. He'd smelled foul play when he'd gotten the order to stay away from Kiri - not wait, but stay away permanently - without any kind of explanation. It wasn't that he'd expected Akatsuki to be good people, but he'd been promised truth.

He hadn't been in contact with the other members much, so there had never been a problem there and as far as he was aware Itachi had never lied to him. He'd doubted the leader for a while though and when Itachi had asked him to help Chikako out the sharkman hadn't needed convincing. He claimed that freeing his home from a tyrant was only a nice bonus, but she knew better.

Both him and Itachi had shared what they knew about Akatsuki, neither could provide much information when it came to the organization's actual movements though. The individual groups barely interacted with each other and their objectives were kept secret by design. Chikako knew who was partnered with whom, but she had no idea what they were doing for the organization. Except for hunting the jinchuriki that was.

Itachi and Kisame had been assigned to the Kyubi and she had guessed that they might be sent after the Sanbi, seeing as Kisame was from Kiri. It would have fit, but that they'd gotten orders to stay away from Mist had made her assume things were going to happen slowly.

Stealing too many biju at once would be noticed, no matter how stealthy, and that would only make it harder to get the next one.

That hadn't been her only mistake either. Akatsuki had eight members and there were nine biju, so when she'd heard Gatzu's information about Iwa and Taki she had thought two people, two jinchuriki, case closed. Each member would be assigned to one and maybe they'd combine forces for the kyubi, seeing as it was the strongest.

That theory fit nicely with the member's countries of origin as well. Except for the two biju that belonged to Lightning, Akatsuki had one member from each of the Hidden Villages that had obtained a biju. Hidan, being from Hot Water, was the only one who didn't fit that schema.

The worst thing? The theory was probably true, she'd simply ignored it, otherwise she would have realized that the bad feeling she'd had from the moment she'd left Zabuza's office, had been about the conflicting information.

The two disappearances had been presented as if they belonged together, only Kakuzu was from Taki and Deidara was from Iwa. Two different teams with two different tasks, not one team going after two biju.

Chikako jumped from roof to roof, cursing herself under her breath. She should have at least suspected that Gaara would be next on the list. Taki had likely been first because it wasn't one of the major villages. It was known for producing skilled jonin, but didn't have the numbers to guard the whole country and relied strongly on actually being hidden. Kakuzu would not only know how to find the village though, he was probably aware of every nook and cranny, seeing as he'd grown up in Taki.

Suna was the next logical target, both because it was still weakened from trying to invade Konoha and being invaded, as well as their economical situation. The Ichibi was also the weakest of the Tailed Beasts. That Han had apparently vanished from Iwa was either not true, Earth was a lot weaker than it appeared, to have been chosen as a target, or, as Chikako suspected now, the opportunity had simply presented itself.

Whatever the reason, that it had thrown her off was entirely her fault. She'd been busy with Kiri's problems and helping Zabuza as best she could, but that was no excuse to loose sight of an enemy that threatened all of her friends. Whatever Akatsuki's leader intended to do with the power of all nine biju couldn't be good. He already had too much influence as it was.

This attack was clearly planned and without taking Han into account the time frame made much more sense. Of course in the end all of that was just speculation Chikako indulged in to keep herself from paying too much attention to the fight that raged over her head.

Up in the sky one explosion chased the next, creating a cacophony of noise that made her ears ring and she couldn't do a damned thing about it.

As Chikako ran she noticed a spike of chakra to the north. With all the sand Gaara was throwing around overhead it was hard to tell, but she was pretty sure the signature was Kankuro's. She'd almost reached the Kazekage's office, but changed her course to find the puppeteer instead.

Even if he didn't need help, he'd been promoted to jonin since her last stay in Suna and there was no doubt he'd believe her when she told him Sasori was somewhere in the village. No point taking a chance with a random jonin that would likely go seek him out anyway.

No use at all when Kankuro was already fighting the man she intended to warn him about, she realized a few minutes later.

At least she thought that the hulking puppet in Akatsuki robes belonged to Sasori. It's posture was oddly hunched over, like a human walking on all fours. More concerning was the iron tail though. It was almost twice as long as the body and consisted of dozens of double edged blades, connected by ball joints that allowed it to move freely. And as if that wasn't enough it also ended in a triangular spike, perfect for stabbing people.

Two of Kankuro's puppets - Karasu and one whose name she didn't know - had already been destroyed. The third was still in the fight, but if it had to block a few more hits it too would fall apart.

Sasori's puppet swung it's tail in a wide arc, meant to let the blades do the most amount of damage, but Chikako used a Body Flicker to get in it's path and blocked it with a seal-reinforced chakra barrier. The shield flickered for a moment, blue lights dancing all over the surface, but didn't shatter.

"You okay?" She asked, her voice a little breathless from all the running. She didn't dare turn her back on the huge puppet to take a closer look at Kankuro. His chakra was sluggish and his movements had seemed stiff and slow, even from a distance.

"Peachy," he wheezed, sounding anything but. "Just a few cuts."

She grit her teeth instead of telling him that he had most likely been poisoned. There was no way he wouldn't have guessed already and it wasn't like either of them could do anything about it while an S-ranked nukenin tried to kill them.

Chikako would have liked to hash out a plan or maybe ask Kankuro for advise, but Sasori didn't give them the time. The puppet's tail swung at them again and a third time right after the iron blades bounced off the barrier.

Then he changed tactics, leading with the spike instead. Tiny cracks spread over the shield like spiderwebs and a moment later it shattered. Chikako barely managed to throw up a second barrier at an angle to deflect the tail.

As soon as she was sure it wouldn't hit Kankuro she jumped forward, wakizashi appearing in her hand. That attack had been powerful enough to get past her shield, but the momentum also nearly toppled the puppet. She sliced one of it's arms off before it could catch itself, using Chakra Flow to sharpen her blade.

The cut was clean, but Chikako noted in disgust, that the limb wasn't made out of wood as she'd assumed. She could clearly make out muscle and bone. There was no way that thing was a human though. Inside was some sort of chakra source, but it was all compressed in one small area, nothing like a pathway system.

"What the fuck?" She hissed, after vaulting backwards to land slightly in front of Kankuro.

"Human," he croaked, paused when a massive explosion above the village interrupted him, then added, "puppet."

Of course it was. She'd ask Kankuro if that was why there seemed to be no strings coming from the thing, but the poison was clearly taking it's toll and she had to hurry. Finding out the whys and hows could wait until later.

Chikako blocked another swing of the tail with a chakra barrier and the puppet laughed. It was a deep, unsettling sound that made her skin craw and the tiny hairs on the back of her neck rise.

"How long can you keep that up?" It asked. Instead of waiting for an answer though it released a cloud of purple gas that obscured her view. The tail moved forward again almost simultaneously, but she'd expected it this time and reoriented her barrier before it impacted, while moving around the other side herself.

The puppet reared back when she shot out of the opaque cloud. Sasori clearly hadn't expected her to go straight through the poison and now it was too late to dodge.

Chikako kicked the puppet's remaining arm out from under it and plunged her blade into it's back. She'd intended to hit the chakra source, but the puppet rolled to the side and she missed it by a few centimeters.

The motion ripped the blade from her hands and in the next moment something exploded to her right. She ducked and rolled almost without thinking about it.

Her head was pounding as if someone had mistaken it for a gong, she couldn't hear a thing and whatever had been in that poison cloud was making her dizzy.

She noted relieved that Gaara's chakra was close by, but the feeling turned into horror the second her eyes found him, curled up in the tail feathers of the big white bird. The odd creature looked as if someone had formed it out of a single material, like those mud wolves she'd encountered but in white. On it's back was Deidara, left side of his cloak drenched in blood, but very much alive. Chikako could see his mouth moving, yet no sound made it through to her.

He was talking to the puppet, which had been closer to the blast than her and looked rather scorched. The Akatsuki cloak was in tatters, revealing that the tail was actually coming out of the mouth of a huge orange oni mask on the puppets back.

It moved oddly, shambling from side to side, and Chikako almost didn't realize in time that Sasori meant to strike at her again.

She used a Body Flicker to half-roll, half-crawl out of the way. The sand more or less skinned the parts of her arms that came in contact with it and did a number on her clothes, but she wasn't anywhere near the damned iron spike when it hit the ground.

Her breathing was harsh and uneven, muscles tensed in anticipation of an attack that never came. The bird beat it's big, white wings twice to lift of off the ground, creating clouds of fine sand. It gripped the puppet in it's massive talons and then took off.

Relief flooded Chikako and was immediately washed away by the knowledge that they'd taken Gaara and that she had no way to follow. Her hand hit the ground with a scream she couldn't hear herself, then she gulped down a few breaths of air and turned towards Kankuro.

His eyes were closed, his skin looked sickly pale, but his chest still rose and fell with his shallow breathing. Whatever Sasori had hit him with wasn't meant to kill fast. Bastard. Not that she was complaining, at least this way she could do something about it. Didn't mean she wouldn't make him regret this though.

Chikako dragged herself over to the puppeteer, making her abrasions even worse. Around them lay the remains of two of Kankuro's puppets and a badly damaged third one. It felt like a graveyard, but as she put her hands on his torso she was glad that no one was around. She had neither the ability to hear arguments nor the patience to listen to them at the moment.

She could already feel the effects of the poison lessen in her own system. Burning it out of her friend would take a while though.

Chikako sighed, braced herself for the screams and then started on her task when she realized she would be spared from that at least. Watching Kankuro's face contort in pain as her chakra coursed through him wasn't much better, but she'd take what she could get.


	55. XIII - Sing Little Bird

**A/N:**

 _Elise142_

Just Kisame left. Itachi stayed back for reasons he refuses to explain.

 _Homarid_

Thank you.

 _Peruna_

She didn't forget to call her summons. They'd simply have been useless. Summoning Kit costs way too much chakra to be doable in a fight, that's why she only ever calls him when she knows she won't need the chakra. For example in the days right before attacking Kiri or after meeting Sasuke, when there was no one to fight. Sune's illusions would have been useful against Deidara, but she would have had to get to him first. And with Sasori Chikako thought she was fighting a puppet and inanimate objects are generally immune to illusions.

Yes, you're making sense and you are completely right about the timing of the explanation. I could have handled that better.

 _lysa_

Thank you. I'm not opposed to more tattoos, but I don't have plans for any more at this point in time (which doesn't mean much, but still).

. . .

 **XIII - Sing Little Bird**

Chikako was sitting in a makeshift hospital room. There was sand on the ground and the window was cracked in two places, but the room still had four intact walls and a roof, which was more than could be said for quite a number of the buildings in Suna.

Dragging herself and Kankuro back into the village proper had been like moving through a warzone. Apparently that big blast she'd heard had been Deidara detonating one massive bomb meant to turn the village into a crater.

Gaara had shielded his home with one giant sand shield that had absorbed most of the force, but something must have gone wrong because shortly after his sand had stopped floating and instead rained down on the buildings below him. Nobody seemed to know what exactly had happened. Up until that point the Kazekage had made sure none of the explosives reached his people, but once the sand had settled, fist-sized white spiders had crawled out from underneath. They had seemed completely harmless, right up until they exploded.

That had been about six hours ago now.

Temari had come to inform Chikako that Suna had requested help from Konoha a few days ago for a joint medical project and that they'd sent another request now that Gaara had been kidnapped. That was also when she'd first seen the condition Kankuro was in. The blond was in charge now, both because of her connection to the Kazekage and her skill as a jonin, so she hadn't had time to come by earlier. Temari had been dealt shitty cards most of her life and always come out ahead in the end, but when she saw the puppeteer she almost broke down.

Chikako had saved his life by burning out the poison, but she'd put him through hell doing it. His whole body was swollen, the skin black and blue were it wasn't a livid red. Even had he been awake she doubted he'd have been able to open his eyes. He definitely wouldn't be able to talk around the tube one of the medics had to put down his throat so he could breathe properly.

Chikako hadn't said anything to the other girl - or anyone for that matter, didn't know what. She'd just sat there and watched Temari cry, while sound slowly seeped back into her world as her eardrums healed. She had however pulled the kunoichi away from her brother and back on her feet when she'd sensed someone approaching the door. As acting Kazekage the blond couldn't afford to let her people see weakness.

Temari had nodded at Chikako once, a grim smile on her face. Then she'd squared her shoulders and marched out.

Since then Chikako had spent her time covering first the room and then the whole building in wards. She'd also had to burn poison out of two more people. While she'd been busy running around trying to make sense of what was going on and then fighting Sasori, puppets had apparently attacked the other side of the village.

Most had been very simple, but their sheer number and the fact that they were completely coated in nasty poisons made them exceptionally dangerous. Suna couldn't hold a candle to Konoha when it came to medical advancements, but - just like Kiri - they knew how to handle poisons. The problem was that whoever had mixed these had used something fast acting, even shallow cuts lead to death within minutes. Many of the shinobi that had fought the puppets off had never even made it to a medic.

Chikako's head fell forward with a defeated sigh and then snapped back up again, gaze locking on the door, when she felt Azusa approaching. By now more than twelve hours had gone by since the attack and she'd almost forgotten about the traitor she'd send her companions to track down.

The girl was running full tilt and the only reason she didn't take the door off it's hinges was that she smacked into one of the wards first. She landed flat on her ass in the corridor, red hair even wilder than usually and a confused expression on her face.

"You found him?" Chikako asked, waving one hand lazily towards the seals she'd scratched into the walls with a kunai. Not her best work and definitely ugly, but they worked.

"Oh," Azusa said, getting up slowly. Then she vigorously nodded. "Caught him on his way out of the village. Saizo's got him in one of the tunnels. It's that weird council member."

"Point me in the right direction, then stay here with Kankuro," Chikako said in a monotone that seemed to unsettle the other girl.

. . .

Saizo was deep in the tunnels, standing guard in front of a metal door. It was freezing under the mountain and Chikako's breath came out in white puffs. They were barely visible in the low light. Outside the morning sun had already started to warm the earth again, but in here night reigned eternally.

With Saizo were two Suna ANBU one wore a veil and the other a grinning, blue oni mask. Both of their heads were bandaged to hide their hair and their postures said they were expecting a confrontation, but not willing to fight. Muscles tensed, feet slightly wider apart than a relaxed stance would warrant.

"We need you to hand over the prisoner ma'am," oni mask said. His tone had started out completely reasonable, but gained an edge when Chikako walked past him without so much as a glance in his direction.

Saizo nodded at her and took a step to the side. Before she could open the door though, the veiled ANBU made a move to grab her shoulder. Chikako turned on her heel, slammed an open palm into his solar plexus and then gripped his throat before he had fully doubled over to hold him at eye level. Her chakra claws pierced his skin just enough to make beads of crimson form.

He froze, eyes widening as the first waves of killing intent washed over him. She could feel his heartbeat picking up and heard the surprised intake of breath. Chikako deliberately let her eyes turn pure black for a moment. He seemed curiously unafraid, yet held completely still while she starred him down.

The other ANBU had taken a step towards her when she'd turned on his partner, but made no move to help him. She fixed him with a cold glare and received a shrug in answer to her raised eyebrow. They'd done as protocol dictated she realized, but they weren't about to fight her for the right to interrogate a traitor it seemed.

Chikako let go of the other one's throat and turned back around without a word to either of them.

"I'll make sure there aren't any further interruptions Wraith-sama," Saizo assured her as she opened the heavy door. Behind it was a small room, maybe two by two meters. Once she'd cleared the entrance and iron clicked into the lock at her back she found herself surrounded by nothing but stale air and darkness.

Chikako waited a few seconds, just listening to Yura's breathing in the pitch black, before she activated her chakra sight. His expression had seemed defiant and his chakra was mostly calm, but the longer she just stood there the more agitated it got.

"Have you heard of Jashinists?" She asked in a conversational tone of voice, that nonetheless made him jump. His wrists were chained to the wall at the back of the room and so were his ankles, otherwise she had no doubt he would have tried to attack her by now.

His breathing hitched, even as he denied he'd ever heard of the religion. It made her smile. The expression was soft and subtle, but stretched into a mean grin a moment later. She let Fox Fire spring into existence all around the room until a soft blue glow filled it. Yura's head frantically moved from side to side and when his gaze landed on her inky eyes he screamed.

"Poor baby," she crooned. "We haven't even started to have fun yet."

A shiver went through him and even with the slightly fuzzy chakra vision she could tell that his features hardened into an arrogant mask.

"You won't break me," he pronounced, voice almost a full octave deeper than she remembered form the council meetings. His chakra signature had shifted minimally as the energy that flowed through his head had changed paths.

What an interesting work of art. Not a genjutsu, but rather a combination of fuin- and ninjutsu that directly acted on the brain. It had Orochimaru written all over it, even though the foreign chakra wasn't the snake's. He'd probably created it while planning the invasion on Konoha, but he wasn't the one to activate this sleeper.

Chikako let one of the blue flames glide over to Yura. It sunk into his chest with a deliberate slowness, making sure he could appreciate how much worse the pain got with every passing second. Too much at once could overload the brain, make him pass out. She couldn't have that.

He didn't scream, but his teeth were pressed together so tightly that it was only a matter of time until they cracked. His eyes were shut tight, hands gripping the chains that held him in place. She watched him for almost a full minute before dimming the fire, just enough so that the sensation wouldn't overpower his other senses.

"Where did they take Gaara?"

He laughed, tried to at least. It was a raspy, broken sound.

"Fuck you, bitch," he forced out.

The next flame sunk into his left thigh. The muscle spasmed immediately and Yura tried to jerk his leg away, but there was nowhere to go. When the Fox Fire had fully sunken into his body, she slowly released her hold on it again.

Still no screaming. Only because he kept his jaw tightly shut she suspected. His nose flared with the deep, controlled breaths he tried to concentrate on and the muscles in his neck bunched every few seconds only to release again in a convulsive shudder.

They repeated the game until ten flames burned inside of Yura. After the fifth he hadn't even tried to insult her anymore, doing his level best to hold any sound in. When she'd added the sixth there had been a distinctive crunching noise as the enamel of his teeth had cracked under the pressure of his jaw muscles. By the eighth he'd screamed himself hoarse. His wrists and ankles were a bloody mess by now. Yura had moved around so much that the rough metal edges of his shackles had worked their way through his clothes and begun to tear at his flesh.

He had pissed himself and his face was wet with tears, but he'd never begged or pleaded for her to stop.

"Huh," she breathed, letting the flames simmer down enough so he'd be able to register her words once again. "Maybe you're right. It appears I can't break you after all."

There was a tiny flash of chakra. Relief maybe, she couldn't tell because the emotion was drowned out by his pain. He wasn't afraid of her though and that was the problem. Neither the burning pain he couldn't escape nor the sharp spikes of killing intent she'd added after a while had done the trick.

Chikako bit her right thumb and smeared the blood over the Summoning Tattoo on her left arm, slowly so he had time to dread what came next. Sune poofed into existence a few seconds later. The kitsune seemed a little disoriented at first, but her open posture tightened as soon as she noticed Yura and the flames of Fox Fire that still illuminated the room.

"I'd like to know where Gaara is," Chikako said as if this was about a pen that had been misplaced. "The councilman here knows, but he won't sing for me. Would you like to try your hand dear Sune?"

The yokai played along nicely, curtsying with a friendly smile and introducing herself like a well bred young lady might. She wasn't a very old demon, but no matter how many friendly pranks she'd played, Chikako still remembered the faces frozen in horror that the fox had left behind in Earth.

"My pleasure," Sune told her with a hum on her lips. She silently took in Yura's condition for a full ten minutes before she asked for the Fox Fire to be removed.

Chikako complied without question. The traitor didn't get a break though. His relieved sigh got caught in his throat and he almost choked on it when Sune laid her delicate hands on his temples.

The screams that followed were a lot higher in pitch than the ones Chikako had drawn, but he still wouldn't talk. After the third round there was a panicked and half mad sheen in is eyes that made her wonder how much longer he could take the torture. If he passed out, or even worse if his brain shut down before they got the information they needed this would have been a colossal waste of time.

"Can you hijack someone else's genjutsu and amplify it?" Chikako asked idly, making sure her tone didn't give away how frustrated she was with Yura's resistance. Not that he was paying much attention to her at the moment, but one never knew.

"Only if another yokai cast it, or you I guess."

"Good," Chikako smiled and formed the two seals necessary for Hell Viewing. D-rank though it may be, it was built entirely out of the victims fears. She rather suspected that Yura's survival instinct was suppressed somehow. While he certainly experienced pain and fear he hadn't tried to talk his way out of the situation so far, not even by claiming he didn't know anything or that he wouldn't tell her no matter what. There was nothing physically preventing him from answering the questions, so - unless he really just had a will of steel - the block was psychological. It made sense in a twisted sort of way. Some of Orochimaru's followers were blindly loyal to him and some were so afraid that they wouldn't betray him for fear of punishment, but with a spy or sleeper agent he might not be willing to take that kind of risk. There were only a rare few people that would take information to their graves no matter what. Often all it took was finding the right lever.

Chikako wouldn't give away Kiri's secrets if she herself was at risk, but she wouldn't let any of her friends die for them either, not even if they asked her to. That was her lever and why she needed people to fear Wraith too much to even attempt using it against her. With Yura the problem was that she didn't know him well enough and didn't have the time to figure out what he valued. That left the brute force approach, which in this case meant a lot of pain an psychological warfare - neither of which had been successful so far.

If Yura's survival instinct never kicked in though, he might not feel the need to do whatever it took to safe himself. In that case it wouldn't matter what they did to him. Not unless they got past the block.

Sune waited for Chikako's genjutsu to fully ensnare the traitor before she added her own chakra and took over. There was an odd resonance when the illusions merged and then Yura's eyes went wide, pupils completely blown. He seemed to be staring at something and his mouth formed the same words over and over again. Too silent for Chikako to hear, but she guessed he was pleading with someone.

He practically oozed panic and his chakra network went haywire. With her chakra sight Chikako could see swirls of color, dark blue and deep purple. They weren't fighting exactly. It seemed to her as if the purple was trying to ensnare the blue and press it into a certain form, but the longer the illusion lasted the lighter the blue got.

Sune's illusion seemed to drive back whatever changes Orochimaru's jutsu had caused to Yura's chakra and pathways. A chemical reaction most likely, because the genjutsu itself did nothing more than to drive his body into a panic. The question was how long until he head a heart attack or something equally inconvenient?

"It's not enough," Sune grit out, voice strained. So Chikako hit Yura with another wave of killing intent. He screamed and thrashed about like a fish on dry land. His breaths were fast and shallow now, occasionally interrupted by agonized screeches. He barely sounded human anymore.

"Okay," the kitsune panted. "I think he'll answer questions now, but be quick. I don't know how long he can take this."

Chikako nodded even though the fox couldn't see and then she started form the beginning. "Where is Gaara?"

. . .

The rest of the interrogation didn't last long.

Yura talked, a lot, but he didn't know much. She'd gotten Gaara's location, which was the most important thing, otherwise the traitor was practically useless though. He had explained how he'd let Sasori and Deidara into the village and that he'd activated the puppets as a distraction. Also which poisons had been used and that he hadn't even known he was a sleeper until his seal had activated to release the memories. None of that mattered though, seeing as it lay in the past and Gaara was already gone.

The one other useful thing he had to offer was that he'd still been in the village by the time Saizo and Azusa had found him, because he'd rigged the place with bombs. They weren't on a timer and he'd been supposed to activated them before he left, but the traitor claimed they were unstable enough to go off on their own.

Chikako had cursed so violently at that, her killing intent had spiked and pushed Yura over the edge. Surprisingly enough, it was his brain that had given out, not his heart. He wasn't dead, but he might as well be. His body was limp even though he was conscious, his mouth hung open, drool dribbling down his chin. He mumbled something under his breath, yet reacted to no outside stimuli.

"I think you turned him into a vegetable," Sune said, waving a hand in front of the man's face. He didn't react to the action or the comment, but the blood slowly dribbling out of his nose and ears proofed her point well enough.

Chikako shook her head with a frustrated sigh. She'd gotten what she wanted, but it had taken hours as well as most of her chakra, and left her with a pounding headache. She really didn't want to deal with the people waiting outside on top of that, but it wasn't as if there was another way out of the room.

"Thank you. I'll probably call you back later," she said to the kitsune and then turned around when Sune nodded and vanished. They both needed to rest, but Chikako would have to face judgment first.

Her hand lingered on the cool door handle for a few seconds before she pushed the metal door open wide. Saizo stood in the exact same place she'd left him in and the two ANBU had taken up position at either side of him, effectively guarding the door. Something that had become necessary while she'd been busy it seemed.

Chikako had noticed more people arriving, heard muffled shouting through the thick metal door, but she hadn't paid much attention to any of it until now. Her gaze swept over the group as Saizo stepped aside to make way for her.

Another council member with what looked like a personal bodyguard by his side. Kankuro, who could barely stand even though he looked much better, had to be supported by Temari as well as a girl with pink hair. It took Chikako a beat to realized that the kunoichi was steadily applying healing chakra to his back and even longer to recognize her as Sakura Haruno. The girl from Sai's team, the one Naruto had a crush on.

Then her head moved to the left, eyes fixing on Kakashi, because of course Tsunade would have sent an ANBU assassin to guard one of her medics. Then again, depending on how bad the situation with Danzo was, he might be one of the few people she trusted.

Chikako squinted at Kakashi. After staying in that room with Yura and Sune for so long her eyes needed a few seconds to readjust to even the low light in the tunnels. What little she could see of his face was as expressionless of a mask as the dark fabric he used to cover his mouth and nose. He seemed relaxed, back against the wall and orange book in hand. She could see her tanto at his hip and his chakra was as calm as it had ever felt, but he wouldn't look at her.

No eye smile or friendly 'Yo', to greet her. His posture was turned away, to the point that he whole body practically screamed he wanted nothing to do with her. She sighed and let her eyes wander a little forther.

Beside him, Naruto had the opposite reaction. He stared outright, mouth hanging open. When she'd left the small room and he'd seen her he'd taken a step forward, but then abruptly stopped when the man behind her had come into view, or rather the shell that was left of Yura. Now the blond was starring from her to the former councilman and back again.

"They said Gaara- and the screaming- I don't," he mumbled, stumbling over his own words. The other councilman, Joseki she though, didn't give him a chance to formulate a whole sentence though. He walked towards her, stopping well out of arms reach, but making it clear that he expected her attention.

Chikako raised an eyebrow at the man. She didn't have time for any more of the council's bullshit. She needed rest and then she needed to get Gaara back. There were also the bombs. She'd almost forgotten about those.

"You need to evacuate the village," Chikako said, looking over Joseki's shoulder and straight at Temari. "There are more bombs, so be quick and careful about it." The girl looked surprised for only a second before she nodded and then gave the two ANBU a signal.

"No!" Joseki demanded, bristling when the shinobi didn't so much as glance in his general direction. "That is ridiculous. We need to elect a new Kazekage immediately before everything falls into chaos."

Chikako pinched the bride of her nose between forefinger and thumb, slowly counting to ten before she glared at the man. Most people, especially the shinobi that actually worked in the field, had not only accepted Gaara, they actually genuinely seemed to like and respect him. He wasn't kage bei default or because he was the stronges of them, but because he'd earned their trust and proven that he was a good leader. Still, some people, couldn't let go of the fact that he was a jinchuriki and others simply wanted the power for themselves. She didn't know which category Joseki belonged in and she was far too tired to care at the moment.

"You have a kage and I promise to get him back for you, but I'm afraid I'll need a quick nap first."

"Y-you- what?," Joseki stuttered, clearly not having expected that answer. He glanced behind her and blanched when he saw Yura. "How dare you! You have no business attacking a member of the council, much less make decisions about Suna's leadership!"

"You're the one that came here," Chikako growled and now she wondered why. If he hadn't already known that she was interrogating Yura and seemingly didn't want anything from Temari, why seek her out? Another thing to deal with later. She'd tried being friendly which, in her opinion, was already more than he deserved.

"Get the fuck out of my way," she demanded and then let her eyes take on the inky black of the chakra sight once more. If her wakizashi hadn't gotten stuck in that freaking puppet she'd have held the tip to his throat as well, but for now an aura of killing intent had to suffice.

He flinched, taking a step backwards followed by another two until he stumbled and landed on his ass, but instead of running away his right arm flew up, index finger pointed right at her.

"By order of the council, arrest this woman for-"

He didn't get any further than that. Saizo had apparently had enough of the delay. He'd body flickered forward, grabbed Joseki by the collar and then thrown him into the small room where Yura still dangled from the wall. The metal door fell shut with a dull thump a moment later.

"Apologies," he said with a bow towards Temari. "I hope you don't mind, but the evacuation of the village seems like a time sensitive task."

Temari looked at him oddly for a few long seconds, but then merely waved for all of them to leave the tunnels.

. . .

Azusa was waiting for them outside of the tunnels and fell in step with Saizo as they passed her.

"A second Konoha team has been spotted several hours out. They should arrive before morning Wraith-sama. I'm assuming they were in the area and have been redirected," the girl reported. Temari's head snapped back to her, a deep frown wrinkling her brow.

"How do you know that?"

"Yata?" Chikako guessed and then told Temari about the bird when Azusa nodded in confirmation. She conveniently forgot to mention who's summon it was, but the way Kakashi's shoulders stiffened for a split-second told her he had an idea.

Temari accepted the explanation without question, far more concerned with what Chikako had said about getting Gaara back and the evacuation of the village. People were already moving all around them, but if possible the general mood had become even more depressed. They'd have to camp out in the desert until all bombs were cleared and even after that, the repairs could take months, not to mention the matter of their missing kage.

"Go make yourself useful," Chikako waved at the two Kiri nin behind her. "I'm gonna need at least five hours of sleep before I can go after Gaara and that will take at a day or more, so you're getting your orders from Temari until further notice."

"Where is he?" Naruto suddenly demanded. He'd been uncharacteristically silent so farm, but it seemed his temper had finally boiled over. "We can't wait that long and I don't need to rest. I can get Gaara."

"Yes," Kankuro huffed. "Throw another jinchuriki at them why don't you? Gaara lost against one of them and Chikako and I barely survived the other. Do you really think you can take both at the same time and protect Gaara while you're at it?" His voice sounded pained, with a raspy quality to it and he had to stop a few times when the strain on his throat got too much, but that didn't make his points any less valid.

Chikako sighed. It really didn't matter what Naruto though, he didn't know where to go and even Kakashi couldn't track someone through the air.

"Look," she said. "I'm leaving as soon as I'm rested and I'll gladly take you with me, but I'm not telling you where Gaara is, so you might as well help with the evacuation while you wait."

"Aren't you supposed to be his friend?" Naruto demanded, voice loud and booming. It caused people to stop and stare at their little group, even with the threat of more explosions hanging over their heads.

Chikako ignored him and kept walking, but he wouldn't let her past. First the blond planted himself in her way, arms crossed, and when she moved around him he grabbed her shoulder to keep her there. She turned, slapping his hand away hard enough to make him wince.

"If I didn't care I would have agreed with Joseki's plan to choose a new Kazekage and made my help contingent on an alliance with Kiri. Actually, no, I would have taken Zabuza's offer to join Kiri and told him everything I know about Suna and Konoha. Then I would have advised him to ally with Kumo instead to take both villages down, because that would have been the most lucrative deal by far."

Naruto stared at her wide eyed, he was far from the only one. Shikamaru had been right when he'd told her that Wraith could be the linchpin for an alliance between Kiri, Konoha and Suna, but when he'd made that analysis he'd worked under the assumption that Wraith wanted what was best for Konoha. Since she'd ended up as Zabuza's adviser she'd played through many more scenarios and that alliance wasn't even close to being the best or easiest to pursue form Kiri's perspective. Both villages had suffered major losses in the past two and a half years alone and they hadn't had the strongest economy or military even before then. The one thing they really had to offer was the potential for loyalty beyond contracts and that was what Zabuza was willing to take a chance on.

This time nobody tried to stop Chikako when she left. If she'd had the chakra to spare, she would have just used a Body Flicker to get away from them, but words occasionally made for fine weapons too. They'd certainly struck her annoying former teammate speechless, but when what she'd said got back to Suna's council they'd likely do whatever they could to shut down the alliance with Kiri once and for all.


	56. XIII - Seventy-Five Percent

**A/N:**

Elise142, soapsopas, Kragh50, Diehard gamer

Thank you all and a shout-out to Diehard gamer for pointing out that mistake.

. . .

 **XIII - Seventy-Five Percent**

Chikako's sleep was rather restful. Likely mostly due to the fact that she had picked up a few stones on her way out of Suna and carved barrier seals into them so nobody could disturb her. Fluctuations in chakra would still wake her, but by now her sleeping mind seemed to have figured out what needed her full attention and what was simply a civilian walking by.

Upon waking she found Naruto, Azusa and Saizo right outside of her barrier. The two Kiri nin were dozing in the shade of a dead tree, but her former teammate was starring right at her. He jumped up the instant she opened her eyes and demanded that they head out.

"Do you have provisions ready?" Chikako asked, stretching with a yawn. Gaara had at least two more days and as badly as she wanted to find him, rushing in blindly wouldn't do him any good.

"What?"

"Provisions. Water for one, a few soldier pills wouldn't hurt either, also food. Maybe a medic or at least a first aid kit. A tourniquet or two wouldn't hurt either, seeing as we'll be dealing with one guy that throws bombs around like candy and another that has about a thousand different poisons at his disposal."

Chikako raised a finger for each item and then wiggled them in a wave, while Naruto's brow furrowed in embarrassed confusion. The last thing they needed was to head out on a rescue mission only to get everyone killed, but of course the blond hadn't thought of that. His friend was in danger and he needed to do something about it, preferably yesterday.

She got it. If it had been just herself she probably would have left already. It wasn't though and hadn't been for a while now. Chikako might not have accepted Zabuza's offer to join Kiri, but she'd taken responsibility for the Hunter-nin. She'd chosen contracts to send them on, decided by which protocols they operated and trained with them in preparation.

Chikako wasn't just a little genin on the run anymore. Not a child that had no option but to react to circumstances as they presented themselves. As long as she had the luxury of time she couldn't justify not using it to plan. She might not have trusted Yura's word on how long the extraction of a biju would take, but she did trust Kisame and Itachi. Three days minimum.

"Who is coming?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, when all Naruto did was frown at the middle distance. He blinked twice at her words, gaze snapping back to hers.

"Uh," he started, scratching the back of his head and tussling the blond mop even more than it already was. "Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei?"

Chikako sighed and nodded at Saizo.

"Let Temari know I'll be leaving within the hour. After that I want at least one of you to stay with her at all times. I don't trust those council fucks not to try something fishy."

Her answer was a chorused, "understood Wraith-sama" and then they were gone. She thought she remembered hearing Azusa curse councilmen Yura and Joseki in rather colorful terms, but she'd been half asleep at the time and just now the girl had looked far more determined than angry. The redhead also seemed to get along with Temari which would make bodyguard duty less boring.

"I'm gonna go ask Kankuro about the puppet we fought. I suggest you find out who's coming with us and get those supplies."

Chikako yawned again and then walked towards the puppeteer. Sakura was still by his side, or maybe again. The girl had to be a fantastic medic because her friend looked almost normal, even though he was clearly still in some pain. His chakra system also felt wonky, not nearly as bad as it should have though.

"How'd you heal the chakra burns so quickly?"

"That is confidential," Sakura told her with a cold stare. Kankuro grimaced at her icy tone, but Chikako just shrugged. The question had been nothing but idle curiosity. It wasn't like she'd actually be able to use the knowledge. But then the other girl added, "I could have removed the poison without causing any damage, whereas your rash actions could have permanently destroyed his pathways."

"I don't see how that is relevant, considering that he would have been long dead by the time you arrived."

Chikako turned to face Kankuro, effectively giving Sakura her back - both a brush off and an insult to her capabilities as a shinobi. She smiled when she felt the girls chakra bristle in anger, but didn't comment. Sai had described the girl as irrationally violent, so Chikako was prepared for a punch. She was pretty sure Sakura at least thought about it with the way her chakra gathered in her muscles, she didn't actually move though.

"So, that puppet? What do you know?"

Kankuro glanced between Chikako and his medic, then his expression morphed into the harassed look Shikamaru usually wore when he expected trouble. His shoulders pulled up and his thigh muscles twitched as if he was prepared to duck and roll. Chikako raised an eyebrow at him and when he realized that the apocalypse wasn't about to start he relaxed against the rock at his back like a wet sack.

"It's brilliant," he said and launched into an explanation of how he thought the individual mechanism's worked and how impressive they all were. She waved a hand at him in annoyance.

"Yes, yes, how do I destroy it? Preferably without getting skewered in the process."

"Cut it into teeny tiny pieces?"

"Really?"

"Well," he shrugged. "It's a human pupped so you can't really clog most of the joints and I don't think you could find something to bind it with that the metal tail wouldn't just rip through. Your best bet is probably to cut off parts until the thing stops moving."

"Right," she sighed. "And how likely is it that Sasori of the Red Sand has only one puppet?"

He cringed, ducking his head.

"Maybe just go in for the kill and dodge the puppets. They are deadly, but he heavily relies on poison and that probably means he won't know how to deal with an opponent that isn't affected by it."

"Probably. God I hate this shit. Where was the bastard anyway? Is there some way to remote control puppets?"

"I- no," Kankuro frowned, looking at his hands and then back at her. "The ones that attacked Suna were automated. Sophisticated mechanisms, genius really, but they were only following commands that had been given in advance, no actual intelligence. I guess you could compare them to clones. The one we fought was definitely controlled though."

"So what? He was inside of the thing?"

"Inside?"

"There were no chakra strings going outwards, but there weren't any human pathways either. Just a mass of chakra."

Chiyo made a clucking noise.

"You fools," the old woman said. She'd walked up shortly after Chikako had started to talk to Kankuro, but remained a silent observer, until now. "My grandson has made his best friend into a human puppet when he was only fifteen, a child like you stands no-"

She suddenly stop mid sentence to jump forward, fist poised to strike as chakra rapidly gathered in her hand. It seemed Chikako had been right about who had killed the woman's child and how she'd react.

"Calm down you old bat," Chikako admonished her. She'd grabbed the woman by the collar. Age had shrunken Chiyo quite a bit, so that she had to stand on the tips of her toes to avoid getting choked by her own clothes. "You've got the wrong guy and I'm afraid I'll have to lock you up in the tunnels with Yura and Joseki if you touch my sensei."

Chiyo glared at Kakashi, who had just been walking by, but actually put his book away and looked up in preparation for the attack. Then the words registered and the woman twisted around, swiping at Chikako with a knife that she'd pulled from her wide sleeves. Her hands were gnarly like tree bark, but her aim was good and she was pretty fast for someone that old.

Instead of letting her go, Chikako shook her a few times and held her at a distance. The blade had barely nicked her upper arm, but she could already feel the slight tingle of poison spreading through her veins.

"Are you done granny?"

"You certainly are," Chiyo sneered. "That poison will kill you in seconds and then I'll avenge my son."

Sakura took a step forward, hand already glowing with the mint green of medical chakra. Chikako waved her off, earning an expression that was stuck somewhere between a glare and confusion. It looked kind of constipated, but she supposed she should be happy that the girl was willing to help even if the other kunoichi seemed to dislike her.

"If I don't die, are you gonna behave?"

"You'll be dead."

"I really won't. Also were is the logic in trying to kill a man for what his father did during war, or poisoning the only person that knows where your Kazekage is for that matter? Have you gone senile?"

"What?" Chiyo gaped. "Why wouldn't you tell anyone! That is vital information and needs to be spread so that it isn't lost."

"In case of my demise?" Chikako challenged. "Yeah, because the council and elders have really earned my trust. How many seconds exactly does your poison take?"

Chiyo twisted around again to squint at Chikako. Then she pointed a finger at her face and declared her a cheater.

"This is just like with that information you had on Suna," she grumbled.

Chikako was about to answer, but Kankuro spared her a long discussion with the old woman.

"She's immune to any and all poisons Chiyo-baasama."

The woman's mouth twisted in distaste as she looked Chikako over from head to toe, but apparently she was willing to take Kankuro's word for it.

"Fine," she spat. "But you are still fools."

That was the first time Chikako noticed the scrolls at her hip. Those had definitely not been there during the council meetings.

"Is that your way of asking if you can come?" She asked with a grin that had Chiyo sputtering denials.

"You can't do that," Sakura interjected in a worried tone. She was however smart enough not to mention the elder's age outright.

"I can't just let foreigners save my kage," the old woman huffed indignantly." Suna has grown weak relying on allies and now look where it's gotten us."

She wasn't wrong either. Of the top of her head Chikako could only think of a handful of shinobi that stood out among Suna's forces. Gaara had been kidnapped, Temari was busy keeping the village together, Kankuro would need a few more days to recover and the rest were so old that they were just as likely to break a hip as kill someone. The regular shinobi weren't necessarily weak, but just like she wouldn't take Azusa and Saizo into battle against Akatsuki, Chikako wouldn't bring any of them either. They'd end up as cannon fodder without a reliable way to protect themselves and she wasn't about to throw their lives away for nothing.

"What are you gonna do? Tell Sasori he's grounded?"

"How dare you!" Chiyo snapped.

Chikako let go of her collar without warning and the woman stumbled, almost landing on her ass.

"No really, what are you gonna do?"

"I can fight!"

"So can we," Chikako said with a gesture that encompassed Kakashi and Sakura as well as Naruto and the members of Team Gai that were approaching with him. She even managed not to grimace at the cutting looks Tenten shot her or the wary ones coming from Gai and Lee.

"You have to take at least one Suna shinobi," Chiyo demanded and Chikako shrugged at her.

"Sure, which one do you want to get rid of?"

"You insolent, little brat! I am an elder of-"

"Yes, which is why you are going to stay here with the other old people."

"I will do no such-"

"That is an order Chiyo-baasama," Temari cut it. With her were Saizo, Azusa and several shinobi carrying packs that they handed over to Chikako and the Konoha nin.

"As requested," Temari told her grimly. "Bring my brother back."

"Leave it to us!" Naruto shouted, almost vibrating with energy. Chikako merely nodded in answer, slung the pack's straps over her shoulders and started to move south. She slowly picked the pace up, trying to gauge how fast her temporary companions could go without exhausting themselves.

Once they'd gotten far enough away that they would only be vague shapes in the distance to anyone watching, Chikako bit her thumb and summoned her two kitsune. Both appeared in their fox forms, running to either side of her. Their white fur almost immediately took on a yellow tint as the dust on the wind began to cling to it.

Sune sniffed her side, then had to sneeze and almost toppled over sideways as she lost her footing on the loose sand. Kit, who had used chakra from the start to make running easier, let out a few sharp barks of laughter. His sister growled and jumped at him, but he dodged easily, then used a paw to swipe even more sand at her.

Chikako ignored both their antics and Naruto's exclamation of how cute they were as well as the hissing and growling that followed that statement. Instead she filled everyone in on the situation and what she knew about their opponents. It only took a few minutes and when that was done she asked the foxes to scout in the hopes that they'd be able to smell poisons or explosives.

Sasori's auto puppets would have to use chakra and at least some of Deidara's explosives had worked with it as well, but that didn't mean they couldn't have hidden more mundane traps in the sand. Those she wouldn't be able to detect on her own. Kakashi seemed to agree because he summoned Pakkun half-way through her request, which resulted in more hissing from the kitsune.

 _I will not work with that slobbering imbecile._ Kit's voice blew through Chikako's head like an arctic wind, making her shudder. She wondered if he was jealous because she'd greeted the other summon or disliked him on principle because he was a dog.

"Feel free to ignore him, but he's not an imbecile," she sighed, earning a few curious looks and an affronted 'Hey!' from them pug.

 _Fine, but if he tries to chase me I will bury him in the sand._

Sune let out a happy yip. Apparently she'd been included in the mental communication and was in full agreement with her brother. Chikako had kind of thought they'd be above such petty things, but she couldn't for the life of her remember why.

Pakkun stayed close to the group, only running a few meters ahead and after a while he demanded that one of Naruto's clones carry him. The kitsune on the other hand moved in wide circles, coordinating with Yata who flew overhead. Once in a while Kit would make a derisive comment about how lazy the dog was, but for the most part they all behaved and stayed out of each other's way.

The shinobi acted in pretty much the same manner as the summons, the only difference being that Chikako was the odd one out. They let her lead because she was the only one who knew where they were going, but she could practically feel the stares boring into her back. She might be able to give orders for the moment, but Kakashi was the one who was truly in charge.

Naruto and Sakura would do as he said and so would Gai and consequently the rest of his team. And despite Neji's behavior in Frost, Chikako didn't think that he would go to bat for her if it came to a fight, especially not if Shikamaru was right about his political ambitions. That left Naruto as the only real wildcard, seeing as the blond tended to disregard orders he didn't like. The look he'd given her in the tunnels though, suggested he'd heard enough about Wraith to make him wonder if there was truth to any of it.

He no doubt still wanted to bring Sasuke back home, but there was no information on the Uchiha floating around. He'd left to join Orochimaru and as far as Naruto was concerned that was it. Unless Jiraiya had dragged him through some of the snakes hideouts that was, but Chikako doubted it.

Unlike the Uchiha, she had become an internationally known assassin. She'd avoided Naruto when she'd met with Jiraiya in Frost, reasoning he'd try to drag her back to Konoha, but after seeing him here she wasn't so sure anymore. Even if he hadn't known anything about Wraith, that scene in the tunnel had clearly not sat well with him.

Instead of dwelling on those thoughts, Chikako gave the group a rundown of what she knew about the rest of Akatsuki. It was only the basics, origin, appearance and what little she knew about their respective fighting styles. She also shared Itachi's and Kisame's guesses about how and why each Akatsuki member had joined as well as what they did for the organization, but most of that was only speculation and not particularly useful. She mostly talked because the silence felt oppressive and they'd have to run for several hours more before they'd reach their target.

Still, even these tidbits of information were apparently much more than her current companions had expected her to know if Gai's suspicious inquiry as to her sources was any indication.

"I got around these past two and a half years, made a few new friends here and there, met up with old ones," Chikako said non-committaly. She'd told them more than they absolutely needed to know as a gesture of good will. Jiraiya no doubt had some of that information, but she was willing to bet that he at least would appreciate what she'd shared. Unlike some people.

"Tortured a few people and killed a kage," Tenten added with so much acid in her tone that Chikako shot the girl a warning look.

"That too," she admitted with a shrug, as if those were regular occurrences barely worth mentioning. She suddenly felt surrounded by potential threats. The last time Chikako had met them she'd treated Gai's team as if they might turn on her, but even then the air between them had been less tense. Far worse though was having Naruto and Kakashi running to her right and not knowing which side they'd chose if it came to that.

"What?" the blond squeaked, only to have Tenten recite each and every Bingo Book entry about Wraith verbatim. Some of which Chikako hadn't even seen herself yet.

Iwa had apparently quadrupled the bounty on her head and officially classed her as an A-rank nukenin. They'd also added sabotage to the charges which made her frown because that seemed rather arbitrary so long after the fact. The girl also put special emphasis on the entry from Tani that still listed Wraith as S-rank and a dangerous mass murderer as well as the one from Shimo that called her a mentally unstable sadist. Unsurprisingly Tenten rattled the ones that declared Wraith an ally or a recognized bounty hunter off so fast that they all blurred together.

Several of the other minor villages, none of which Chikako had never even been close to, had also added entries to warn their shinobi about Wraith. A glance at Naruto revealed a wide eyed expression, whereas Kakashi's was completely neutral - just as it had been since she'd walked out of that room in the tunnels.

"I didn't know you were such a fan," Chikako sneered at Tenten. "Did you also happen to notice that only one of those eleven villages put a bounty on my head while two name me an ally and the rest simply want their shinobi to stay out of my way?"

"I saw what you did in Frost so don't try to tell me you're a good person!"

"Never said I was, but that doesn't make me evil incarnate either. I would have thought as a kunoichi yourself you would know that things are rarely so black and white in our world."

"So," Naruto said hesitantly before Tenten could give a scathing answer of her own. "Does that mean you didn't kill all those people in Earth?"

Chikako's shoulders sagged. She shook her head slowly, but refused to look at her former teammate.

"No, that was them," she said with a nod towards the foxes. Curiously enough that seemed to make Naruto feel better. His subdued chakra shifted back into it's usual more animated state, projecting excitement and a sort of in-your-face friendliness. That quickly changed, however, when Chikako continued to explain what had happened. "After a few weeks of torture I wasn't really in a position to do much more than stumble out of there, but I can't say I would have let them live given the choice."

"Wha- what do you mean torture? Why would they-?"

"Because she's a nukenin!" Tenten interjected vehemently, apparently feeling vindicated in her assessment of Chikako's character.

Chikako contemplated for a moment whether to let that stand, but decided that there was no point in alienating her former teammates even further. Sooner or later she'd have to deal with Danzo and that meant dealing with Konoha as well.

"It accidentally trespassed," she started and then continued to explain how she'd noticed the shinobi following Hinata's team and then chased him down. She left out that he was ROOT and why she'd been in the area in the first place though. Something that didn't go by unnoticed, but by that point Naruto was in full-on interrogation mode. Luckily he was too impatient to demand explanations or pick up on little inconsistencies. Instead he made wild jumps from one event to the other, asking about Kiri, then Suna, Kiri again, Hinata, ...

"Wait, you were the one Jiraiya met with in Frost?" He suddenly said, wide eyed and completely out of the blue. Chikako stared at him, trying to figure out how he'd made that connection. She hadn't even mentioned the Sannin or the time she'd spent in Frost right before the attack on Kiri.

Naruto didn't explain anything though, instead he jumped at her with a huge grin on his face that had her jumping backwards before she even realized what was going on. The blond smacked face-first into her chakra barrier and landed on his ass, effectively bringing the whole group to a halt.

"Ouch," he groused, feeling his nose to make sure it wasn't broken. A thin trail of blood trickled out of the right nostril, but otherwise he seemed fine. "That was mean Chikako-chan. I was just gonna hug you."

"Maybe give me a little warning next time? Also, why do I suddenly deserve a hug?"

"The Pervy Sage said you really helped him out!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping back to his feet again. "Like with that list you gave him? He wouldn't let me look at it, but it's gotta be really important."

Chikako waved at him to move on without commenting, but of course he was too curious to leave it at that. He did start running again, but he kept pestering her about the list in between other questions. She stone-walled him every time though. Jiraiya had kept to their deal and if she brought up what the list contained she'd also have to tell Naruto how she'd gotten the information and that just couldn't end well. She was pretty sure Kakashi already knew both of these things, because otherwise she couldn't explain why he helped her distract Naruto.

The blond was just asking about Haku, but a loud caw from above saved Chikako from having to tell him that his friend had lost an arm a few months ago. Yata flew increasingly tighter spirals before landing on Naruto's head with another loud caw. Then hi waved his wings around in an odd little dance that was probably supposed to convey a message, but just looked silly to Chikako.

"Kit, mind translating that for me?"

The foxes had both come closer to investigate the commotion. While Sune had stopped to make growly noises at Pakkun, Kit had moved straight to Chikako's side. He huffed at her request, but complied nonetheless. Yatagarasu could write and given enough time he could came up with numerous other ways to communicate his meaning, but they were on the clock right now. Kit's ability to mentally communicate via genjutsu was the fastest way to convey information from the crow to anyone else, no matter what he thought about playing messenger.

 _The bird claims there are big, moving things in the sand up ahead_ , Kit informed her grimly.

They'd covered a little more than half the distance to where the extraction was supposed to happen. Yata wasn't stupid, he would have recognized regular puppets, animals or humans. That he called whatever he'd seen 'things' was probably bad.

"Potential enemies up ahead," Chikako informed the rest of the group and they proceeded at a slower pace. Neji activated his Byakugan to scout ahead, letting out a surprised gasp as soon as his vision focused.

"There's five of them. They look like huge snakes swimming through the sand, but the bodies are segmented. Definitely puppets, with all kinds of weaponry hidden inside. There isn't a puppeteer though."

"Auto puppets then. They'll likely be coated in poison too," Chikako added. Clearing them would cost time they didn't have and she rather doubted that just moving around was an option. A series of rather impressive fireballs confirmed that theory a few minutes later when Naruto send clones out to find a way past the snakes.

Chikako couldn't sense anything, so the bombs had to be mundane, but that didn't make them any less deadly. There was no telling how far they spread either because the two Akatsuki could have prepared this trap before ever entering Suna, giving them enough time to make it as deadly and hard to get around as possible.

"We'll take this," Gai informed them and Kakashi ordered Sakura to stay as well to neutralize the poison if necessary. Then he pushed up his hitai-ate to reveal a lazily spinning Sharingan eye. "Team 7 with me."

Naruto was right on his heel when the jonin started to maneuver through the field of snakes, taking advantage of the distractions Gai's team provided, but Chikako just stood there, staring at his back. She wasn't used to taking orders anymore and she hadn't been part of Team 7 for a long time. Hearing Kakashi just casually give that command was a little like a punch to the gut.

Then she blinked and the moment was over. They'd talk later, now they needed to save Gaara. She used a Body Flicker to catch up and fell into step behind her sensei.

Just in time to gape when Sakura punched the ground. The hit hadn't looked like much, but the girl had gathered chakra in her fist in the same manner Chikako sometimes did for a little extra force. Only Sakura had somehow managed to release all of it without ripping her own arm off, making a shock wave travel through the sand like ripples in water and forcing the snake puppets out of the ground temporarily. It was an impressive display, but Chikako didn't quite understand Naruto's horrified look until she remembered that Sakura used to hit him whenever he got on her bad side, which was a lot.

"Okay then," Kakashi said in an uncharacteristically cheerful tone of voice once they'd made it past the puppets and explosives. "Where to my cute little genin?"

Chikako blinked at him as if she'd never seen him before an then mutely pointed in the right direction.


	57. XIII - Fine Art

**A/N:**

Thanks everyone for commenting. I don't have a lot of free time right now, so the next few updates might be slower.

Special thanks to _Elise142_ for letting me know about the typo and _Diehard gamer_ for the critique. Also welcome to _KijoKuroi_.

. . .

 **XIII - Fine Art**

Team 7 moved silently through the desert. At least mostly. Neither Kakashi nor Chikako or any of the summons made noise, but every one of Naruto's steps seemed painfully loud in contrast.

"How do you do that?" He complained. "It's really creepy."

"Chakra," Chikako told him and immediately regretted it.

"Like waterwalking?" The blond asked and pushed chakra into his feet without waiting for an answer. Predictably it was far too much, launching him a few centimeters into the air and kicking up a cloud of sand in the process.

"And you wonder why I'm afraid to teach you anything," Kakashi grumbled, shaking himself like a dog to get rid of the sand. Naruto followed suit and then both of them gave Chikako a suspicious glare because she was completely clean.

"What?" She smiled at them. She could have protected Kakashi with another chakra barrier like she'd done for herself, but it wasn't as if he couldn't have gotten out of the way himself.

Kakashi's mouth opened, but he shut it again with a click before a single word could escape. Her smile vanished when he turned around and moved on as if nothing had happened. Chikako knew exactly what he'd been about to call her. Traitor. It would have been in jest, but that single word, even unspoken, hung between them like an executioner's ax.

Worst of all, Chikako didn't even know if she was guilty. She'd defend herself against Tenten's narrow mindedness until the end of time, but that didn't mean she wasn't conflicted about her own actions. The killing didn't bother her much and torture was still just a tool she hated, but was willing to use. The thing that had her doubting herself was Kiri.

She'd gotten used to her life there over the past few months. Zabuza had given her a home again, an actual place to come back to and where she was welcome. Getting the village back on it's feet by taking command of the Hunter-nin division had given her a purpose beyond herself.

That however also meant she had strengthened a village that wasn't currently, and had never been, on friendly terms with Konoha. Zabuza wasn't likely to start a war, but she couldn't speak to what the Leaf would or wouldn't do, especially with Danzo still lurking in the shadows and Orochimaru hell bent on making Konoha fall.

If the lands of Water and Fire found themselves on opposite sides of a war Chikako wouldn't know who to fight for. She had friends in both countries. Did that make her a traitor to either? Both?

Sand crunched with every step Naruto took. His gait wasn't actually lumbering, but by comparison it sure seemed that way. She concentrated on the sound and kept her gaze on the horizon for the rest of the day. The blond tried to joke with them once or twice, get them to participate in a conversation, but neither Kakashi nor Chikako were in the mood to talk. Her sensei sometimes made non-committal grunting noises, whereas she said nothing at all.

Naruto glanced at her every few minutes, watching before he turned back around again. It took Chikako a while to figure out that he was checking whether she was still there. She should probably be flattered that he couldn't tell without looking, but that day all it did was make her feel sad.

That he kept looking probably meant he cared, but it also meant he thought she might slip away without telling them. That she might leave them behind in the middle of the desert.

Kisame couldn't tell where she was either without seeing her, but while the big, blue idiot frequently complained when she appeared out of thin air, he never checked on her like that. It was a silly thing to be hurt by. She couldn't expect Naruto to trust her after all that time, after everything she'd done. She'd explained some things earlier that day, but even with that he had to take her word for it.

Chikako almost brought up how she'd run into Sasuke back in Marsh, just to distract her blond teammate. She didn't get that far though because a very familiar Chakra signature caught her attention.

"Yata," she called and the crow swooped down to land on her shoulder. "Stay here with the others, I need to check something."

The crow hopped off of her shoulder and over to the clone carrying Pakkun. Then it cawed, saluting with one wing and thereby drowning out Naruto's protest. A moment later Chikako had completely vanished. She still couldn't use Camouflage for extended periods of time, but by now she could hold it for minutes instead of seconds. Good thing too because out in the desert dunes and the occasional rock were the only things to hide behind.

As she ran she could hear Naruto's demands for Kakashi or Pakkun to find her. Even distorted and muffled by distance he sounded a little panicked. So, once she had enough of a head start, she pulled on her bond with Kit. A moment later the fox started to move in her direction at a leisurely pace and over her shoulder she could see the rest of the group following him. Chikako watched for a little while to make sure Kit wasn't leading them astray just for fun, but then she concentrated on what was before her.

The dune wasn't too big, but still high enough that a grown man could stand behind it and not be visible from the other side. She knew exactly who she'd be seeing once she reached the top, but it still surprised her somehow.

Itachi looked tired and the hold he had on his chakra had slipped, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to sense him from as far away as she had. That in and of itself was suspicious. She knew he wasn't infallible, but she'd never noticed him make such a simple mistake either. There was also a second chakra signature that clung to him, which made Chikako's brows pull together in confusion. It was clearly human, but not only was there no one else here, the second signature was in the exact same place as Itachi's.

He had positioned himself behind the dune like one might for an ambush, right between their group and the location Yura had given her. On the upside that meant they were on the right track, but they also wouldn't get around Itachi undetected. Not to mention that he hadn't warned her about the attack on Suna and she doubted that he just happened to be in the area.

Chikako frowned at him, but then blanked her features before she let the Camouflage fall. She was still a good twenty meters away from him, yet she'd approached form the front so he should have noticed her presence. The quick widening of his eyes, however, and the fact that he immediately shifted into a fighting stance told a different story and stopped her from offering a friendly greeting.

She could feel a genjutsu trying to take hold, powerful but no match for her chakra. It unraveled almost immediately. Something Itachi would have known. Yet, there wasn't even a hint of recognition in his eyes.

The Sharingan spun lazily and she experimentally threw a kunai at his head. He dodged easily, but Chikako was already camouflaged again and calling herself a fool as she watched his blood red eyes search the sand for any hint of her presence.

The goddamned Sharingan saw chakra. He shouldn't have been surprised when she'd approached and he shouldn't have dodged that kunai because it wouldn't have hit. Itachi didn't waste energy like that. The fact that he didn't seem to recognize her she could have let go. He was a good actor and it could have been simply a precaution. The shinobi she happened to be with that day already knew she was on friendly terms with him, but if they hadn't his act would have spared her the headache of explaining it to them. The rest though practically screamed that, no matter what he looked like, this man was not Itachi Uchiha.

Chikako waited for Kit and the others to reach the top of the dune at her back. Then she used a Body Flicker to get right into the impostor's face while he was distracted by the newcomers. Her chakra claws ripped through his throat easily, tearing muscle, sinew and cartilage. His expression twisted from neutral into a horrified mask with the realization that the warm liquid running down his front was blood.

For one panicked moment Chikako thought she'd been wrong, a myriad of other possibilities like amnesia or possession roamed around in her mind. Then, accompanied by Naruto's startled shout, Itachi's chakra dissipated and her friends features melted away, leaving a man she'd never seen behind. He wore the typical Akatsuki cloak, but his skin was a few shades darker than Itachi's, his hair much shorter and brown instead of black. He didn't wear a hitai-ate either and his eyes were hazel, not black or red.

"What-?" Naruto said, trailing off at the end as if he wasn't quite sure what he wanted to ask.

Chikako shrugged, told him that she'd never seen a jutsu like that before and made to move on, but Kakashi's voice stopped her.

"You sensed Itachi and what? Decided to run ahead and fight him on your own?" Her sensei demanded. He didn't shout, but the way he forced the words out sounded pissed beyond belief.

"Of course not," Chikako said affronted. "The last time I surprised Itachi he almost took my head off. I was just going to say hello. And don't be such a hypocrite, if this had been Itachi you are the one who would have decided to fight him on your own so we could continue the mission."

Kakashi huffed, which she answered with a pointed look. They both knew she was right. His Sharingan protected him against Itachi's, at least in theory, whereas Chikako had to rely on the fact that the Uchiha meant her no harm.

"And that-" Kakashi started, but she cut him off.

"Is clearly not Itachi. Let's go, you can lecture me once we have the time to waste."

Needless to say Kakashi wasn't happy, but he didn't argue. Unlike Naruto who tried, but was shut up by a loud caw every time he opened his mouth. Chikako raised an eyebrow at Yata who lifted both wings in what was probably supposed to be a shrug. Sometimes she really loved the annoying little pest.

. . .

They didn't run into any more trouble after that and once they reached the place Yura had described to her, Chikako sent Yata back to lead Team Gai to their location.

The cave's entrance was big, but sealed by an equally huge boulder with an active seal tag on it. Chikako prodded the thing for a while, unsure what would take as much chakra as was flowing through that thing and how it could possibly remain stable like that. She couldn't read it and the patterns weren't familiar to her in the least. That likely meant it wasn't there to shield and hopefully wouldn't explode.

"Take a few steps back," she said absentmindedly, flicking a hand at the others to give her some space. She called a chakra barrier up behind her so that they wouldn't be hit with anything if the seal exploded after all. Then she placed her hands on either side of the tag and let her chakra flow through the seal, slowly tracing it backwards.

Whoever had created the thing knew what they were doing and she almost tripped a fail safe three times in her effort to unravel the jutsu. Chakra crackled beneath her fingers as she chewed her lower lip and sometimes tiny plumes of smoke rose from the paper. After nearly half an hour though she'd burned all the ink out of the seal, effectively neutralizing it.

Chikako heaved a sigh, wiped sweat from her brow and took a step back.

"Any idea how to get that rock out of the way?"

She hadn't even fully turned around by the time Pakkun let out a startled yelp and Naruto yelled, "I got it!"

His clone, apparently as bored as the original had been during the wait, had dropped the dog in order to help Naruto form a rather impressive looking jutsu. The blond had also summoned a second clone to do the same. It was that spinning chakra ball he'd used on the roof of the hospital when he and Sasuke had clashed after the chunin exam. The Yondaime's Rasengan, if she wasn't mistaken. Only this time Naruto held the jutsu, one clone made it spin and the other added Wind natured chakra into the mix.

Kakashi's chakra surged in surprise, matching her own. As far as she was aware nobody had ever managed to use that technique with a chakra nature, and Naruto, even though he accomplished it in a really weird way, seemed to not even notice just how impressive that was.

When he was done both clones popped out of existence and the original Naruto leaped at the rock with a shout before anyone had a chance to stop him. Chikako threw up another chakra barrier the instant he passed her and slapped a seal on it for good measure.

As soon as the blond's Rasengan impacted, the rock was ripped apart and stone splinters flew in all directions, tearing up the surrounding area. Quite a number hit her barrier as well, creating a curtain of pulsing blue light as the force was absorbed and redirected.

Naruto hadn't gotten off that easily though. His clothes were torn in several places and blood trickled out of a myriad of small cuts.

Chikako didn't comment, even though she had about a thousand snarky remarks on the tip of her tongue. Instead she looked him over for anything that needed immediate attention, found nothing and then headed into the cave. That attack had not only released a ton of chakra, it had also been loud enough that announcing their presence with a marching band wouldn't have had a greater effect. With the element of surprise firmly not on their side anymore the next best option was speed.

They'd already talked about who would fight whom so there was no need to go over anything else now. As yokai, poison affected Kit and Sune differently and they could burn it out the same way Chikako could if they needed to. The three of them would engage Sasori in combat, while Kakashi and Naruto took on Deidara.

The only problem was that they weren't supposed to fight inside the goddamned cave. Tons of stone over one's head didn't mix well with explosives, but Naruto didn't mix well with stealth either, so she really should have known something like this was going to happen.

Chikako used Camouflage to scout a head, but there wasn't much to see. The tunnel that led inside was more or less straight without any nooks or crannies to hide in. It opened up into a big cavern that was empty except for a gigantic statue. Chikako couldn't make out much in the dim light and didn't dare use her chakra sight because the place was completely saturated with the Ichibi's energy, to the point that it overshadowed anything else.

The statue's mouth was open, showing a set of sharp fangs. It didn't seem to have a nose, but instead of two, nine eyes were present on it's face. One in the center and four to either side. It's hands were held forwards, palms up, fingers slightly curled and on their tips stood eight shadowy figures.

Gaara's body hung in the air between the hands and his chakra seemed to be sucked into the statue through the mouth, guided by the members of Akatsuki. He was still alive, but also clearly in a lot of pain. Chikako grit her teeth at the sight and waved her companions forward just as the statue began to rumble. It poofed out of existence only seconds later, the same way a clone or summon might, and Gaara's body hit the ground like a stone.

All but two of the figures had vanished with the statue and so had most of the chakra, so that Chikako could identify the remaining two as Deidara and Sasori, or his puppet anyway.

"Gaara!" Naruto shouted, rushing past her.

The blond leaped at the pupped with another Rasengan in hand. The metal tail swiped at him, impacting mid-air and throwing him into a wall. Just like the rock, the cave's inside didn't stand a chance against the spinning ball of chakra either. It wasn't enough to rip a second entrance into the stone, but it forced Chikako to shield everyone else from the shrapnel that attack inevitably caused.

The only upside was that this time Naruto had used a clone to storm ahead and so didn't cause himself any more harm than he already had. The thing had to be remarkably stable to survive that first hit, but the crash that followed and being skewered by sharp shards of rock were too much for it.

The chakra expenditure of having to create a barrier forced Chikako out of Camouflage and she just barely resisted shouting at Naruto. They used to be able to fight as a team without even thinking about their actions, but it seemed like those times were over.

"We'll take the Kazekage if you don't mind," Chikako told the two Akatsuki and then threw Sasori's puppet a cold glance. "And I want my sword back."

The puppet laughed in that unnatural voice, a short, menacing bark. It didn't look any better than the last time she'd seen it, missing an arm and half scorched from the bomb that had ended their fight. Her wakizashi was actually still stuck in it's back too.

"Come and get it," the puppet rasped.

Deidara, apparently feeling left out, threw a bunch of tiny white things in their direction shouting, "get this!"

They were infused with chakra and Chikako didn't have to be a genius to know that they would explode. She jumped backwards, managing to leave two chakra barriers, both strengthened with a seal, between her team and the Akatsuki. The first one shattered as the little bombs detonated with surprising force and the second came far too close for comfort. She really didn't want to know how much destructive power the bigger ones he'd used against Gaara had.

While Deidara crowed about how his art was better than that of his partner, Chikako signed behind her back for Sune to get the Akatsuki out of the cave and for Kit to get Gaara out of harms way. Kit still refused to learn Morse code, but he'd gotten tired of not being able to understand when Sune and Jiro signed to each other, so he'd relented and learned the basics of that at least.

The male kitsune slunk into the shadows to her right and started to circle around the two Akatsuki. Meanwhile his sister shifted into her human form. Her fluffy, white tail swished from side to side while she wove a net of genjutsu around the cave.

Deidara, as expected, slowly began to inch his way towards the cave's entrance. His partner, however, wasn't affected at all. In fact, he made to hold the blond back, so Chikako had to intervene by attacking him. She'd rather not fight while Gaara was still in the line of fire, but there was no helping it.

"Hurry up," she told Sune, then sprinted at the puppet.

The tail swiped low, but Chikako easily vaulted over it, making sure to draw the puppet's eyes away from Kit's position. She wasn't entirely sure if Sasori was actually inside and whether he had another way to know what was going on around him, but it couldn't hurt to take precautions.

That Sune's genjutsu didn't seem to affect him in the least worried her a little. She couldn't even tell if he'd actually noticed the illusion or merely his partner's odd behavior. He didn't give her time to try and figure it out either.

"Which one of you is the jinchuriki?" The puppet asked. It's tail thrusting forward like a spear this time. The motion seemed almost lazy. Chikako sidestepped without a problem, but without her wakizashi she needed to get a lot closer to do damage. Her chakra claws were nice against squishy things like humans, but didn't do so well when she couldn't just lay throats open or rip hearts out. neither of which was likely to have an impact on the puppet.

By then Deidara had moved past her and was almost out of the cave. He kept throwing bombs at Naruto and Kakashi, but thanks to Sune's genjutsu none came even close to hitting them. They couldn't go near him because of the constant explosions either though.

The puppet noticed her focus and the next time the tail struck it wasn't headed for her. She merely happened to be in it's way and had to dodge anyway, which meant she didn't realize in time that his real target was Deidara. She couldn't let him break the genjutsu though, so Chikako jumped to kick the tail, thereby throwing it's trajectory off. The thing behaved like the giant, metal whip it was and the half that had already passed her came swinging back around. It crashed right through her hastily thrown up barrier and ripped a good chunk of flesh out of her left thigh.

Chikako fell to her knees, snarling. She pretended to hunch over in pain, while she staunched the blood flow with chakra and when the puppet attacked again she used a Body Flicker to meet it head on. Kit had reached Gaara and with Deidara out of the cave that meant she only had to take care of herself.

A barrier deflected the tail as she rushed past and jumped over the pupped, ripping her wakizashi out of it's back on the way. She landed behind her opponent with a smirk, but it vanished when the puppet's eerie laughter filled the cave once more.

"Are you finally going to play now that your friend is safe?" It asked, implying that he could have stopped the whole thing had he wanted to. "I believe we still have a score to settle little Wraith. Leader-sama has informed me that the Uchiha and his traitor partner were supposed to kill you, but I have something better planned."

"Oh yeah?" She asked, putting as much bravado into her voice as she could manage. "What's that?"

"First I'll rip out your entrails," the puppet almost hummed, starting to circle. Chikako matched him step for step, not willing to let him get behind her for even a second.

"Then I'll skin you and clean out all the blood."

His tail swiped again, the attack covering a clacking noise. A moment later the cave started to fill with an invisible, odorless gas. Chikako only knew it was there because her skin started to prickle by the time the puppet continued.

"I'll treat your body so that the flesh won't decay and then I'll turn it into an eternal piece of art."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Chikako huffed, deliberately taking faster, more shallow breaths than she needed to. She was only guessing as to the effect the poison should have had, but that he'd used another one on her clearly meant he hadn't yet figured out that it didn't matter which one he chose.

"You'll make a fine support puppet with those barriers," the hulking thing mused.

Instead of answering Chikako pretended to stumble. She didn't just fall though, she rolled and sprang up again as fast as she'd gone down, using her opponents confusion to close the distance between them. Chakra flowed through the steel of her wakizashi as she swiped at the puppets head.

The thing managed to rear back slightly, so while most of the head got flung away, the lower jaw was still attached by a few pieces of flesh, making the puppet look even more grotesque. The hole that would have been the trachea on a human emitted a few fast clicking noises and Chikako managed to jump out of the way just in time to avoid getting turned into a pincushion by dozens of senbon, no doubt coated in poison.

Instead of going backwards she'd moved along the puppet's right side, which put her in the perfect position to ram her blade into it, tip first. With the help of her chakra the steel easily cut through whatever mechanisms it met on it's way, but then she had to move out of range again in order to not get crushed by the tail.

This time it had come down with the flat side first, which clearly didn't impact it's destructive power if the cracks in the stone were any indication. It wasn't as impressive as what Sakura had done in the desert, but just as deadly. The other kunoichi's strength would have come in really handy right about now, but then so was Kit.

The kitsune had brought Gaara outside, where Sune now stood guard.

"Crack that thing open for me?" Chikako asked, drawing the puppets attention to herself.

Meanwhile Kit shifted into his human form behind the thing and unleashed the same cutting jutsu he'd used in Earth. The sad tatters that had been left of the puppet's clothing practically disintegrated under the assault and the flesh was stripped from it's bones, or underlying mechanisms in this case.

The figure that emerged from the shattered pieces was unmistakably Sasori of the Red Sand. Only, he looked exactly as in the photo accompanying his Bingo Book entry. A picture that was over a decade old.

He appeared perfectly human if one overlooked the complete absence of flaws, but his chakra was still only concentrated in the place his heart should be. He'd described turning her into a human puppet earlier. Eternal beauty, no decay, meaning no aging. It hadn't sounded particularly pleasant even then, but seeing the evidence of what he'd done to himself? It made her stumble backwards in shock, giving him enough time to pull a scroll out of his Akatsuki cloak.

"This one gave me trouble too," he said with an eerie smile his puppet face couldn't quite accommodate. "That's why he is my favorite, but maybe you'll take his place."

The puppet he summoned was more than a head taller than him, with dark, wild hair and yellow eyes. It wore a black cloak with a furry collar and no other distinguishing features, but Chikako had seen that man before, pictures of him at least.

"Is that-?" She trailed of, disbelief coloring her tone.

Sasori smiled at her with a friendly nod.

"The Sandaime Kazekage," he declared, obviously proud that he'd killed his village's leader.

Ten years ago the man had suddenly disappeared without a trace and Raiza, Gaara's father had taken his place. His body had never been found and there was wild speculation as to what had happened to him.

The puppet made clicking sounds as it moved. Jerky at first, but then it suddenly rushed forward so fast that Chikako had a hard time dodging the curved blades that had shot out of it's right sleeve. They seemed attached to the back of it's arm and added a good thirty centimeters of range to the appendage.

"Kit!" She called as she ducked under the next attack and kicked at the puppet's legs.

Unlike the other one this one didn't actually need to be in contact with the ground though and easily avoided her by moving upwards. Gears whired in it's left arm, then that sleeve got torn apart from the inside, revealing several panels with seals on them. She didn't recognize these either, but they were the same style as the one that had been outside on the rock, albeit much simpler.

This time Chikako didn't get a chance to dismantle them though. Chakra smoke exploded from the ink and mere seconds later dozen's of puppet arms followed. She snapped a barrier in place and at the same time Kit let another storm of chakra blades tear through the wood.

"You have no appreciation for fine art," Sasori complained haughtily as the puppet's mouth fell open. Sand, the likes of which could be found on some of Kiri's beaches, flowed out. It was so full of iron that it looked black and was heavier than regular sand. Being able to control it had made the Sandaime Kazekage a terror on the battlefield. It also explained why Sasori thought he'd be able to use her barriers if he turned her into a puppet. It seemed he'd left out a few important details when he'd explained the process earlier.

The sand was saturated with chakra and floated through the air like a thundercloud. With a gesture from Sasori it split into hundreds of tiny balls and another flick of the wrist had them shoot outwards in all directions.

Chikako abruptly cut of her bond to Kit, pushing enough energy through the connection to disrupt his chakra and force him back into the Void. At the same time she placed the seal she usually used to strengthen her chakra barrier onto her blade and swung the wakizashi in an arc in front of her body, pulling on and releasing as much natural energy as she could with the motion.

There was no way a barrier would have held against that attack, not to mention that Kit had been too far away for her to cover him. That didn't automatically make what she'd done instead a good idea though.

The rush of natural energy burned the pathways of her arm and hand, making the muscles cramp around the hilt of her sword. The flesh looked and smelled vaguely cooked, but the chakra had also made most of the Iron Sand bullets disintegrate into dust.

Chikako fell to her knees, heaving as if she'd run a marathon. She'd never actually tried this particularl technique before and another glance at her hand left her wrinkling her nose. It hurt like a bitch, yet wouldn't move at all. She had to break some of the fingers to pry them apart and move the wakizashi to her left hand.

On the other side of the cave Sasori looked stricken. Her attack hadn't only stopped his, it had also cut his puppet in half and diagonally torn through his own body. He'd lost everything below his torso and only the shoulder and upper arm remained on his right side, while the hand was missing from the left.

Chikako blinked at him, not trusting that this was it. A metal cable that looked oddly like entrails lay in loops beneath his body, but even though the stumps of his arms moved, nothing else did. She was just about to comment on the inconvenience of being a puppeteer without fingers when a cough wracked her body. It tore through her lungs like pins and needles and ended with her spitting hot blood onto the stone.

"Great," Chikako muttered, wiping her mouth with her left hand and glaring at Sasori's grinning face. He actually threw his head back to laugh a moment later, much less distorted than when he'd been inside of the other puppet, but just as creepy.

She'd probably breathed in some of the Iron Sand dust, something her lungs apparently objected to.

"Shall we finish this crawling?" Sasori giggled, when Chikako tried to get back on her feet only to slip on the fine dust and crash back to the ground.

"You could always give up," she shot back. "I promise to find a nice shop window to display you in."

That elicited another chuckle from her opponent. He kept laughing while Chikako took his advice and crawled over towards him, but by then it was a cover as much as real mirth. A single chakra string had formed at his wrist and slowly started to creep towards the top half of his Sandaime puppet.

Chikako let him believe he had the upper hand until it passed her, then she poured chakra into her blade and used it as a conduit to unravel the string. His face morphed into an approximation of anger and this time she was the one laughing.

"We're like the worst opponents for each other," she huffed as she dragged herself over the ground. The leg the metal tail of his first puppet had torn a chunk out of twitched occasionally, muscles too weak to handle the exertion. She still had enough chakra to keep it from bleeding all over the place, but it wasn't enough to make it move or adequately suppress the pain that radiated from the wound. Her right hand and most of the arm were useless as well, but that didn't keep her from trying to distract Sasori with more chatter while she closed in on him.

"Your poison does jack shit to me and my usual style of going for the vital organs and other weak spots of the human body seems rather useless against you."

"Indeed," he agreed, shuffling around in place. He was no doubt trying to get another one of those nasty mechanisms to skewer her with needles or cut her up some more. "You will make a fine addition to my collection."

Chikako's eyes didn't widen when a fan of blades emerged from his back and shredded the upper half of his cloak. She didn't try to roll out of the way when they came down either. Instead she threw her left arm forward, shoving the wakizashi through the core of chakra in his chest.

More blood trickled from her mouth as Sasori's head fell forward. From her angle on the ground she could see the artificial smile pulling at his lips.

"So we'll die together then," he rasped. "What a waste."

Chikako, not quite sure yet that he was wrong, didn't attempt to correct him. Instead she poured what little chakra she had left into the Summoning Tattoo only to remember that Jiro wasn't in the Void. He'd stayed back in Kiri and she'd let him because she hadn't expected she'd need his help. She didn't have enough energy to call Kit back either and Sune was somewhere outside, presumably still guarding Gaara's body.

"Fuck," she huffed, spitting more blood. She couldn't actually sense anyone nearby.

With no allies in range and the friendly summons she knew out of reach Chikako did the next best thing. She called Anwei.


	58. XIII - On the Edge of Death

**A/N:**

Still don't have a lot of time, so the next few chapters are likely to take a while as well.

Kragh50

I don't think I can comment on any of that without spoilers. So, thanks for your review and enjoy the chapter.

cassianaswindell123

I'm afraid beggars can't be choosers, but I'm not a fan of Anwei either.

Homarid

And thank you for your review.

sarahmchugs

I think Anwei goes through body parts like other people go through underwear.

Elise142

Gaara's fate is going to be dealt with during the next (few) chapter(s), for now there is just a little more awkwardness.

Peruna

I kind of wanted to draw the Sasori fight out, but Chikako usually goes for a quick kill and without Chiyo there to taunt Sasori he didn't seem like someone who liked playing around too much either.

The marching band phrase was on purpose. I wasn't sure about that either though. As far as I know no marching bands have ever appeared in the manga or anime. Th Elemental Nations do have the technology to create the necessary instruments though and they seem as inspired by Japan's Warring States period and old myths as they are by the 21st century, so it didn't seem like too much of a reach.

Kakashi is gonna have words with Chikako at some point, but not quite yet.

The disguised Akatsuki was Mukade. In cannon both Mukade and Yura are Sasori's spies and are transformed into Kisame and Itachi. Mukade is said to be another Suna nin, but he doesn't appear at any point before the confrontation.

KijoKuroi

I think you are very much too concerned. Chikako did learn from the last time she'd dealt with Anwei.

Diehard gamer

Thank you.

NightsBlackRose13

Giving Anwei a heart in return for keeping her from bleeding out would kind of defeat the purpose. Not that that makes Anwei any friendlier, but he isn't quite that unreasonable.

Risika42tg

If you absolutely want to avoid cliff hangers you are probably better of not reading this chapter until at least the next one has been published.

. . .

 **XIII - On the Edge of Death**

Anwei's appearance was just as pleasant as the last time Chikako had called him. His dark gray skin had a leathery texture, some patches rough and dry, while others seemed almost slimy. His belly was still bloated, but there was no hair at all on him and the eyes - her eyes - were barely more than raisins.

The ghoulish yokai looked around as if he expected something to jump out at him from the shadows. His skeletal hands twitched nervously as his head swiveled from side to side, as he took in the cave. Shredded parts of puppets lay everywhere. Wood, metal and flesh scattered all over the place and covered in a thin blanket if Iron Sand dust.

"I can't be here," Anwei whispered urgently. "If the fox finds out - No, no, can't be here."

He kept rambling, repeating the same two phrases like a mantra as he shifted on his feet. Chikako couldn't tell whether this madness was just born of fear or if it was part of the rotting and replacing parts cycle.

The fox he kept mentioning was no doubt Kit and she wondered what her friend had done to him. It was clearly bad enough to scare a creature that looked as if it existed on the edge of death at all times, but apparently not so bad that it overruled it's greed. Or maybe that was survival instinct. She had no idea what would happen to him if too much of his body rotted away. In fact, she didn't know why he rotted at all and right now she didn't care either.

Not all of the blades from Sasori's last attack had hit her, but the three that currently pierced her shoulder and chest were more than enough for her taste. They were the worst wounds she had, but as long as she stayed relatively still the metal that had cut her open also acted as a stopper, keeping the blood inside of her where it belonged.

Chikako refrained from pointing out that Anwei was under no obligation to answer her summons. Instead she let her wakizashi vanish and threw a small stone at his head to get his attention. She hadn't used a lot of force - couldn't even had she wanted to from her position on the floor, but the little projectile still tore off some of the slimy skin and she wrinkled her nose when it peeled away.

Anwei smelled just as disgusting as he looked, but at least he'd stopped muttering for the moment.

"Heal me and I'll give you a pair of eyes that won't rot," she offered. Her voice sounded more or less even, but she had to swallow blood to keep from coughing. If he knew how badly she was injured and that there was no one else around to help he might decide to bargain for more.

Anwei's jaw slowly slid open and then snapped shut again with a clack. He cocked his head as if inspecting her, but Chikako couldn't for the life of her tell whether he could actually see anything.

"Eternal eyes?" He demanded, the sound half-wheeze, half-whisper and full of longing. He wanted them, but he didn't believe her. He'd take the bargain anyway though, because if she let it stand like that she'd be forced to give him eternal eyes, or give him eyes for eternity.

"No, not eternal," she stressed. "I said they won't rot."

Anwei snarled, a wet sound accompanied by brown spittle. It dripped down his chin and when it hit the stone there was a tiny hissing noise. Smoke rose in a thin trail as the stone began to melt, leaving Chikako wide eyed.

"Do you want them or not?" She pressed, subtly shifting her legs away from Anwei's position. She couldn't go far, but every centimeter between her and that acidic saliva was a win in her book. She hadn't known the slimy, little bastard was actually dangerous, but then she really should have. He was yokai after all and she'd yet to meet one that couldn't kill. Even Jiro with his fluffy fur and whiny attitude had blood on his paws.

"Eyes, yes," Anwei said, head jerking around. He seemed off, far less eloquent than the last time she'd dealt with him.

"And will you heal me? Can you?"

"Of course!" The yokai took a step towards her, suddenly sounding affronted. "I can heal all, I am death!" He declared. Chikako didn't believe him, not that last part at least. Kit merely herded souls and he was far more powerful than Anwei. She didn't doubt that this yokai had something to do with death, all healers did and there was the fact that he seemed to be dying at an accelerated rate without ever truly being dead, but he wasn't like the Shinigami the Sandaime Hokage had summoned.

"Okay, so the deal is you heal me and I give you eyes that won't rot. Agreed?"

Anwei's head jerked again, half a nod, but then he stopped himself, eyes going wide.

"You can't tell the fox," he insisted with a sudden urgency she didn't understand. His dried-out eyes were darting around as if he saw something she couldn't, which made her paranoid. There was nothing here, no one but them.

"What can't I tell Kit?"

"That I was here," the yokai shrieked, starting to hyperventilate. "You can't. I'm not allowed to talk to you. Not allowed. No. Need to hurry. Hurry, fast."

"Fine," Chikako ground out, forcing the muscles of her neck to stiffen to hold the cough, that tickled her throat, back a little while longer. "Heal me then."

Anwei didn't hesitate. He moved over as if shoved, sudden and jerky, no grace at all. Chikako was prepared for the pain that came with healing when he laid his gnarled hands on her body, but there was nothing. Just warm chakra flooding her system, knitting organs, muscle, skin and bone.

She'd just gotten used to the odd sensation when a sharp pain lanced through her. Anwei had pulled one of the knives out. The second and third followed in quick succession. She should probably be grateful that he hadn't just healed around them. She'd half expected him to, but she'd also been afraid of making the deal too complicated by demanding he heal her a certain way. The more complex a contract was the more space for loopholes were left.

She'd listened when Kit had taught her. She also wasn't averse at all to keep this little incident to herself when she told him what had happened later. He'd call her a fool for summoning Anwei again and he'd be right, but she couldn't afford to bleed out in this cave and she couldn't afford to be crippled for months either.

The chunk of muscle Sasori had torn out of her leg would have slowed her down too much, but Anwei made it grow back in seconds instead of weeks. The damage to her lungs, both from the blades and the Iron Sand dust, would have cost her stamina. Her right arm would have been completely useless for who knew how long. She cooked the damn thing by pushing as much natural energy through it as she had and Anwei just made the cells regenerate. The puffy, red flesh fell off in clumps and beneath it was pristine new skin. Even the faint scars that had marred it before were gone. The fingers she had broken to free her wakizashi straightened out at Anwei's touch. Bone snapped back into place and sealed up as if he'd simply turned back the clock.

Chikako couldn't tell how he healed. Because of the demon chakra it didn't hurt her like when a shinobi medic took care of her wounds, but his technique itself was also unlike anything she'd ever seen. She wouldn't be all that surprised to learn he actually manipulated time, to reverse wounds, instead of healing them. Then again, if he could do that there was no need for him to rot away like he did.

When he was done she felt both tired and hungry, but nothing hurt anymore. Chikako finally let herself cough, spitting out black slime that was two parts Iron Sand dust and one part blood, then she took a deep lung full of air. It smelled rotten, but at least it was painless.

"Eyes," Anwei called, impatiently snapping his fingers at her.

If she'd had glass marbles she'd have drawn pupils on those and handed them over, but as it was she had to play fair. Chikako pointed at Sasori's head. She didn't know about the other puppets but the only part of Sasori that had still been flesh was the one that had held his chakra, the one she'd skewered with her wakizashi to kill him. Whatever those eyes were made out of, he'd clearly been able to see with them and a man that valued eternal youth so much that he turned himself into a puppet wouldn't have created something that couldn't withstand time.

Anwei was gone a moment later, leaving the eye sockets of Sasori's head empty. She pitied the redhead a little. He'd wanted forever and now he was nothing but a sad collection of spare parts. That feeling only lasted until the anger at his part in Gaara's abduction took over though. No matter what had happened to make Sasori into the man he had become, he'd hurt one of her friends and given a chance she'd kill him a thousand times over for it.

Chikako called her wakizashi again, severed the head from what was left of the puppeteer's torso, then searched his remains to collect anything that seemed useful and walked over to the cave's entrance. Her pack was still there, she couldn't even remember when she'd dropped it, but except for a layer of Iron Sand dust it seemed fine. She stuffed the head as well as the scrolls she'd found on Sasori in it and left.

The desert outside looked much as it had before, the only difference being that the sand had melted into glass in some places, leaving an impressive trail of destruction - or art she supposed. Chikako turned slowly, using her newly healed hand to shield her eyes against the sun.

There was nothing far and wide, only desert, sky and a few lonely rocks. She could sense a lizard that had chosen to stay around despite the fighting, but there was no other living creature within her range.

Chikako sighed and decided to follow the glass. The rest of the Konoha nin should have been here by now, but she couldn't risk waiting for them in case Kakashi and Naruto needed help. There was also the small matter of finding Sune, who had been supposed to watch over Gaara. Not to mention that Chikako might be the one lagging behind. If something had happened Sakura and Team Gai might have already passed the cave.

In any case, there was no point sitting around. The wind had already started to cover the trail of glass and if she didn't hurry it might blow over completely.

Chikako ran at a steady pace, fast, but without using chakra to increase her speed. She didn't have all that much left. It would hopefully be enough to fight if she mostly used natural energy seals with her barriers and she could handle a few more Body Flickers, but that was about it. Definitely no more summons or Fox Fire before she had about a week's worth of food and a good night's sleep.

Interrogating councilman Yura the way she had had taken too much out of her. Inflicting physical pain on him would likely have had no better result than using the Fox Fire, but at least it wouldn't have cost her nearly as much chakra. The few hours of sleep she'd gotten hadn't been enough for her reserves to fully recover and with the added strain of calling Kit, neither had the travel time.

She'd killed her opponent by sheer luck as much as skill, and that just didn't sit right with her. She couldn't have planned for the Iron Sand. That only proved, however, that she still needed to work on her defensive and offensive seals. They were useful, but she couldn't risk drawing natural energy through her own body like that again. Any number of things could have happened and simply burning her arm was probably one of the better outcomes, owed to the fact that the desert was mostly uninhabited and its energy almost uniform.

. . .

Naruto's chakra raged in the distance. Dozens upon dozens of Shadow Clones popping in and out of existence. As she got closer Chikako could hear their furious shouting, broken up by explosions. Blue light shimmered and rapidly expanding balls of fire flung sand outward, leaving more glass behind.

Chikako didn't waste any chakra on using Camouflage, in all the chaos it was pretty unlikely someone would spot her. She used cover when it presented itself, but mostly she just ran in a straight line.

There was a forest of dead trees in the desert. They looked almost petrified and above the empty crowns flew the white bird she'd first spotted in Suna. Naruto's clones were scattered all over the place, keeping it from taking of with a constant barrage of attacks.

Kakashi on the other hand stood further away, hands held in front of him, likely in a seal Chikako couldn't see from her position. He didn't react to her approach at all, which likely meant he was deep in concentration. She reached him just when whatever jutsu he'd been charging up released.

Deidara, still on his bird and throwing explosives like the maniac he was, was distracted by the many Naruto's. She'd noticed that his left side had been drenched in blood after his fight against Gaara, but it only now became apparent that he'd lost the arm.

The air around him shimmered, distorting everything around Deidara's right side. It was completely saturated with Kakashi's chakra. The effect only lasted for a few seconds, during which it seemed as if the world was sucked into a black hole. Most of Deidara's right arm vanished with the jutsu, leaving behind a bloody stump.

The blond didn't scream, but his bird pulled around and out of Naruto's range as it crashed through tree branches and rose up again further away. Kakashi cursed under his breath, holding a hand over his left eye. The standard jonin uniform he preferred to wear was intact and free of blood, so Chikako wasn't too worried about any wounds he might have sustained. His breath was heavy though and his chakra pulsed in uneven beats.

She gasped when he pulled the hand away from his face again, revealing a Sharingan quite unlike the one she was used to. It didn't have the same pattern as Itachi's Mangekyo, but she was willing to bet that that was exactly what it was. It also clearly took a far greater toll on him. Chikako didn't know how long he'd used it, but by now his chakra reserves were so depleted, that she could watch as the Mangekyo's black pinwheel turned back into the regular Sharingan's three tomoe.

Meanwhile Naruto and his clones howled, racing after Deidara's retreating form. His chakra had already been shot through with that of the Kyubi, but it got worse with each passing second. His clones ran atop each other in a mad frenzy as red chakra slowly began to bubble up around him. By the time they had formed a sort of pyramid and the last clone threw the real Naruto into the air he was completely coated and the chakra had formed what looked like weirdly thin fox ears and a tail.

Naruto's right arm lashed out at Deidara's bird, falling just short of it's target, but then the chakra suddenly surged. A red claw of energy stretched to bridge the distance and ripped the birds head off. Naruto as well as the two parts of bird plummeted to the ground like stones, but Deidara managed to jump away in the opposite direction.

Next to her Kakashi made a strangled noise, somewhere between alarm and triumph. He rushed forward just as a second tail began to form and Naruto's features turned beastly.

"Hold him!" He snapped, rushing forward.

Chikako didn't hesitate. One didn't need to be a genius to figure out that the Kyubi was breaking through, just like the Ichibi had with Gaara. She just hoped Kakashi knew what he was doing, because she was so not up to fighting another biju.

A Body Flicker catapulted her ahead of her sensei and right in Naruto's path. The blond snarled at her with canines that were decidedly too long for a human. His eyes had gone red, the pupils slitted and the expression on his face was feral. Chikako didn't think he even recognized her.

She grabbed him by the throat with her right hand and with her left she locked one of his wrists in place. It was enough to shift his focus from Deidara to her, but that also meant he used his free arm to claw at her. The chakra barrier she put in place to protect herself didn't even form fully and he had no problem shattering it. His now pointy and very sharp nails tore into her while he growled and tried to bite her face off.

Chikako managed to keep his teeth at a distance, but the cloak of chakra surrounding him ate away at her skin like acid. Not just hers though, it seemed to be doing the same to him, albeit slower due to his insane healing. It took less than two seconds for Kakashi to catch up and slap a paper seal onto Naruto's forehead. That seemed to suppress his demon chakra completely, but by then his skin was pink all over and her hands looked as if someone had boiled them in hot water. Not to mention the three deep gashes that ran from her right shoulder blade, all the way around her ribs and ended in the front at her hip.

Chikako grimaced. The pain was bad, but she was mostly pissed because she'd just gotten herself healed and as low on chakra as she was she couldn't even do anything about these wounds until after she'd recovered. She clenched her fists in frustration, then immediately opened them again with a hiss. These burns weren't as bad as what she'd done to herself, but they still left the skin raw.

Deidara's chakra was suspiciously absent. It seemed as if he'd run and that suited her just fine. Of the three of them Kakashi seemed like the only one still able to fight and he was barely standing.

"Fuck," Chikako grumbled, plopping onto the sand like a wet sack.

Next to her Naruto led out a pained moan. He'd collapsed when the seal had hit him and now looked rather dazed. His confused gaze traveled over her form, filling with guilt when he noticed her hand's and the fresh blood, but then it snapped to the remains of Deidara's bird.

"Gaara," he gasped, scrambling to his feet and running over to the head. His skin already looked almost normal again, but every hint of demon chakra had vanished.

Chikako frowned at his back and then her eyes went wide when he pulled the redhead out of the bird's beak. She was up so fast that her first step was more of a stumble, but she made it over to Naruto without falling flat on her face.

"Is he ...?" The blond whimpered, trailing off at the end.

This close Chikako could sense Gaara's chakra, but it was barely there, not much more than a tiny spark. She checked his breathing and pulse as well just to be sure. They were both there, but just as weak. She couldn't explain why though, there were a few scratches on his body and his clothing was dirty, but other than that he seemed fine. She couldn't detect any hint that he might have been poisoned either.

"Chikako?" Naruto asked after she'd been quiet for too long. He sounded so hopeful that even the thought of answering him broke her heart. The words got stuck in her throat and she had to choke them out.

"He's alive, but I don't think he'll stay that way for much longer."

"No. Gaara is strong. He'll heal he-" Naruto started, shaking his head in denial, then he cut himself off and babbled about Sakura instead. The kunoichi was a healer, Tsunade's apprentice. If they could only get Gaara to her he'd be fine.

Chikako didn't think so. This, whatever it was, didn't look like something that could be fixed by knitting flesh back together, but she straightened anyway and looked around to orient herself. Navigating the desert could be tricky and it was easy to get turned around, but she'd spend months in Wind, long enough to lead them towards Suna.

Kakashi took Naruto's bag, while the blond heaved Gaara's still form onto his shoulder to carry him. The way back was long and Chikako really hoped they'd run into the other team on the way. Her hands hurt and that wound in her side slowed her down far more than she'd have liked.

Kakashi held her back when she started to move, eliciting a protest from both her and Naruto. He favored them with a hard glare, then rooted around in one of the bags until he found a first aid kit and pointedly wrapped a bandage around Chikako's torso. It looked weird because he'd done it over her clothing and it was too tight, but it more or less stopped the blood flow. She wrinkled her nose at the crude job, but had to admit that it was a good idea. As low on chakra as she was she couldn't keep herself from bleeding out the way she normally did and the fact that her vision went blurry whenever she moved too fast should have clued her in to that some time ago.

This particular wound was in no way life-threatening, but she'd already lost too much blood earlier, something Anwei clearly hadn't remedied. Sneaky little bastard.

She drew the line though when Kakashi went for her hands next. They didn't have time for that and she could deal with sand in those wounds. The skin was a bubbly mess, red and weeping clear liquid. It looked disgusting and reminded her far too much of Anwei, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Bandages wouldn't help, which meant they couldn't waste the time while Gaara was in critical condition.

"You can play nursemaid later," she growled, turning to get out of Kakashi's reach. Her sensei let out a long suffering sigh, but fell into step without comment when Naruto and her rushed back towards Suna.

He didn't think they'd make it in time Chikako realized and she glared at him over her shoulder. Anger rushed through her, at herself and Kakashi, because she didn't think they'd make it either.

"We have to try," she ground out, unsure who she was trying to convince. Her answer was silence, but she felt his chakra shift into a sort of resigned calmness. It was depressing and so she pushed herself a little harder, ran a little faster.

Sadly putting distance between them didn't make Kakashi wrong. Chikako wasn't a medic, but she knew what dying people looked like. Gaara was too pale, his lips had a slight blue tinge from lack of oxygen, his breathing was too shallow, his pulse barely there. There was no wound for Sakura to heal and make things better either. His chakra, while almost completely gone, was fine. Any living thing would eventually die if all of it's chakra was permanently depleted, but even at his worst Kakashi had never been this weak and she'd seen him with ridiculously low chakra levels plenty over the years. He'd been unconscious, sure, but not like this.

There was a possibility that Gaara simply needed rest and that was what Chikako clung to to keep going. She had to force herself to believe that. Every instinct she had told her that her friend's death was only a matter of time. That wasn't something she was willing to accept though, so she took a page out of Naruto's book and went with stubborn optimism instead.

Sasori was dead, Deidara had lost both of his arms and fled, Suna was save and Gaara would damn well live to see it.

"Where is Sune by the way?"

The fox had been supposed to protect Gaara after Kit had gotten him out of the cave and Chikako had definitely sensed her with the redhead at some point, but there hadn't been a single trace of the yokai when she'd caught up with Kakashi and Naruto.

"When her genjutsu broke Deidara snatched Gaara away from her," Kakashi said. He was quiet for a moment after that, apparently gauging Chikako's reaction. She had no idea what he was looking for. All she did was wave her hand for him to go on, while her expression remained one of mild curiosity. He sighed, seemingly disappointed, but complied. "She managed to get on the bird with him, but he forced her off with a number of small explosions. Almost got away too, but your fox trapped him in another genjutsu and made sure we could catch up.

"She'd almost gotten him to land in the end, but then she vanished. I'm assuming due to using up all of her chakra. By that point Deidara was angry enough to fight us instead of flee and you saw the rest."

Chikako grimaced. Kit wouldn't have had that problem because of the bond, but since she didn't have a contract with Sune, the female kitsune couldn't draw on her chakra beyond a certain range. Sune wouldn't have been any help against Sasori though. Her illusions easily surpassed those of her brother, but other than that she didn't have much to offer in the way of offensive abilities. Not unless one counted claws, teeth and a sharp tongue.

"She isn't yours is she? Just like the crow?" Kakashi asked, accused really.

Chikako shot him a sharp glance.

"Sune belongs to no one but herself and Yata ..." She trailed off, adding a lamely, "is a little bit more complicated."

"What do you mean she belongs to no one?" Naruto cut in. Chikako couldn't tell if it was a deliberate action to diffuse the tension between her and Kakashi, but she was grateful either way, so she launched into an explanation of bound summons and free yokai. It started out technical, but soon she found herself describing the odd landscape of the Void, because every time she was quiet too long her mind wandered back to Gaara, wondering how much time he had left.


	59. XIV - When it Rains it Pours

**A/N:**

 _Peruna_

That same logic about getting outsmarted applies to what happened in Earth as well and back then Kit wasn't all that friendly to the guards either. I mean the Iwa nin were well within their rights to apprehend and torture Chikako for crossing their border.

Can't say anything about the guesses, but if I do kill off Gaara I'm totally claiming you jinxed it, no matter what.

 _FireandIce4664_

Thank you.

 _soapsopas_

Well, excited is always good.

 _Diehard gamer_

Thanks.

 _Elise142_

You know, sometimes I don't know what is going to happen next either. This chapter for example isn't anywhere close to what I had planned initially.

 _cassianaswindell123_

Well, the main character has plot armor by default (at least in this story).

 _KijoKuroi_

Poor Anwei, everyone is mean to him.

 _Kragh50_

Chikako summoning free yokai is probably not the only thing that won't stay a secret. And yes, she is going to claim the bounty on Sasori (as soon as there is time).

 _Gremlin Jack_

Does this count as not the same condition?

 _theHidden1_

Thank you. If you think this is convoluted you should see the diagrams I sometimes make to compare possible routes Chikako could take and what each would mean for the plot.

. . .

 **XIV - When it Rains it Pours**

Caw.

Chikako looked up, squinting against the glaring sun. The sound had been faint, but rather distinctive. There was a dark smudge marring the clear blue sky, not particularly big, but rapidly moving closer. She couldn't sense his chakra just yet, but there was no doubt in her mind that the bird was Yata.

A few minutes later he landed on the ground before them, frantically beating his wings, while he jumped up and down. The wild motions created a cloud of sand around him, but he didn't seem to care how dirty he got.

"I need words," Chikako said, crouching down in front of him and rummaging around in her pack for something to write on. She winced in pain every so often as the raw skin of her hands got roughed up further, but it only took her a few seconds to locate a piece of crumpled paper and some ink.

She couldn't find a pen or brush for the bird, so he dipped his claws into the bottle instead. His handwriting, if it could even be called that, was shaky at best because he seemed too agitated to hold still for long. His feathers looked ruffled and there was a red spot on his tail that looked suspiciously like blood. Neither his appearance nor behavior worried her nearly as much as what he wrote down though.

Suna - attacked - unsafe

Chikako handed the piece of paper to Kakashi and then looked over her shoulder at Naruto. The blond didn't even seem curious. His expression was one of grim determination, his only purpose to get his friend to a healer, no matter how futile the task might be.

"There is a small Oasis east of here," she said waiting for Yata to nod that he had seen the place before she continued. "Get a medic and lead them there, preferably the kunoichi with pink hair."

The crow nodded again, then beat it's wings until it was airborne once more. Chikako wanted to race it back to Suna, to see what had happened, but as she was now she would be nothing but a burden. Neither Kakashi nor her had the chakra left to fight anyone and Naruto was apparently at risk of loosing control of the Kyubi.

"Where are we going?" The blond muttered when she changed directions after picking the ink bottle back up again and stuffing it into her bag.

"Somewhere safe."

If he hadn't paid enough attention to realize what was going on Chikako wouldn't tell him either. Seeing what even just that tiny bit of demon chakra, that had leaked earlier, could to to him didn't reassure her in the least and she wasn't about to risk upsetting him again. She didn't know how many of those seals Kakashi had on him or how well they worked and didn't want to find out.

. . .

The oasis wasn't much more than a pond. Sai had initially found it when they'd traveled the desert together and they'd spent a few days resting in the secluded area. The rock formation that surrounded the water didn't look particularly interesting or any different from the other rocks scattered about in the sea of sand. Unless one climbed it or look down on it form above there was no way to tell that it harbored a small patch of green land and fresh water.

Naruto had laid Gaara down in the shade of two palm trees, but wouldn't leave the redhead's side. Not that either Kakashi or Chikako had tried to make him. He just looked like a frightened animal protecting it's young, as if he might snap at whoever came too close.

As far as Chikako could tell Gaara's condition hadn't gotten any worse over the past few hours, which was odd, but didn't give her much hope because he hadn't gotten any better either. His chakra wasn't regenerating at all, his breathing was still weak and his skin too pale.

For now there was nothing they could do for him and Chikako reluctantly sat down on the other side of the oasis, back to the rock. That way she could at least keep an eye on things without getting in Naruto's way. Sitting and waiting chafed though. While they'd been hurrying towards Suna she'd felt like she was doing something, no matter how futile it might turn out to be. Now she was simply useless. A bystander forced to watch as events unfolded without the means to influence them.

She sighed, letting her head hang. Her right hand came up to pinch the bridge of her nose between forefinger and thumb, but she remembered in time that she was still wounded and stopped herself, muttering an annoyed curse under her breath.

"Come on," Kakashi said from her left. He was holding his hand out and starring at her expectantly. It took Chikako a second and the sight of the bandages he'd once again fished out of his bag to realize what he wanted from her. She had said he could play nurse later and she supposed this was as good a time as any, even if she still didn't see the point. Then again, maybe he felt just as helpless as her and needed something to do.

Kakashi was gentle in a way she wasn't used to anymore. She could barely feel his touch as he first rinsed off her burned skin, then dried it, applied a green herbal paste and finally bandaged it. Not so loose that the dressing would come off on it's own, but not so tight that she couldn't move her hands either.

Chikako was surprised at his skill, but she wouldn't have been able to say why. She knew very well that he avoided the hospital whenever possible and had had to patch himself up in the field as well as at home dozens of times. She'd seen him do it, even helped on occasion, but having someone other than Jiro take care of her wounds without the need for chakra had become a novelty.

"Thanks," she muttered, not quite looking at him. She'd watched his hands move, but avoided eye contact, feeling inexplicably embarrassed.

"What happened to you?" Kakashi asked, his voice rough and barely louder than a whisper. He sounded sad, almost as if he was in physical pain and it made her head snap up in surprise. The expression on his face, what little she could see of it anyway, was grim, but not unkind and she didn't know what to make of it.

"What do you mean?"

He drew her tanto out of it's sheath, handing it over with both hands, like the precious gift it was. The slight twitch of his fingers when she made the blade disappear into it's pocket dimension had a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. It was only a tiny gesture, but it made something in Kakashi shift, as if he'd finally found what he'd been waiting for. He'd watched her, she'd noticed. Even when he'd refused to pay any obvious attention to her in the tunnels he'd kept track of her movements, leaving her feeling as if she was missing something, as if he'd found her lacking somehow.

Kakashi's arms shot forward, pulling her into a hug. Chikako didn't move a muscle at first, too surprised by the gesture, instincts screaming at her to defend herself. If she'd had the chakra she would have pulled up a barrier, but as it was she only had to fight against the reflex to stab him with something pointy. It was a good thing she'd put the tanto away, but he'd noticed her hand dart towards a kunai before she could stop herself anyway.

"Come home pup," he grumbled, putting his chin on her head to complete the cocoon of limbs he'd wrapped her in. Chikako sighed, slowly relaxing and leaning against him like she used to. The embrace was warm and the steady rhythm of his breath soothing.

"You know I can't."

"You can't keep going like this either. Being Wraith is killing you."

She laughed at that, it wasn't a friendly sound though.

"Don't be a hypocrite," Chikako told him, using an elbow to lightly punch his side. "I know you've been wearing your mask more than a few times over the past two years. In fact I'm surprised to see you without it now."

She didn't call him Hound, knew better than to utter that secret even now in the middle of nowhere. They both knew what she was talking about and his flinch only confirmed it.

"Keeping spies around have you?"

"Allies and friends," she corrected, even though she didn't know if Neji truly qualified as either.

"And what about your enemies?"

"And yours?" She shot back in an attempt to avoid the question. Her list of enemies wasn't nearly as long as his, but they were powerful. Danzo and Orochimaru first and foremost, Iwagakure of course, but it seemed Akatsuki had taken note of her as well. It wasn't all that surprising. She'd supposedly escaped Itachi and Kisame, then Kisame had defected only to help her slay one of the Tailed-Beasts - something she had no doubt the organization had found out about if their spies in Suna were any indication.

Kakashi heaved a sigh, squeezing her shoulders.

"I don't want to fight pup."

"I don't either, but that doesn't change anything. I have obligations now, so even if I thought I wouldn't end up dead within the month in Konoha, I couldn't just go back."

"There is talk in ANBU," he said slowly, "about Kiri's Hunter-nin and how they've suddenly changed their operating procedure."

It wasn't a question exactly. He wouldn't ask her for village secrets, but he was clearly curious about her involvement or he wouldn't have brought it up.

"Zabuza doesn't like dealing with them," was all she told him in answer. She wanted to explain, share how she'd trained with them and how that had turned into her suddenly becoming the person they answered to. How she'd only meant to help out a friend and ended up one of the advisers of the Mizukage. There was nothing she could say though.

Unlike Chikako, Kakashi saw Konoha as more than a collection of buildings. He believed in the Will of Fire and was loyal to the Hokage. If she gave him anything concrete he'd be forced to betray either her or the head of his village and so Chikako kept her mouth shut, snuggling into him instead.

"What happened to the other Akatsuki, Sasori?" He asked after a short silence. Usually Kakashi was content not talking, in fact he enjoyed quiet companionship, but after so long apart she understood the need to reconnect all too well. He might not understand everything she'd done, even disapproved of some things, but they were still family, still pack and this was something she could talk about.

"I killed him," Chikako said, nudging the bag she'd placed on the grass with one foot. "Head's in there, just gotta hand it in for the bounty at some point. But it's not like the thing is gonna rot, so there's time for that."

There was a beat of stunned silence, then Kakashi surprised her by throwing his head back, barking in laughter. It sounded just as wrong as her earlier laugh. There was no humor in his tone, instead it was colored by disbelieve and a resigned sort of desperation that made her heart clench.

"It's fine," she told him. "I'm fine, you're fine, Naruto is fine. Even Sasuke was fine the last time I saw him. Still a grumpy asshole, but fine."

"I remember carrying a little girl out of a nightmare," Kakashi said, completely ignoring her. "She was tiny and dirty. Half out of her mind because of whatever drugs had been coursing through her veins. Smart like a whip though and probably the only thing that hadn't broken amidst all the blood and death.

"She adapted and survived, tried to learn about good and bad, even after everything she'd seen. I think she managed to live an almost normal live for a while. I like to imagine I was part of that, but when I look at you now I can hardly find her anymore.

"Your eyes are cold, your face is worse than any mask, because it moves the way it should when you lie, you inflict pain without a second thought and it seems given a choice you'll just kill your opponent because it's the easiest solution."

Chikako stiffened in his arms, tried to get up even, but he held her tight. He'd let go if she pushed a little harder, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. All of these things were traits of ANBU, but he made them sound like insults. As if she'd committed some horrible crime, instead of simply having acted according to the same rules he was supposed to follow as Hound.

"What are you saying?"

"I miss you pup and I'm afraid you're losing yourself."

"And how would you know?" She snarled, suddenly angry. "Just because I didn't cry over the traitor Yura doesn't mean I enjoyed torturing him, and just because you didn't see me bleed out on the floor after my fight with Sasori doesn't mean I could have done anything other than kill him."

He hadn't been with her over the past two and a half years, while she'd run and fought for her life. He wasn't forced to flee and flee, never able to rest for long because death might be lurking in every shadow. He hadn't watched his best friend die and still saw the blood in his dreams.

Chikako made a noise somewhere between frustration and anguish, falling in on herself like a house of cards.

Of course he fucking knew. She wasn't being fair and she knew it, but neither was he. He'd grown up during war and lost more friends than she'd ever known. She was the one who had chosen to leave instead of staying and taking her chances against Danzo, like Kakashi had offered. That was on her and holding him responsible wasn't right. Judging her for the things she'd had to do to survive wasn't right either though, not when his hands were just as bloody as hers.

Kakashi had gone rigid when she mentioned her fight with Sasori, rather unsubtly checking her for any more wounds he might have overlooked. He hadn't said anything, instead leaving her to stew in her thoughts, but his concern was obvious.

"What do you want me to say?" She finally ground out. "I'm not going to apologize for doing what I though was necessary. I'm trying to keep myself and the people I care about safe and your little girl can't do that, Wraith can."

He was quiet for a long time, just sitting there and holding her in his arms. It seemed almost peaceful, but when he did answer he sounded defeated, like a man that had not only lost the battle but the whole war.

"I just wish you didn't have to grow up like this, like me. I'm not-"

"A good man?" Chikako cut him off. "It might not mean much coming from me, but you're one of the best men I've ever met. Granted, you're a genius with an unfortunate attachment to bad porn and probably couldn't figure out how to be a good teacher if your life depended on it. You're antisocial to the degree that you'll even avoid your friends if they let you. You're habitually late, be it a second or five hours and if you had your way you'd never set foot in a hospital ever again."

"Please, don't heap all the praise on me at once."

"I did call you a genius."

"Brat."

She couldn't help but grin at him. That really hadn't gone the way she'd meant it to. It was all true of course, but what she'd really wanted to say was that she'd missed him. That he was her family and that she hated this fucked up situation. Coming home and spending her days annoying him sounded nice, but it wasn't in the cards.

"I know I'm not what you wanted me to become, but I haven't forgotten any of your lessons Kakashi."

"No, you might have learned a few too many though."

He didn't elaborate and she didn't need him to. She'd tortured a man in the most horrific way she knew how, not because it was the only way but because it was the easiest. She wasn't just an assassin by necessity anymore, she commanded others and chose their targets for them. They didn't kill to defend themselves either. They did it for money and information. There was a line there somewhere and that she couldn't tell whether she had crossed it already probably wasn't a good sign.

ANBU could be emotionless tools that did their jobs no matter what, because there was someone there to guide them. They killed and died without question, because they trusted that the decision had been made for the good of their village. Chikako didn't have that though. There was no one there to give her orders, no one to answer to but herself.

Even worse, Zabuza might be the Mizukage, but he'd never once questioned her about the Hunter-nin or given them any orders himself. They answered to her and she'd directed them to the benefit of Kiri, but it wasn't as if anyone would notice if that suddenly changed, not in time at least.

She'd helped Zabuza because he was her friend, her own cause was a selfish one though. There was no greater good. All she wanted was her pack safe and she'd wade through a sea of blood to make it happen, the rest of the world be damned.

Kakashi was wrong to fear she'd lose herself. What he should be afraid of was that she'd become too much herself. Too focused on her end goal, without consideration for how she got there.

She didn't tell him any of that. Instead Chikako talked about the children in Frost, about how she'd trained them and played with them. She talked about how Sune and Jiro liked to break into Zabuza's bathroom to usurp his tub. She actually fell asleep reciting one of Kankuro's lectures about the proper use of Kabuki face paint.

Kakashi let her babble, but he'd no doubt noticed that she hadn't talked about a single fight she'd been involved in. No missions, no kills, no information that could in any way be useful unless he was already aware of it.

They weren't on opposite sides, but they weren't on the same side anymore either. Something that had become very clear to Chikako whenever she had been done with one story and needed to decide what to talk about next. There were just so many things she couldn't share.

. . .

Chikako suddenly woke up, a little disoriented at first, but soon realizing that the approaching chakra signatures of Azusa and who she assumed to be Sakura had woken her. She was still in Kakashi's arms and took pride in the fact that he seemingly hadn't noticed she was no longer asleep.

"We've got company," she yawned, startling her sensei. His visible eye was a little bleary and she realized he'd stayed awake to keep watch. She should have probably told him that there was no need. It wasn't like no one could sneak up on her even while she slept, but those that could would more than likely also be able to surprise Kakashi while he was awake, so there was really no point in sacrificing rest.

He didn't ask who was coming, apparently drawing his conclusions from how unconcerned Chikako was. Instead he simply got up, making sure not to jostle her in the process.

While Kakashi moved over to Naruto, Chikako went to greet the newcomers, who were indeed Azusa and Sakura, accompanied by Yata. Both girls were dirty, but seemed unharmed. Azusa's clothing was marred by dried blood and ripped, torn or cut in multiple places, but the skin underneath was slightly bruised at worst, meaning she'd been healed by an iryo-nin at some point.

Sakura on the other hand was free of blood except for a few traces under her nails. Her face was greasy in a way that reminded Chikako of soot though. The dark grime clearly showed tear tracks, glistening in the sun where the salt had dried on her skin.

"What do you need?" The girl asked with a no-nonsense attitude that had Chikako raising an eyebrow. In a situation like this her Hunter-nin would have usually waited for orders or if it was urgent given a report without being prompted. They certainly wouldn't have talked to her as if she was a spoilt child they had to deal with instead of being able to focus on something truly important.

Chikako didn't comment on her behavior. She merely summarized what she knew about Gaara's condition and then waved Sakura over to where Naruto and Kakashi were waiting with the Kazekage. The girls eyes had gone wide while she'd talked and Sakura had started to hurry towards her patient as soon as no more information was forthcoming.

"I don't think she's slept since before you left Wraith-sama," Azusa said. "I don't know what happened on their end, but you were right to leave Saizo and me in the village. A few hours in councilman Joseki demanded to speak with Temari-san in private. Naturally we refused to leave her alone, as per your orders.

"He wasn't happy, actually started shouting at her, which drew a crowd. I didn't realize it at the time, but the whole thing was a sham. He just needed an excuse to call her a traitor and having two Kiri body guards made for an easy target."

Azusa looked vaguely guilty. She even lowered her head, too ashamed to hold eye contact. Her report never faltered though. Azusa described how Saizo had claimed a Code Black, effectively declaring Chikako's order to do as Temari said null and void. Then he'd told Azusa to evacuate the acting Kazekage, against her protests at the time.

Code Black was a term the Hunter-nin used to describe one of the new protocols Chikako had established. Azusa hadn't known what it meant, still seemed unsure as to whether or not it actually existed, because she wasn't a Hunter-nin herself. The girl had chosen to follow Saizo's orders though, seeing as he outranked her and had far more experience in the field.

Good thing too, because only moments after the two had dragged Temari out of her office it had exploded in a ball of fire. Azusa still wasn't clear on the details. She'd sustained a concussion and Saizo's shoulder had been dislocated, but they'd managed to get Temari to safety.

As far as they could tell councilman Joseki had tried to take over as Kazekage. Saizo was apparently under the impression that it wasn't just a man trying to grab for power because the opportunity had presented itself. He hadn't shared much with Azusa though.

All they knew for certain at this point was that the elders, Chiyo and Ebizo, as well as at least two councilmen had been killed at some point. Baki had also been attacked, but survived the confrontation. There was no telling who was friend and who was foe though, so Temari had sent someone she trusted out to alert Chikako and the Konoha nin. The messenger had found Gai's team first and instead of searching for the others Gai had decided to provide assistance, either trusting that the former Team 7 would be fine or judging that whatever had happened in Suna was more important.

Chikako chuckled despite herself, oddly entertained by how shitty this whole situation had turned out to be. She would have blamed exhaustion, but she wasn't the least bit tired. Her chakra reserves would need another day or two to fully recover and so would her hands, but other than that she was perfectly fine. It was more as if all the negative emotions had simply overloaded her capacity and she just couldn't bring herself to care beyond finding the whole situation amusing.

She knew laughter was a coping mechanism to relieve stress, she wasn't sure whether that applied to this situation though. If she hadn't known better she would have assumed she was on drugs or maybe caught in an illusion that altered her perception or state of mind. Neither was the case though. The next logical step would have been to question her sanity, but that didn't seem particularly conductive. It wasn't as if she could do anything about it if she'd suddenly gone mad.

"So, just to summarize," Chikako said once Azusa had finished her report. "The elders are dead, one third of the council is either dead or has turned out to be traitors, two thirds of the council may or may not be trustworthy and we have no idea whether this was in any way connected to Akatsuki, Joseki's own machinations or part of a bigger plot.

"Also, judging by the way Naruto and Sakura are arguing I'd say it's safe to assume the Kazekage isn't going to miraculously recover. Not to mention that Akatsuki will likely show up again, seeing as we've interrupted the extraction of the bijuu. Oh and then there is of course the matter of the alliance. Zabuza is going to love this."

Chikako chuckled again, thoroughly amused by the mental image of the Mizukage listening to her report. He'd probably have a coronary, but Kisame might see the comedic value. If there was one that was, she might be imagining it.

Azusa shot her a slightly perturbed look. The girl didn't seem all that reassured when a smiling Chikako patted her on the shoulder either.

"Look at the bright side, you thought this trip was going to be boring."

Azusa made a strangled sound in answer, but when Chikako turned around to see what was going on with Gaara the girl fell into step without being prompted. She was holding up surprisingly well considering her background. As part of the Watari she had traveled a lot more than most genin and her skills were technically at chunin level, but Azusa was used to dealing with civilian bandits and second-rate shinobi as her opponents. The stunt in Bird had been the most exciting mission she'd ever been part of prior to the attack on Kiri and now she'd landed right in the middle of this whole mess.

"No!" Naruto shouted, wildly gesticulating. "You have to help him!"

Sakura snarled back at him, but it was too quiet for Chikako to understand. Kakashi stood by Naruto's side. The hand he had laid on Naruto's shoulder likely had been meant to offer comfort initially, but by now Kakashi was more concerned about holding him back. The blond's chakra was free of demon taint, he still looked livid though in a way that made him seem almost feral.

"What's going on?" Chikako asked. She actually sounded cheerful, but Sakura and Naruto were too distracted by their argument to notice.

"Sakura says she won't heal Gaara!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I did no such thing!"

"Then heal him!"

Sakura scowled.

"There. Is. Nothing. Wrong. With. Him," she ground out, pronouncing each word as if it was it's own sentence. She probably hadn't said them for the first time if the clenched fists and combative stance were any indication.

"Then why isn't he waking up?"

"I don't know. It's possible that he just needs some rest, but it's far more likely that he has retreated into his own mind as a way to deal with the trauma. He might wake up tomorrow, in ten years or not at all. There is no way to tell."

"Is that definitive?" Chikako cut in calmly before Naruto could start shouting again. Sakura frowned at her, but nodded.

"Nothing ever really is with these things, but I've infused enough chakra into his system to prevent organ damage and stimulate his own chakra recovery. Physically he is perfectly healthy except for a few bruises that will heal on their own. Since he hasn't woken up yet and doesn't react to outside stimuli I'm assuming that he is in a coma. It's possible that I'm wrong, but the chance is negligible."

Chikako appreciated the clinical explanation, especially because she'd expected a one-word answer. Naruto didn't share her sentiment however. He was practically growling when he once again demanded Sakura do something and if she couldn't then they should get Gaara to Tsunade.

He didn't seem to care in the least how irrational that was. Chikako wasn't particularly fond of Sakura, but she'd seen the kunoichi treat patients. She took pride in her work and if Sakura thought there was anything that could be done she would have said so.

"Cut it out," Chikako ordered. She hadn't raised her voice, but the bewildered look Naruto shot her said he had heard her loud and clear. Not that it kept him from opening his mouth for another argument. Chikako's fingers pressing down on his throat did though.

She'd moved fast and without warning. One step closer was all it had taken to get in range and the motion itself was a familiar one. Kakashi's chakra had spiked at the sudden movement and Sakura had jumped backwards in surprise, but neither tried to interfere.

"You're not helping. In fact, you're giving me a headache, which is the opposite of helping," Chikako told the blond matter-of-factly. "Either you pull your head out of your ass and do something useful or you shut the fuck up."

Naruto gaped, mouth opening and closing like that of a fish on dry land. He was looking at Chikako as if he'd never seen her before and his eyes only widened when she offered him a sardonic smile. He'd gotten a glimpse of Wraith in the tunnels, but as was his habit, he tended to ignore anything bad given half a chance. Chikako had been reasonably friendly, had explained some of the things Naruto had heard about Wraith and glossed over all the blood on her hands. Kakashi knew enough to read between the lines, but he didn't.

She let him go after a moment of silence and then stared at him until he lowered his eyes and turned his head away in an instinctual gesture of submission. Chikako had no illusions that he'd stay cowed for long, but for the moment she'd asserted dominance over him and she used the quite to give a few orders.

Yata was sent back to his master to inquire about Akatsuki's next steps and find out whether Itachi could shed any light on Gaara's condition. She'd formulated the request carefully to avoid giving anything away about who the crows summoner was, but one look at Kakashi told her that she needn't have bothered. He wore that resigned look again, not angry and not disappointed exactly, but very much unhappy with the situation.

Afterwards she told Azusa to head back to Kiri to give a preliminary report and ask Chikako's roommate if he knew anything useful. The girl acknowledged her new task and was off without so much as a single question.

Sakura startled a little when Chikako turned to her next.

"Go back to Temari, tell her her brother is dead. Spin a story if you have to. When she's done breaking down and has announced the Kazekage's passing tell her and Kankuro the truth, but make sure to let Saizo check the perimeter first so no one overhears you."

Sakura's eyes widened, gaze shifting towards Kakashi. Chikako didn't turn around to see what he did, but whatever it was had Sakura's features morph into a grim mask. She clearly wasn't happy, but she headed back towards Suna without protest.

Then it was Naruto's turn. When Chikako fixed him with a glare his first reaction was to call her cruel. He was right, but she wasn't going to gamble Gaara's life on Temari's and Kankuro's acting skills. It was far safer for everyone involved if the emotions were real.

She hit Naruto with a sharp wave of killing intent and his mouth snapped shut with an audible click before he could say anything else. His eyes were defiant though, if Kakashi hadn't chosen to be a silent bystander the blond would have no doubt argued with her over the decision. As things were, however, he was confused and overwhelmed.

"You are going to stay here with Gaara until I say otherwise. You will not go anywhere near Suna and you will speak to no one about Gaara or the condition he is in."

"Fine," he bit out and then glared after her as she left.


	60. XIV - Sheep - Dog - Wolf

**A/N:**

I'm sorry everyone. I still don't have time for anything, but I promise I read all of the reviews and I'm trying to get some writing in when I can.

Can't say I'm particularly happy with this chapter, but if I keep going over it it's either going to get worse or I'm never going to finish it.

. . .

 **XIV - Sheep - Dog - Wolf**

Getting back into Suna unseen wasn't hard. The village was still mostly in chaos and Chikako had spent enough time in it to know it's layout, even if the debris forced her to make a few changes to her mental map. The place had never been a marvel of architecture, merely a bunch of buildings that looked eerily like cocoons. Now the sharp edges of broken walls and caved in roofs made it look like even more of an alien landscape.

It seemed as if any shinobi who was able to walk, and not dead on their feet, was out patrolling. They cleared rubble and searched for more explosives while they were at it, slowly letting the civilians back into the ruins they'd called home only hours ago. There was a scant few buildings that had entirely escaped the destruction, but most of Suna looked as if a giant had thrown a temper tantrum, smashing his sandcastle until it was barely recognizable anymore. A crater here, a toppled tower there and the desert already creeping in with each new gust of wind.

With more than half of Suna's population out on the street, all crammed into the parts of the village that had already been declared safe, the place looked almost lively. To Chikako it had never felt more like a graveyard though. It was likely just because she'd never seen the place without Gaara there, without his chakra in the sand coating every surface, but that didn't make the sensation that something was wrong go away.

She'd gotten so used to the fact that being in Suna meant being surrounded by her friend's chakra, that separating the two things in her mind was a lost cause. Suna was Gaara and Gaara was Suna.

Chikako shook her head to clear her thoughts. She hadn't come back to mourn the village that had granted her shelter once. She was there on business and until that was finished she couldn't leave.

. . .

Finding the council, or what was left of it anyway, took surprisingly little time. She'd expected them to hide out in the tunnels and that she'd have to round them up one by one. Instead they were already in a little meeting of their own, for which they'd commandeered the husk of the public library.

The building was far into the parts of Suna that hadn't been searched for explosives yet. Not a single guard was anywhere in sight and the fact that the only living councilman who was absent was Baki just about sealed their fate in her eyes. The only way that meeting could have seemed more suspicious would have been if they'd worn disguises.

It was no secret that some of them, Joseki especially, wanted Gaara gone. They didn't respect him and they didn't accept him as their kage. That second attack hadn't been Akatsuki, the nukenin had already taken what they'd wanted and escaped. That didn't necessarily mean that the council was to blame, but what other reason than conspiracy could they have to meet like this? Away from prying eyes and ears, favoring secrecy over protection. They didn't seem the least bit concerned that someone might come after them. How could they be so sure about that if they weren't the ones that had orchestrated the second attack?

Even if they weren't guilty of that particular crime though, they were a thorn in her side. Without them the alliance with Kiri would have been a done deal. They were a thorn in Gaara's side as well, a potentially lethal one at that. He might be willing to tolerate their behavior for the sake of not being a tyrant, but Chikako had no such obligation.

It would be easy to kill them right then and there. What were a few more dead bodies at this point? Especially when they were more or less outright discussing whether to get rid of Temari as well. Chikako had missed the beginning of their current argument, but with every second she listened it became clearer and clearer that all of them had, at the very least, known that there would be some kind of attack.

"There wasn't supposed to be this much destruction," one said. He sounded as if someone had personally insulted him. "Not everything was in place yet and it was completely irresponsible of Joseki to act so rashly."

"You have to admit though, that it provided good cover."

"And still he got caught," another scoffed.

"Let him talk, there is no proof to tie us to his dealings with Danzo."

If Chikako hadn't been frozen in place before, hidden in a shadowed corner between the stacks of books and rubble, she certainly would have stopped short at that name. She probably shouldn't be surprised that the man would be involved in another village's plot to get rid of it's kage. He had a private army of elite assassins right under the Hokage's nose after all and felt entitled to meddle in his village's politics, in front of and behind the curtain. It was almost like a government inside of the government. So why wouldn't he handle foreign politics as well?

They squabbled a while longer, but what had barely qualified as a discussion before soon devolved into shoving blame from one person to the next. When it seemed that no more useful information would be forthcoming Chikako decided she was done playing fly on the wall. Her word wouldn't be enough evidence to convict the whole council. The Sand Siblings would no doubt believe her and technically that was enough, seeing as all Hidden Villages were military dictatorships, but dispatching the whole council on the word of a foreigner and nukenin alone could also easily cause a whole other set of problems. Not to mention that someone else would have to take over for them, plunging the village even further into chaos, and with Gaara declared dead there was a power vacuum too big for any one person to fill. She'd seen the consequences of that in Kiri. The last thing Suna needed right now were a bunch of assassination attempts because someone fancied themselves a worthy kage.

Chikako's fingers itched for the councilmen's blood, but at this point there wasn't much left of Suna's government and at least she knew their faces. She could always come back for them later. It wasn't much of a consolation, but it would have to do.

She quietly scaled one of the bookcases under the cover of Camouflage. She would spent a whole week sleeping the second she was back in her own bed, but for now she grit her teeth and let a blank mask flow over her features. Once she had placed herself in plain sight, feet dangling and posture slouched forward in a way that clearly projected boredom, she let the jutsu fall.

It took nearly five full minutes before anyone noticed her, then the relative quiet turned into alarmed shouts and indignant exclamations that had her raising an eyebrow. Not only were they embarrassingly incompetent, some of them also apparently felt they were perfectly safe in her presence. Which, while true at the moment, was never a good assumption to make.

"I was promised and alliance," she drawled in her best imitation of Shikamaru. It fell decidedly short, but none of them knew that so she figured she was fine.

"An alliance?" One of the councilmen huffed as if she was an entitled little brat and had demanded they all bow and scrape before her. His mustache quivered with the force of the words and he glared at her, eyes narrowed.

Chikako offered him a sweet smile, noting one of the councilmen in the back twitched as her left hand shifted. He seemed the only one smart enough to be afraid.

"Joseki's terms were that Gaara needed to be eliminated," she stated, slowly letting her gaze travel over their faces to see if anyone would call her bluff. "His current circumstances hardly void the deal he made with Chigiri."

Someone gasped and her smile turned a little more predatory. It was a good thing Zabuza had agreed to keep the name, to make it theirs instead of treating it like a relic of the past, better to be forgotten. After all who was to say that the Bloody Mist wouldn't walk over corpses to form an alliance? From what she'd heard Joseki hadn't told the others much of his plan, so unless they could produce some hard evidence that she could then use against them, they couldn't really contest her claim.

Kiri had always been known for it's Hunter-nin and the fact that they had focused on the nukenin of other villages lately didn't change that. Quite the opposite in fact. Now that everyone could fall prey to the best assassins in the Elemental Nations once more, the rumors of their skills had only multiplied.

Out in the open they hunted criminals, but men as duplicitous as the members of Suna's council wouldn't have a hard time believing that there was much more going on in the shadows.

"Joseki was supposed to take over," a tall, thin man said. He took half a step backwards when Chikako's focus fell on him, but then squared his shoulders and stood a little straighter. His attempt to glare her into submission was pathetic. Did none of these men realize that their lives were solely dependent on whether or not she thought replacing them would make more trouble than it was worth?

"He also wasn't supposed to make this much of a mess. This," she said, indicating the destruction around them, "is bad enough. If you start a war among your own ranks as well you are useless to me."

One of them glowered at her for the implied threat, but nobody spoke up. She wasn't entirely certain that all of them had caught what exactly she'd just insinuated. For people that were as suspicious of outsiders as these men, they were surprisingly naive when it came to the consequences of their actions and what it meant to deal with people like Danzo.

Chikako let them stew in silence for a moment, calling her wakizashi and idly playing with the blade.

"Give the hat to Kankuro or Temari. As the siblings to the Godaime and children of the Yondaime they have the strongest claim in the eyes of the public. Unless you think you can't keep them in line it's not worth bothering with anyone else."

The challenge at least hit it's mark. These men had been removed from the reality of what it meant to be a shinobi for too long. They had forgotten that even the most accomplished fighter could be felled by a simple illness or mere bad luck and gotten too used to the respect their positions afforded them. Maybe they'd deserved it once She couldn't imagine that all of them had just stumbled into the role of councilman, but it hardly mattered now.

At this point in time they were long past their prime, yet still thought themselves invincible. They didn't perceive her as a credible threat, apparently not even the one's whose instincts screamed at them to back off when she looked at them. Nothing more than stubborn sheep that couldn't see a wolf even when it sat right in front of them.

"Who do you think you are?" Quivering mustache guy barked at her. "Go back to that dump you call a village and tell the nukenin that runs it to-" He didn't get any further than that. Two dull thumps on the library's floor ended the sentence prematurely as Chikako's blade separated his head from his body.

It took the other occupants of the room a moment to register what had happened and what the red puddle spreading out on the floor was. The moment they did there was a lot of shoving and jumping to avoid getting anything on their clothes. Nobody ran or screamed, but they took great care not to draw any attention to themselves.

Chikako sighed. This was probably one of those things Kakashi had talked about. A year or two ago she wouldn't have killed the guy outright. She would have threatened him to get his compliance. That might have gotten the same result, but if he'd refused even then she would have had to kill him anyway and the fact that she hadn't done that in the first place could have been perceived as a weakness. Now she was more concerned with how fast she could get Gaara to safety and these idiots were barely more than an afterthought, their lives hardly worth consideration.

She lowered her head to hide a frown. Maybe Kakashi had a point. Then again, striking hard and fast without playing games first seemed to get better results or at least it carried less risk. If your first mistake wasn't also your last, then rules became more of a trade-off between reward and punishment and while she was perfectly willing to use that to her advantage, she'd rather avoid having it used against her.

Chikako cleaned her wakizashi on the dead man's clothes, then let it vanish again and slowly turned in a circle to fix the remaining council members with a hard look.

"Let's try this again shall we? A deal has been made with Chigiri. You will either hold to your end of it or I will take payment in blood. Choose."

She gave them a few minutes to consider, ignoring the glances, gesturing and whispers that followed that statement. Chikako half wished they'd refuse, maybe call her out after all. There was no deal and even if there had been, Gaara wasn't dead and she had every intention of doing whatever it took to get him his hat back.

Yes, this was definitely what Kakashi had meant. She wanted these men dead and she was looking for excuses to kill them even though she knew better. Was that new though, or merely something he hadn't noticed before? She'd always killed her enemies hadn't she? After all, a dead opponent couldn't stab you in the back.

Not Gaara, Temari and Kankuro though. Those three she should have killed or let Sai do it as he'd demanded, would have too if not for Jiro and Naruto. She wouldn't even have regretted that because she would have never known them as anything more than invaders.

Chikako shook her head in annoyance. In hindsight things were always easy. Maybe killing that man had been wrong and maybe not killing the rest of them as well was worse. She wouldn't know until after everything was said and done.

"We agree!" One man almost squeaked, holding up his hands. She'd been staring at him, in his direction at least. She hadn't meant it as an intimidation tactic, but it was better than if he'd noticed she hadn't paid any attention to them.

Chikako raised an eyebrow at him, the sardonic smile back on her lips.

"Agree to what exactly?" Better to make sure they were on the same page. If she had to kill more of them later things might get messy. Right now a body in the rubble could easily be disposed of and nobody would ask any questions.

"Temari may keep her title as interim Kazekage until such a time as the jonin can choose a new kage. The council will also approve the alliance with Kirigakure no Sato, but of course some of the terms still need to be hashed out." The last part of that statement was a hasty addition, one that apparently warranted shaking hands and fearful glances.

"Of course," Chikako agreed easily. Maybe she should have just threatened the other one instead of outright killing him, but then if that hadn't been enough ... Well, it was too late now anyway. She'd deal with the fallout if and when it came. "Go on then, I'll take care of the body."

They almost fell over themselves in their haste to get out of there. Chikako had no doubt that they'd be plotting her demise before the end of the day, but as long as they agreed to the alliance that hardly mattered. Once that was done the kage was in charge and the regular shinobi forces stood behind Gaara and his siblings.

Now she just needed to decide whether to tell Zabuza about how exactly she'd accomplished her task. There was no way he would approve. Not that that was a big concern. He wouldn't throw away an alliance because of how it came about. He might throw her out of the village, but that would hurt neither him nor Kiri, so she was fine with that.

It might be better for him if he didn't know though. She could just tell him not to trust the council. That way he wouldn't be blindsided if they did do anything stupid, but still had plausible deniability if Gaara chose to take exception. Which, come to think of it, he probably would.

Chikako grimaced.

"Maybe you would have been less trouble alive after all," she told the corpse in a tone that seemed petulant even to her own ears.

A stone clattered down from a pile of rubble to her right and her head snapped around, body shifting into a defensive stance. No other sound followed and she couldn't sense anyone's chakra in the area. Chikako huffed, relaxing her stance and then glanced back at the body. Better to get rid of it fast before someone actually came looking for her.

. . .

"Ma'am," Saizo said, snapping out of his lean against the wall and into a perfect salute the second Chikako appeared in Temari's make-shift office. Sakura on the other hand clenched her hands and turned away, likely in an effort to keep the peace. Interesting how controlled she could be. Tsunade's famous temper had clearly done nothing to tame her own, but she did a good job of keeping a lid on it.

"Where is he?" Temari demanded. Her eyes were still a little red and her hair wilder than normal. If she'd looked like this or worse when announcing Gaara's death the murderous glare she was leveling at Chikako now was definitely worth it.

"Out of danger, for the moment at least. You can have him back once you fix this mess."

"Excuse me? You are not kidnapping my brother!"

"Don't worry," Chikako smiled, "I'll leave you Saizo as collateral."

The blond's left eyebrow twitched and there was the distinct sound of a pen snapping. She glanced to the wall where Saizo still stood at attention and then snarled at Chikako: "They are people! You can't just treat them like pawns in a game of chess!"

"Can't I? Isn't that what happens every day when shinobi are send on missions? When stacks of paper decide who lives and dies?

"Would you rather I'd have slaughtered the council? They were all gathered very conveniently to discuss your death just a short while ago. Of course then you'd have to replace them with another set of people that may or may not be trustworthy and how exactly would you even vet them right now? If the relevant records aren't already ash it would be easy enough to burn them and claim they got destroyed with the rest of the village. Also-"

"We get it," Kankuro cut her off. He looked more sad than anything else, but his words had been sharp.

Chikako offered him a smile as well, fully aware that it wouldn't be returned. She was kind of glad for the interruption. Making the councilman vanish had been easy enough and she wasn't too worried that anyone would find out how exactly he'd died, but the fact that she was conflicted about the whole thing had made her sound too defensive.

Kankuro didn't seem nearly as angry as his sister, but that didn't mean he'd just forgive her for making him think his brother was dead and for withholding the Kazekage's location now. That was fine too, as long as they were all alive. She needed a distraction though before anyone decided to discuss the finer details of anything that had happened.

Chikako swung one of the straps of her bag over her shoulder and then fished Sasori's head out, dangling it by it's hair.

"Not the redhead you wanted, I know, but it'll have to do for now," she told them, lobbing the thing at Kankuro. "The rest is in a cave, together with a puppet that apparently used to be the Sandaime Kazekage. I'll draw you a map if you want."

"That's-"

"A human puppet, yes. Sasori took the whole eternal art thing a little too far," she interrupted, not willing to go over the fight. It hadn't been fun and nobody needed to know that the technique that had won it had been a move of desperation that could have just as easily killed her. Especially not right now, when all she had in the way of authority was what people were willing to let her get away with. "Saizo you'll take my place during talks with the council. Make it very clear that Kiri insists on the bounty and then let them have it so they feel as if they've won something when they agree to the alliance. Sakura you're coming with me, it's time to leave."

Kankuro was still staring at the head and Temari at her when Chikako turned around to walk out of the door. Sakura's anger was still bright and fresh though, not nearly as easily distracted by the way Chikako had tried to steamroll the other two with information.

"I don't answer to you!"

"No, but you do answer to me," Kakashi said from the doorway, startling Chikako so badly that her tanto was at his throat before she'd even realized what had happened. Her eyes were impossibly wide as she watched a thin line of crimson trail the length of metal. She'd only nicked him and the pleasant cast of his features said that he hadn't been worried for a second, but the sharp pulsing of his chakra told a different story.

"What the fuck?" Chikako demanded, then, because she didn't know what else to do, shoved him out of her way and marched out. He wasn't supposed to be able to sneak up on her. Nobody was. With all the people milling around in the streets in this part of the village it was harder to pick out individual chakra signatures, but she could sense him just fine now. How the fuck had he done that? Why the fuck had he done that? And why hadn't he tried to dodge or block her attack?

Dammit all, she needed a break, time to rest and think about everything that had happened.

"What are you doing?" Chikako growled once he'd caught up to her, Sakura in tow.

"Making a point."

"Could you try making it with words?"

He didn't answer, just fixed her with a glare that had her flinch back and she remembered that stone clattering to the ground.

. . .

They didn't talk after that. Not when Temari sent guards after them and Kakashi convinced them and the acting Kazekage that this was for the best. That Suna wasn't safe right now and that no matter what else she might do, Chikako wouldn't put Gaara in danger. There was special emphasis on the else part of that statement. Not quite obvious enough for the guards to notice, but Chikako heard it. He'd seen her and he disapproved.

Hadn't stopped her from doing it though. Because that would have undermined her position or because there hadn't been enough time for him to react?

They didn't talk on the way back to the oasis and they didn't talk when Chikako let them know that she was taking Gaara to Kiri with her and that she wanted to take Sakura as well to make sure he was okay.

Kakashi already knew all of that, had clearly figured it out before intervening on Chikako's behalf with the Suna nin. He agreed by declaring that the Hokage's apprentice and Team 7 would go, but he didn't say a word to her. They weren't exactly ignoring each other, but it was a close thing.

Chikako never even asked what had happened to Gai's team. For all she knew they were still in Suna helping with the repairs, but that was nothing more than a guess. It was probably for the best anyway. She wouldn't have wanted Neji to tag along and use his Byakugan to discover all the seals she'd placed in Kiri. It wasn't even that she thought he'd spread the information around, but knowing for a fact that Danzo was willing to involve himself in the internal politics of other Hidden Villages made her especially paranoid.

Kakashi's little demonstration hadn't helped either. Their relationship was a tangled mess of contradictions. She trusted him at her back, yet at the same time she couldn't help wondering if that wasn't the stupidest decision she'd ever made.

Every time her mind circled around that moment in Temari's office it came back to one thing - he could kill her. If he wanted to, he could get close enough to slit her throat and she wouldn't notice until after the blood was already staining her skin crimson.

When had she forgotten that? She'd know he could kill her when she'd been a little girl. Had known it while he'd watched over her, while she'd been part of Team 7, while she'd been on the run and he'd found her. On that last occasion she hadn't just known that he could kill her, she'd been afraid that he would.

She'd gotten stronger, faster, more deadly and she'd expected him to have her back no matter what. She hadn't thought he'd be happy with everything she'd done, but there had been that feeling of safety. As long as he was around, even if he was angry with her, she would be fine.

Was that the point he'd been trying to make? That she'd been wrong about that? That he could and would take her down if she went too far? But why let her cut him? He hadn't been surprised by the action, so he had to have expected her to react that way and still he'd just stood there. What if she hadn't realized it was him in time? Was Sakura good enough to heal a wound like that? Was he simply willing to risk his life to make a convoluted statement?

She could kill him, he could kill her and whoever struck first won?

On their way to Kiri a wary silence hung over everything. Sakura would check on Gaara at least twice a day to make sure his condition hadn't worsened. Two of Naruto's clones carried the redhead on a stretcher or stood guard while they rested and the boy himself wouldn't leave Gaara's side. Not even when Sakura got so frustrated with the tense situation that she screamed at him because he was in her way.

Kakashi never corrected their behavior, barely even seemed to take note of what any of them did. He just stayed somewhere in range of the group and read his little orange book.

Chikako for her part let her frustration out on the first group of bandits that was stupid enough to cross their path. There were only six, none with any shinobi training. She told them to leave and when they refused she shrugged and killed all of them.

Their deaths were fast an mostly clean. A blade through the heart, a chakra fueled palm turning a brain to mush, three decapitations and a ripped out throat. It wasn't wrong, could technically even count as self-defense because she'd waited for them to make the first move and someone would most likely have been sent to take care of them sooner or later. It didn't make her feel any better though and that was the real problem.

Naruto had shouted and Sakura had made horrified noises while Chikako had taken care of the bodies and all the while Kakashi hadn't said a word. He'd just sat aside in quiet disapproval and she just couldn't tell what the hell he wanted from her.

She didn't have to kill the bandits, but what else was she gonna do with them? Knock them out, bind and gag them and leave them by the roadside like Naruto had proposed? Either they would have gotten free and continued robbing people or they would have died slowly of thirst or maybe been torn apart by wolves or even other bandits.

She could have dragged them to the nearest police station she supposed, but that wasn't exactly on the way. Not to mention that there they would have either been sentenced to death or set free to continue robbing people because of lack of evidence. There was also Gaara to consider. Just because he wasn't getting worse didn't mean they should take detours willy-nilly.

Was there some obvious solution she wasn't seeing and instead she just justified killing to herself because it was easiest?

Was killing even the problem? He was ANBU for fucks sake. He knew how dangerous is could be not to kill and he certainly didn't have any moral high-ground to stand on in that regard.

Chikako wanted to slam her head into the nearest tree, or maybe his. Not that either of those options were likely to help her, but at that point she was desperate. With most people it didn't mean anything if they disapproved of what she did, she had her reasons and that was that, but with him she needed something to balance the scales.

. . .

"You're an asshole," Chikako told Kakashi when they'd traveled all the way through Fire, reached the sea and she finally realized that he could have demanded they bring Gaara to Konoha instead. It was closer, had better medics and she couldn't have done anything to stop him. It was the smart choice, but instead he'd gone along with everything Chikako had decided and hadn't even asked her to justify any of her choices.

He had neither reprimanded nor questioned her. In fact Kakashi had apparently trusted her to know what she was doing even though he clearly disagreed with her decisions. Instead of demanding anything from her he'd given her space to think, waited for her to make her mind up on how they would interact with each other from now on.

It was too much and not enough and her head hurt. She wanted him to have all the answers and to share them with her, yet at the same time she hoped he was just as lost as her.

"I'll hold still," she told him eventually, because she didn't know what else to say. How else to convey how much she treasured his trust and that she probably didn't deserve it. He was the one who had pulled her out of the snake's den. The Hound, her guardian. She'd fought him in earnest once, when he'd come after her and she'd thought he'd meant to take her life. She wouldn't do that again, couldn't.

Chikako still didn't know what to make of his point, whatever it was, but the time to mull that over had passed. He was still her sensei, still her friend, still pack, everything else didn't matter. If he wanted her dead at some point she'd accept his judgment, but until then he'd either have to learn how to communicate like a normal person or deal with being called a few more choice words.

"If you decide I need to die, just say the word."


	61. XIV - Welcome Home

**A/N:**

 _cassianaswindell123_

Who needs people skills anyway? Silent glares and sarcasm are so much better.

 _Scarease_

Thanks

 _Elise142_

It is indeed, but then most relationships aren't actually straightforward even if they seem that way at a glance. Although those two make things way more complicated than they need to be.

 _heyits me_

They are certainly going to try, but you know: stubborn and socially incompetent.

 _sarahmchugs_

As far as I'm concerned Kakashi's reaction was a silent "What the fuck?" followed by an internal freak out because he sucks at getting his point across and overshot the mark by approximately a million miles. You know, just because he has a really bad track record when it comes to people he is friends with dying and blaming himself for it.

 _KadeBear_

Thank you.

 _Chinchi37_

Well, it's not going to run away and with how slow I am about updating these days you might regret not having found it after it's been completed instead. By which I of course mean thank you and I hope you'll enjoy the following chapters as well.

 _Diehard gamer_

Thanks. I wasn't happy with it because Temari's and Kankuro's reactions didn't feel right to me. It's a little hard to explain, I'm just sometimes unhappy with things and not even sure why.

 _Peruna_

Well, he'll react by being Kakashi of course.

I absolutely hate the power creep in Naruto. I don't even know how/if I want to deal with Madara and the whole mess that follows after that.

I'm glad you enjoy Chikako's skewed point of view. Sometimes it really bugs me when her POV doesn't agree with my "real world logic". I've thought about giving her a Jimmeny Cricket before. That would make things so much easier. It's just that almost everyone she'd listen to would need their own Jimmeny Cricket (or in Kakashi's case can't fucking articulate themselves).

Glad you liked the chapter. There isn't really anything in the way of explanations from Kakashi in this one, but Chikako gets to do a little bit of thinking so there's that.

 _Queen62010_

That is a lot of reading to do in two days (I do that way too frequently myself and it usually end in lack of sleep). Glad you like the story so far. Personally I'm constantly frightened that Chikako will turn into a Mary Sue. I actually had to scrap and rewrite this whole chapter for exactly that reason.

. . .

 **XIV - Welcome Home**

Finally seeing the mist that gave Kiri it's name was an immense relief. Chikako had told Kakashi that she'd let him kill her if that was what he decided to do and the man hadn't said a damn thing, just passed right over it and gone back to being the friendly sensei, apparently not paying attention to anything other than his book. She hadn't pressed him for a reply, didn't even know what she'd expected him to say and so the rest of their journey had been just as quiet as it had begun. This time the silence was neither tense nor hostile though.

Chikako had said what she'd wanted to say and Kakashi had never been a man of many words. Gaara was still unresponsive and it seemed even Naruto and Sakura had finally gotten tired of arguing over nothing. If not for the reason they were traveling to Kiri in the first place it would have almost been pleasant. But even that pretense didn't last long.

They'd been under surveillance from the second they'd reached the sea and the only reason no one had stopped them so far was that Chikako had signed the appropriate codes to their watchers, so they knew that the Konoha team hadn't forced her to get them into the village. A few guards had been trailing them nonetheless, a sensible security precaution, but she could tell that it put Kakashi on edge. Chikako wasn't surprised in the least that he'd noticed them. Now that she knew he had a way to evade her sensing abilities she wouldn't put anything past him when it came to stealth and it's counter measures.

She was almost certain he hadn't been able to do that the last time they'd met and to imagine that he'd learned the new skill because of her, no matter how inconvenient, was a flattering thought. Even if that wasn't the case though, she'd have to ask him about it at some point. He wasn't likely to give up much, after all no shinobi worth their salt would, but at the very least she needed to know how likely others were to employ the same technique. By now her fighting style, hell most of anything she did out in the field, depended on being able to sense the chakra around her.

She'd always thought of the ability as a strength that came with no drawbacks whatsoever, but she'd clearly gotten too reliant on it, specialized to utilize her talent to it's fullest potential because there was not way to take it away. It wasn't like a weapon one could lose after all. It couldn't be dodged or evaded and it's only blind spot was that someone who could sense energy as well as her would be able to hide the same way she did - by matching their chakra to the environment, and she'd never met or even heard of someone who could rival her in that.

Damned near fool proof, or so she'd thought at least. Kakashi had obviously found a way around it.

"What the-" Chikako started, gaze fixing on the mist they were headed for. She'd have to work out a new training routine later, right after she'd strangled Kisame. She should have really expected this, seeing as he'd had advanced notice of her return because she'd sent Azusa ahead to report.

The mist looked the same as it had a second ago, but within it's murky depth chakra had started to pules like a beating heart. It was slow at first. Nothing more than tiny ripples flowing into the sea. They spread out in a cone that was entirely unnatural though, not to mention directed at their boat.

After three pulses or so Chikako had taken a fighting stance, tense and ready for whatever was coming. She knew, or was at least fairly certain, that they weren't actually in danger. Still, it was never smart to underestimate Kisame. He didn't believe in holding back, which meant while he wouldn't actually try to kill them, he had no qualms about doing anything else as long as it wasn't likely to end in permanent injury or death.

Chikako usually preferred it that way. Sparring with him was always demanding. Dangerous enough that it felt like a real fight, but ultimately, as long as she paid attention, as risk free as any fight between shinobi could be. That was true for her anyway, she didn't know how careful he'd be with her companions and had no desire to find out, so she didn't tell them that they weren't really under attack. They'd be more careful if they took the situation seriously and the big idiot fish could look after himself.

Five more pulses of chakra and it's influence on the water changed from creating barely perceptible ripples to shallow waves that could rock their boat and grew exponentially taller as the seconds ticked by. Kakashi had uncovered his Sharingan the second she'd shifted her stance and by then the other two had taken notice as well. Naruto had moved to the front of their small vessel and a bunch of his clones surrounded both Sakura and Gaara, most of them standing directly on the water and glaring in all directions at an enemy they couldn't see yet.

The medic didn't look afraid, but the way her eyes darted around told Chikako that the other girl had no idea that they had been surrounded this whole time or from where this attack was going to come. Even so, Sakura was ready to defend Gaara and Chikako could appreciate that. At least for a moment, then she had to focus entirely on what was ahead of them.

A chakra barrier easily deflected the first few waves around the boat, keeping them dry and mostly steady. This was child's play though. Chikako knew how powerful Kisame really was and he didn't make her wait long. A massive blast of chakra tore a hole into the mist a moment later, revealing the swordsman in his familiar Akatsuki cloak. She hadn't even realized he'd kept the thing. Samehada was still on his back, but the sharp-toothed and slightly deranged grin he sported were suitably threatening all on their own.

Chikako didn't bother to shout at him. He was still too far away to hear her over the wind and the clashing waves, and it wasn't like he usually listened when she told him not to be an asshole. Their friendship was based as much on banter and pissing each other off as it was on anything else. She knew from experience that the fastest way to stop this idiocy was to play along.

So, while Kisame made a show of summoning sharks, Chikako signed to the border guards that had followed them. Two to either side of the boat hurried away as fast as their legs could carry them, which she was unreasonably pleased with because she really didn't feel like taking a bath in the sea. Something that became increasingly likely and was the precise reason she usually avoided fighting Kisame on the water, it just gave him way too much opportunity to be an asshole.

He kept lobbing wave after wave at her barrier. Individually they weren't a problem, but the frequency was just high enough that not all of the energy could be redirected before the next impact, meaning it'd shatter sooner rather than later if he didn't give her a break. She really needed to stop testing her seals with him, it gave him insight into how they worked beyond anything he could ever learn through mere observation and thereby made it easy to figure out what weaknesses he could exploit - which, granted, helped her create something more robust in the future, but also lead to situations like this.

The stupid shark smirked, waving his arms around like a maestro directing the sea. It looked both completely ridiculous and still somehow managed to be threatening because it implied he could actually move all that water around. He wasn't usually that dramatic. In fact this performance had Jiro written all over it.

Chikako cursed as the pressure of the waves mounted until her shield, just as she'd predicted, snapped under the strain. For a moment it looked as if they'd end up drenched after all, but she'd prepared while Kisame had had his fun playing villain. The one she threw up next was cylindrical and barely big enough to encompass the whole boat.

It wasn't in time to save the majority of Naruto's clones and the blond gasped in remembered pain as their memories merged with his. His blue eyes seemed oddly surprised and somewhat terrified, as if he'd just realized that Kisame was one of the most dangerous shinobi alive and that he was still just playing with them. She understood. Sudden death by being ripped apart between unexpectedly violent currents of water seemed rather unpleasant, especially when experienced multiple times with only a few seconds to recover in between.

Still, as far as he knew this was a serious fight and he should be planning for when her barrier inevitably broke again. Chikako pointedly looked between it and the blond when he found her gaze, apparently seeking reassurance. She had none to give. If this were real she would have told all of them to run. Kisame on land she could more or less handle, meaning if she managed to surprise him she had won by default and in any other case the whole thing turned into a war of attrition that she inevitably lost because the man had insane stamina and chakra reserves. Open water on the other hand meant there was absolutely nowhere safe for them to go and if he'd wanted to Kisame could have just made the sea swallow them up.

"Stop fucking around!" She shouted, more annoyed than anything else. Sakura apparently took it as a taunt judging by the incredulous look she shot Chikako. Meanwhile Kisame, who either hadn't heard her or, more likely, opted to ignore her, whipped up a whirlpool around their boat. If she didn't know better she'd think the man could read her mind.

The stupidly showy thing pressed on her barrier from all sides, so she couldn't pay too much attention to her companions, but she did note a flicker of chakra from Kakashi right before Kisame faltered. A genjutsu she realized, noting how her sensei had almost faded into the background even though he'd stood next to her in plain sight the whole time. He'd made sure not to draw attention to himself, all the while waiting for their opponent to come into range. It was kind of scary how she'd almost forgotten he was there. Very effective though.

Kisame never used any genjutsu himself. Chikako wasn't even sure if he just disliked them or actually lacked the necessary control for anything beyond the basics. Either way, he'd worked with Itachi long enough to recognize when he was caught in one.

There was no finesse at all to the way he broke free, a simple blast of energy so strong that it destabilized his own jutsu along with the illusion. Chikako let her shield fall the instant the shock wave of chakra had passed them, then used the opening Kakashi had created to go on the offensive herself.

Two Body Flickers got her right in Kisame's face. He barely had enough time to dodge her wakizashi, but then turned further into the hasty evasion to draw Samehada and swing it at her head with entirely too much enthusiasm. They quickly shifted into a familiar dance on the water - attacks, narrow misses and a myriad of bad insults. The latter of which was probably what kept her temporary companions from interfering - they likely sounded like bickering children, or maybe it was the way she started to giggle hysterically when she spotted Haku running their way.

Chikako had hoped the guards would alert some of her Hunter-nin, but seeing ice burst out of the sea and encasing Kisame until he looked like a particularly surprised popsicle was way better. The long-suffering expression on the boy's face as he attempted to glare his frozen victim into submission didn't hurt either. She had to wonder whether the fish was actually afraid though because there was no way he couldn't get out of his icy prison with another burst of chakra, yet he just drifted on the water, apparently content to remain exactly where he was.

Then Haku's gaze slid over to her and Chikako reflexively held up her hands, trying to look as unthreatening as possible.

"Welcome home," he told her a little tersely and turned right back around, gesturing for everyone to follow him. He barely looked at Kakashi, Sakura and Gaara. Even Naruto only got a nod.

Chikako grimaced, already anticipating bad news, then jumped at the sound of ice cracking. Kisame flicked a few small pieces at her, but had nothing more than a shrug to offer when she shot him a questioning look.

As they walked over to the boat he put Samehada back on his back where it belonged and even took off the cloak to reveal a standard Kiri jonin uniform. A wave of his hand and the shark summons, who had done nothing more than watch from a distance, vanished in puffs of chakra smoke.

Neither Kakashi nor Naruto looked convinced by the display, but just as he had with Zabuza, her sensei easily accepted that there wouldn't be any bloodshed after all. It was Sakura however who held the blond back when he started shouting about Kisame being in league with the people that had attacked Suna.

"He didn't really attack you," the girl said reasonably. She actually sounded friendly as she introduced herself and the other two Konoha nin, as if Kisame didn't already know about the Copy-nin and the Leaf's jinchuriki. He played along too, going so far as to shake all of their hands and only stopping short of offering hugs as well because Haku's annoyed huff demanded they hurry up.

Chikako felt a little as if reality had been distorted at some point and she'd missed it. Usually Haku was unfailingly polite, with an unyielding degree of patience; Naruto was friendliness personified, always ready to see the good in people and offer second, third or even fourth chances and Sakura had a short temper and no desire at all to hide it.

The weirdness of the whole situation put Chikako on edge. All she needed now was for Kakashi to start singing or something equally ludicrous, but he thankfully remained silent, looking just as bored and inattentive as he always did.

. . .

Haku directed a few shinobi to escort the Konoha team and Gaara towards the hospital as soon as they reached the gate. He also explicitly ordered that they be treated as guests, which resulted in several raised eyebrows. One of the Kiri nin actually glanced at Chikako for confirmation even though she'd been the one to bring the outsiders in in the first place.

Naruto was probably the only one oblivious to that particular action and what it said about her position in the village.

Haku's order meant that the Konoha team wouldn't be under guard and was free to move around as any citizen could. Seeing as they hadn't allowed anyone who didn't actually live in Kiri inside of the walls since shortly after Zabuza had taken over Chikako wasn't surprised by the reaction. She also didn't appreciate that it had happened in front of their guests. It exposed a flaw in their hierarchy and called Haku's judgment into question in a rather unsubtle manner.

Chikako negotiating with Suna on behalf of Kiri was one thing. She was friends with both village's kage and thus made for a very convenient middleman that neither side had a reason to mistrust. That she was in charge of the Hunter-nin despite not being part of Kiri's military officially could also be explained away by the simple fact that they'd been in a sorry state and her, or rather Wraith, taking over had benefited the village's reputation. Especially because there had never been any conflict between her and Zabuza about what she did with the division.

This, however, was a different matter because she didn't have any authority to order the regular forces around. She did relay Zabuza's orders on occasion and people generally did as she said out of respect or because Kisame was looming in the background intimidatingly, but under no circumstances should her opinion on a matter ever supersede a direct order from Haku. That the guy had requested it anyway bordered on insubordination and the casual manner in which he'd done it said he didn't even realize it.

Haku did though and still he just stood there, face impassive. If not for the way his fingers flexed as if he was trying not to curl them into fists Chikako would have had a hard time telling that he was upset. It took her another heartbeat to realize that he wouldn't do anything about it either. It was the first time she wondered in earnest who these people would listen to if she contradicted him. She'd contemplated the Hunter-nin's loyalty before, but that had been more idle curiosity and less actual concern. Not to mention that she worked closely with them, knew each one personally, whereas this guy was just some chunin she'd probably never even talked to.

"You're demoted!" Chikako snapped, surprising herself. She did so not have the authority to make that call. Haku shot her a startled glance and the chunin, genin now she supposed, flinched backwards, eyes widening in dawning horror as he processed her words. If he wanted to look to her for orders she'd give him a few. "Report to the academy before the end of day and let them know that you need a few more lessons on what it means to be a shinobi of the Mist, specifically professionalism and the chain of command. Then report to Mei and tell her the same. I'm sure she'll be delighted to have a new gopher."

She would be too, not as much as rubbing this whole thing in Chikako's face though. The woman had been raising concerns about her rank, or lack thereof, for a while. It was ill-defined and left a lot of room for situations exactly like this. Chikako hadn't thought it was a problem until now. After all she had no intentions of harming Zabuza or starting a coup. But of course that wasn't enough. Soldiers needed to know who they answered to and her mere presence made that difficult.

The now-genin started to stammer out some sort of apology, apparently not quite sure whether she'd been joking about his demotion. Kisame, having smelled blood like the shark he was, jumped right in. He gave another of those toothy grins, clapping the man on the shoulder hard enough to make him stumble forward a few steps.

"You heard the lady," he declared in a cheerful tone, special emphasis on the 'lady' as if that was a title she had any right to claim. "Go on. Or I could escort you if you need a refresher on the layout of your village as well?"

The man made a rather embarrassing sound, somewhere between a squeak and a yelp. Then he started walking away at a pace so brisk it bordered on running.

When Haku raised an eyebrow at the remaining two chunin they practically fell over themselves to obey his initial orders. By nightfall there wouldn't be a soul in Kiri unaware of this little incident, but Chikako wasn't convinced it was enough.

. . .

Jiro sat on Zabuza's desk when they walked into the office. Both man and yokai looked uncharacteristically serious and for a second she wondered if they'd somehow already heard more about Suna than Azusa could have told them. A flicker of guilt flashed through her at the thought. Her eyes widened minutely and she had a hard time keeping her expression in check when Kakashi's words finally hit home.

She hadn't realized it until now, but the reason she hadn't wanted to hear him, had avoided explaining herself at every turn and hadn't even summoned Sune or Kit back to check in with them was that she was ashamed. In Suna and on the way back to Kiri she hadn't needed to answer to anyone. Wraith could get away with keeping her own council because technically she was a nukenin, and with Gaara unable to demand answers and Kakashi having resolved to letting her figure things out on her own there had been nothing to stop her from being a coward.

Clearly if her gut reaction to having to give her report was to find a way to avoid it she needed to stop and take a good look at how she'd been acting. People had this neat ability to justify just about anything to themselves, irrespective of facts or logic. Now she just needed to find out what exactly she was ashamed of and a debriefing was probably not the right time for that.

She was fine just like she'd told Kakashi, so she could do this first and - fuck, no. She couldn't because if she put the whole self-awareness and reflection thing off there would just be something else she could use as an excuse to do it later.

Chikako glanced up at Zabuza. He'd leaned back, alert but seemingly not in a hurry despite whatever it was that had put him, Haku and Jiro in a bad mood. When it became apparent that she wasn't going to say anything unless he asked Zabuza gave a tiny nod and waved Kisame over instead. Maybe she hadn't kept her face quiet as blank as she'd thought, but she was glad to have a little bit more time, she'd just have to get this sorted out fast.

Okay, so, she wasn't fine. Chikako could admit that much. She wasn't fine and hadn't been in a long time. Ignoring that didn't make it go away. She looked at the owl on her wrist and felt it stare back in silent judgment. She'd wanted to get Sai out of the ROOT mindset, make him understand that there was more to life than following orders and unquestioning loyalty to a man that treated his people like disposable tools. He'd been good in the end she thought. Had made leaps and bounds when it came to being an actual human being and not just a piece in someone else's game of chess. Probably more because of his own efforts and Jiro's influence than because of her, but she'd still been part of that. They'd been friends, family, pack.

But then he'd died, sacrificed himself because he chose to and not because he thought his life wasn't worth anything. It didn't make the loss hurt any less though.

She thought she'd mourned him during those days she still couldn't quite remember. She had, of course. The problem was that she'd never gotten over his death. Chikako wanted to avoid losing anyone else so badly that she'd shaped herself into a tool.

Not very effectively, seeing as her main drive was apparently fear and her idea of taking care of herself involved a lot of pretending she was fine and trusting that her body would heal on it's own. And wasn't that ironic? She'd clearly gotten too good at lying to herself about who she was if she only now felt ashamed though. She'd also very conveniently avoided the people that would have been able to tell and shut down any concern from those she couldn't. Stayed out of Hinata's way, refused to hear what Shikamaru had told her, asked Jiraiya not to bring Naruto along, let Itachi keep all the distance he wanted for whatever it was he was doing in Akatsuki and really it wouldn't have been hard to visit Kakashi or Ibiki in Konoha. All she would have had to do was slap a mask on because as Wraith she wouldn't even have had to sneak in.

She'd isolated herself for weeks and months at a time and then in Kiri she'd focused on doing whatever Zabuza needed her to, glad that the man was too busy keeping his village together to question her motives or work ethic. Over the past six months or so Kisame and the Hunter-nin had been the only people she'd actually spent time with on a regular basis and neither had known enough about her life before she'd taken on the identity of Wraith to note the differences. Even if they had, she didn't think they would have thought the changes were bad, not yet anyway.

Chikako was still stumbling around close enough to that illusive line between good and bad that it was hard to tell on which side she'd fall. In the shinobi world ends more often than not justified means and in those cases good and bad were really just words. Nothing more than strings of letters that weren't relevant to completing the mission. And following rules and orders was so much easier than thinking anyway. They meant someone else took responsibility.

She'd fallen right into that trap. Only there was no one giving her orders, yet the rules she followed weren't her own. They were an amalgamation of half-remembered or inferred ANBU protocols, bits and pieces of what Sai had told her about ROOT's operating procedure as well as lessons from Ibiki, Zabuza and even Orochimaru. In other words they all settled somewhere between survival during times of war and achieving one's goal at any cost. She applied those rules using logic, was mostly consistent about them too, but had she ever really questioned the rules themselves?

"Is this important?" Chikako asked interrupting the quiet conversation Zabuza and Kisame were in the middle of. "Like the your life is in danger or the village is going to fall apart kind of important?"

He blinked at her, clearly surprised and a little taken aback, probably because she was usually making more of an effort to be respectful when they were interacting as Mizukage and not-quite-subordinate and not simply as two friends.

"No," Zabuza said with an odd almost smile after he'd glanced between her and the stacks of papers on his desk a few times. He let her give a short version of her report, which more or less amounted to 'mission accomplished' because a first draft of the alliance contract with Suna had already arrived by messenger bird for his approval. There were probably going to be a few more questions once she'd handed in the written version of what had happened, but right then he seemed satisfied with what she told him about the attack and why Gaara was now in a Kiri hospital with three Konoha nin.

She got a little suspicious when he didn't even look surprised after she declared that she would no longer act as head of the Hunter-nin division and stay away from ANBU in general. There wasn't anything she could do about that though. After all it wasn't as if she wanted him to argue with her, so when he sent her off to keep her friends company without ever telling her what was up with those files she complied with narrowed eyes and the sneaking suspicion that he'd waited for her to resign.


	62. XIV - The Patient

**A/N:**

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to review.

 _Elise142_

Chikako's position was (unofficial) Head of the Hunter-nin Division. She never had an official rank though which makes the whole thing a little bit more complicated. Add to that her involvement in killing Yagura and the fact that Zabuza more or less gave her free reign to do whatever she wanted to do, like deliver his orders verbally (read without proof) and attend meetings no outsider should have security clearance for.

. . .

 **XIV - The Patient**

Jiro clung to Chikako's back, chin on her shoulder so he could see the road ahead. Apparently he didn't know what was up with those files in Zabuza's office and Yata hadn't returned with word from Itachi either. His grim demeanor stemmed mostly from the fact that he'd helped Kisame work out the best way to welcome her home and then hadn't been allowed to come along. That she hadn't actually appreciated the little play, found it rather inconvenient in fact, was besides the point of course.

"A fluffy pet would destroy may image," the yokai mocked in the deepest voice he could manage. "As if! You are plenty scary and I'm with you all the time."

Chikako nodded absentmindedly, patting him on the head with one hand and signing to a passing shinobi that she wanted an update on Gaara with the other. The little tanuki had been ranting for about ten minutes already and so far all she'd been able to get in edgewise was a greeting. It didn't look as if that would change any time soon either, but she didn't mind. Jiro's particular mix of cuteness and grumpiness was rather endearing and she'd missed him. What she liked even better though was that he wasn't assaulting her with questions like she'd expected him to.

Making her way towards the hospital didn't take long and once there a harried looking medic practically jumped her. The man had rather pronounced bags under his eyes, was probably on the end of a double shift, but his movements were fast and precise. Kiri couldn't hold a candle to Konoha when it came to medical expertise, but if nothing else the hospital staff was as disciplined and effective as any member of ANBU. They had to be.

Zabuza had abolished the barbaric graduation exam that had earned him the nickname Demon, that did not, however, mean that nobody ever got hurt during training. Quite the opposite actually. Chikako wasn't entirely certain how much of that was Kisame's and her fault, but training in Kiri usually involved, at the very least, blood and a number of nasty bruises. People were careful not to accidentally kill each other and made sure that no one had to be taken off active duty for more than a few days, but otherwise they rarely held back.

It was how she trained because at the rate she healed she could easily afford to get hurt. It was also what she'd demanded of the Hunter-nin to get them back in shape and she'd noticed the approach trickle down through the rest of ANBU and then the jonin, chunin and even genin. Zabuza, who was generally of the opinion that anything that didn't kill you made you stronger, had approved of course and after Mei had made very clear that everyone was to err on the side of caution, no exceptions, she too had given her blessings.

It kept the shinobi's teeth sharp and their reflexes fast. Not quite as effectively as living under the constant threat of Yagura's reign had, but the lack of casualties and mental breakdowns made up for that nicely, while at the same time allowing for more experimentation. The downside was of course that the poor medics were constantly overworked.

The one that had flagged Chikako down seemed equal parts grim determination and embarrassment.

"Wraith-sama, I was told that the foreigners are to be treated as guests, but they are being disruptive," he hesitated as if waiting for a reprimand, but when none came continued in a stronger voice that was laced with a healthy dose of anger. "The blond one keeps harassing the staff for updates and demands he be let to see the patient you brought in and the one with the pink hair constantly tries to interfere with the medics' work. And then there is Hatake, I know the Leaf doesn't see the value in discipline, but the man isn't even pretending to keep his people in line!"

Chikako raised an eyebrow at that last part. She was honestly surprised that Kakashi had entered the hospital at all, much less stayed around. Usually he preferred to ignore his duties from a distance, especially if medics were involved. Not to mention that she'd expected him to take a look around to gather intel while he had the chance.

"The girl is Sakura Haruno, apprentice of the Godaime Hokage. If you can't work with her around feel free to throw her out, but I'd advise you to listen to her instead, let her explain what she's doing and why. She can be a bit of a bitch, but as far as I can tell she's also an insanely talented Iryo-nin and if you play your cards right she'll spill a lot of knowledge Kiri usually wouldn't have access to."

"Understood."

Chikako inclined her head, then walked off in the direction she sensed Naruto's chakra. She'd explicitly left the man a choice as to how to act, yet he'd acknowledged her advise as if it had been an order. How had she not noticed that before? It seemed glaringly obvious now, but then hindsight was always perfect.

"Look it's the idiot," Jiro interrupted her thoughts a moment later, paw waving around wildly as if she could have possibly missed the three Naruto clones blocking the corridor ahead to keep a nurse from ignoring their questions. The woman was a head taller and at least twice as broad, with more fat than muscle, but quick on her feet despite her bulk. She also had no patience for the blonds' inquiries, looked only moments away from throwing the next heavy object she could get her hands on. When she saw Chikako she demanded, in no uncertain terms, that something be done immediately, while glaring at a chunin who looked on helplessly, unsure of whether he was allowed to engage. Guests were to not to be attacked or restrained, but they were also expected to behave themselves so the confusion was understandable.

The clones' attention shifted, eyes rising in perfect synchronicity to gaze down the hall, but by the time they had completed the motion there was nothing left to see. Chikako used a Body Flicker to reposition, placing herself at their backs. Two clones were eliminated via a kunai to the neck and the last one got clobbered over the head by Jiro, who had jumped and then transformed into an anvil to complete his rather unconventional attack. The change in weight that action required cost him a significant amount of chakra, that he then promptly begged off of Chikako as if she was his personal battery.

"Rude!" The real Naruto shouted from further down the hall, which the nurse commented on by calling him an imbecile and muttering a few rather unflattering things about Leaf shinobi under her breath as she walked off.

Naruto usually had a penchant for making friends but if he kept going like he was he just might single-handedly taint Kiri's opinion on Konoha for the foreseeable future. Not that he could do much more damage in that respect. Most people here already regarded the Leaf as undisciplined, soft and untrustworthy. The worst Naruto could do was add a few more adjectives, like stupid, impatient or unreasonable for example.

Chikako didn't answer either of them. She was half tempted to take her own advise and simply throw Naruto out of the building, but he was likely to make trouble proportionally to how far away from Gaara he had to wait. So instead she merely gestured for the chunin to follow her and kept walking until she reached the waiting area both her former teammate and Kakashi were in.

The latter was slumped over two chairs in the far corner, trusty orange book held high as if to ward off anyone who might approach him. The former on the other hand alternated between starring at the clock and down either side of the corridor. It seemed as if he was under the impression that he was likely to miss something vital if he so much as blinked.

"If you don't stop pestering the staff I'm going to have you chained up somewhere," Chikako bluffed. She really couldn't do that, or rather shouldn't. Apparently people were more than willing to do as she said, whether she had the authority to order them around or not and the fact that she'd resigned from her semi-official role as Head of the Hunter-nin Division couldn't yet have made the rounds. Even if it had, she wasn't sure anymore that anyone besides Zabuza, Haku and Mei would refuse her anything. Still, she'd just demoted someone - which she also couldn't technically do - for questioning Haku's decision to treat the Konoha nin as guests. Effectively doing the same now would just be the height of hypocrisy. Luckily Naruto didn't comprehend any of that and both Jiro and Kakashi refrained from calling her out on it.

"But they won't tell me anything," the blond whined, bright blue puppy eyes wide and pleading. Chikako knew better than to fall for his tricks.

"That's because you don't need to know. The medics' job is to treat patients, not to babysit friends and family. Making you feel better doesn't help Gaara, or anyone else for that matter, so stop wasting their time."

"But what if something happens?"

"What exactly do you think could happen to Gaara right now that would require your assistance?"

"I don't know!" Naruto shouted, throwing his hands up. "I'm just worried. Not everyone can be like you."

Her eyebrow twitched, fingers clenching into fists. He should know her better than that and she resented that he didn't. The knowledge that they hadn't seen each other in long enough that they were barely more than strangers didn't lessen the sting either.

"If you're implying," she said, without any inflection to hide that he'd hit a nerve, "that I don't care about what happens to him you're an even greater idiot than I thought."

"Do you though? Sakura said Konoha's hospital is much better and it would have been closer too. I mean I get why we had to leave Suna, but we could have gone home instead of coming all the way here."

Chikako sighed, shoulders sagging as she walked over to the windows. The motion made Jiro loose his hold, but instead of complaining he used the opportunity to leave without drawing attention to himself. It shouldn't take him long to track down the right room and assess Gaara's condition.

She'd have to wait for the tanuki to finish his job before she could let Naruto anywhere near their friend though, lest he start shouting at the medics here like he had at Sakura back in Suna. If there was something to be done she'd do it, but if there wasn't he would just have to accept that.

Chikako kept her back to him as she spoke next, but made sure to stand at an angle that allowed her to watch both him and Kakashi through their reflections in the window.

"Konoha can't be trusted," she said, then preemptively held up a hand to stall Naruto's protest before he got a chance to cut in. "Orochimaru wasn't the only snake and at this point I'm not even sure he was the worst. Your childhood was shitty and you had to spent most of it alone, but even then you always had someone looking over you. Do you know how Sai grew up? What about Kakashi or Sasuke for that matter?

"The Leaf might look shiny from the outside, but it's core is rotten. So, to answer your question. I brought Gaara here because I helped Zabuza take Kiri, I helped burn out everything that had made it sick and then I helped reshape what was left and build upon the new foundation. The shinobi that live here, for better or worse, will kill and die on my orders and that means it's the only place I can guarantee Gaara's safety."

Naruto let out a frustrated growl. He was so agitated that he couldn't quite contain his chakra, leaving it to whip the air around him into impossible currents of wind, but he didn't seem to notice.

"What does that even mean? You always say that. Konoha isn't safe, there are monsters lurking in the shadows, but you never explain anything. You just tell stories that are missing so many parts that the old pervert could probably write novels with them that are actually good."

"I've told you-"

"No, you haven't! That's the whole point. The things you tell me have already happened. Orochimaru isn't in Konoha anymore. Whoever wanted to kill you doesn't mater anymore either because Chikako is dead, isn't she? At least that's what the headstone in the Nara Forest says and with the way you behave it might as well be true."

He probably said more after that, but the remark threw her for a loop. She remembered Shikamaru mentioning an unmarked grave that Choji had supposedly made for her on the Nara clan's land. That was the same day Sai had died. He'd told her the others came to visit it from time to time and then made some quip about Neji bringing flowers, but he'd also claimed to have made the whole thing up.

Actually no, he'd said he'd made most of it up. Had Choji actually gotten the Nara to let him honor a presumed dead traitor? Because that was just ... stupid. It didn't help her or them. If anything it put them in danger or at the very least cast a bad light on the clan and anyone who was involved. Why would they- ?

"Chikako?"

"I ... what?" She blinked at Naruto, somewhat confused by how he'd managed to close the distance between them without her noticing. His eyes were huge and worried and right in front of her.

"Are you okay?" He asked, frowning when she took two steps backwards to put some much needed space between them.

"When did we switch from arguing to ... whatever it is you're doing right now?"

Kakashi huffed, calmly flipping a page and not looking at either of them.

"About the time you spaced out and he realized you weren't ignoring him on purpose."

He sounded perfectly bored, she could read him though and he was far too interested in her answer. Just because Chikako had decided to face the fact that she wasn't nearly as okay as she liked to claim didn't mean she was ready to spill her guts, especially not now.

Consequently she had no compunctions at all about using the chunin from earlier as a distraction. He'd signed then that he had a non-urgent report for her and reacted immediately when she finally signaled for him to give it. Kakashi saw right through her, had known the Kiri nin was there all along, but Naruto let out a startled yelp and looked more than a little bewildered when the man suddenly appeared, saluted and launched into his report without preamble.

"The patient is in near perfect health physically, but remains entirely unresponsive. The medics have managed to stabilize his chakra with Haruno-san's help though and are confident it will recover naturally. Your tanuki has also mentioned that he has an idea that could help wake the patient."

"I thought he might," Chikako said with a reluctant smile and waved the chunin away, safe in the knowledge that this news was sufficient distraction to keep Naruto off her back.

The blond didn't disappoint, immediately launching himself at the Kiri nin to clarify that the patient in question was Gaara and not even waiting for an answer before demanding to know where his friend was and why no one had told him earlier.

Kakashi on the other hand had sat up straight for a change and raised an eyebrow at Chikako as if to ask if she really thought it would be that easy. Her answer was a shrug, because they both knew he liked to avoid talking at least as much as she did and, unlike Naruto, he wouldn't make a scene.

"You could have dispelled them you know?" He told her once he'd gotten up to stand beside her.

"What?"

"The clones. Whatever you did clearly hurt Naruto, but with your control over chakra you could have just dispelled them."

Oh.

Yes, she supposed she could have. The thought never even crossed her mind though. The clones had been in her way and taking them out like any enemy combatant was acceptable because they weren't really Naruto. She probably could have just told him to dispel the stupid things himself.

Chikako remained silent as they followed after the blond, albeit at a more sedate pace. There wasn't really anything she could say to that. Kakashi was right, but that didn't make her approach wrong, just ... less nice maybe?

But that wasn't actually what he disliked, she'd figured out that much at least. Sakura was only nice to Naruto about fifty percent of the time and he couldn't care less about their antics. So apparently the problem wasn't that Chikako had decided to kill the clones, it was that the nice alternatives hadn't occurred to her. She liked knowing him well enough to read his behavior, but at times like this she also greatly disliked that he could to the same to her. He might have complained about her ability to lie, but unless he'd turned into a mind reader while she'd been gone it clearly was no match for his observational skills.

Now, why was Sakura's approach better than her own? Outside of training the young medic had most definitely left Naruto with more injuries than Chikako ever had. For Sakura violence seemed to be the end. He did something she didn't like and so she hurt him. For Chikako on the other hand it was merely the means, one of many tools to employ to achieve a certain outcome. She had no desire to inflict pain for it's own sake. From that point of view she would have thought Sakura was the one doing something wrong. Not that Chikako had any clue what difference it made to an outsider, seeing as the outcome was the same in both cases.

It sounded like one of these things Story Book Naruto would know. The character in Jiraiya's novel was always eerily aware of which things were right and which weren't, even when his decision's seemed completely arbitrary to Chikako and went against the law's of his fictional world. The only reason she believed that something like that was even possible was that the real Naruto appeared to share this odd ability, as if right and wrong were fixed things, immune to context and perspective.

"If Jiro's idea is what I think it is I'm going to need you to make sure Naruto doesn't interfere," Chikako said as they rounded the corner to Gaara's room. The blond was already inside and she could hear him babbling happily.

"That doesn't sound ominous at all," Kakashi joked, carefully not looking at her. His tone was cheerful enough, likely because he wanted to avoid drawing Naruto's attention now that they were in hearing range, he didn't seem the least bit amused though.

"It might be perfectly safe."

"Which means it might kill you."

"Don't be dramatic."

"Tell me I'm wrong."

She clamped her mouth shut. Trying to reassure him had been a mistake. She didn't even know yet if Jiro's idea was what she suspected and saying anything at all had been stupid. He could read her too well to miss that she was not only worried, but also nervous.

As was his habit, Kakashi didn't press her for an explanation and she was yet again amazed by how much trust he was willing to offer her. He had suffered so much that he deliberately kept people at a distance because he was afraid of losing everyone he loved over and over again, so better to keep the circle of possible victims small. Once he'd committed to being someone's friend however Kakashi Hatake would move mountain's to keep that person safe and happy.

She had no idea how he picked his people, but she was honored to be part of his pack. That was what she told him when they entered the room and she saw Jiro's expression. It was also what she though about to keep her hands from shaking while the tanuki confirmed that she'd have to go back. Back into the Void and that special little piece of hell that was Gaara's mind. To that place where the pain and loneliness of a little boy suffocated everything and where an insane monster twisted them up into something even worse.

Jiro looked grim when he grabbed her left hand and held it tightly with both of his little paws. Grim and determined, and then he was suddenly gone, replaced by golden grass, bone white bark, crimson leaves and a sky that was at the same time endless black, yet shimmered in impossible shades of blue and purple.

It was completely different, yet just as beautiful as she remembered. She could clearly recall the last time she'd been here. The cell in Earth, cold stone at her back and the screams of a broken ROOT operative in her ears. The headache that had slowly crept up on her over what seemed like several days in the Void but had actually only been half an hour or so. Even if everything else went according to plan - which she doubted because nothing ever did - Chikako was on a hard time limit. Every real world minute her mind spend trying to process the Void would overwhelm it a little more and bring her that little bit closer to an aneurysm. Brain death seem like a sure fire way to kill even her. Or maybe it would leave her like she'd left that traitor in Suna, physically intact, but mentally a vegetable.

"Took you long enough," Kit snarled the second shed refocused her vision.

She blinked at his disgruntled face. She'd known that he would be there, but the sudden shift from the hospital room was jarring nonetheless.

"I always leave you waiting don't I?"

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards at the weak apology. Then he started to rant about unreliable, stupid humans. He'd almost calmed down again when his expression suddenly turned into a frown, eyes narrowing and lip curling to reveal pointy canines. Kit grabbed her right wrist, yanking it forward with an unexpected burst of strength and making her stumble towards him in the process.

"How dare you?" He snapped at her. The slight annoyance and hint of humor had completely vanish only to be replaced by boiling hot anger.

Chikako glanced at her arm in confusion, then her eyes went wide as she realized what had drawn his attention. The skin was smooth and pristine, utterly lacking all those tiny scars it should have been littered with. She'd noticed in that cave, after Anwei had healed her and then promptly forgotten again with everything else that had been going on, which was stupid because of course Kit would notice. So much for keeping the whole thing secret.

"I didn't have a choice and-"

"Hah!" He mocked as his claws dug into her flesh. "Didn't have a choice. Have I taught you nothing? What did that little shit take this time? Maybe a kidney? A lung? Still have all your toes? Or did you promise him something? A favor or two to be payed later?"

"It's fine really, I-"

"Fine? Fine! I can't believe you, you-"

"Brother," Sune cut it, fixing him with a hard look. He growled at both of them, then turned on his heel and walked off without another word. With every step he took tendrils of mist rose from the grass, creeping in closer and closer, like a blanket that slowly muted colors and smothered the world in silence. By the time it had completely swallowed him, a milky white wall of fog surrounded both Sune and Chikako.

There were about two meters between them and where it abruptly cut off. If it weren't for the swirling shapes of gray moving around in it's depth Chikako would have thought it had turned into snow or some other solid, but then this whole place was unnatural so who was to say mist had to adhere to the laws of physics.

"You are okay?" Sune asked, now turning her glare on Chikako.

"And you?"

"Fine." There was too much emphasis on the word, more barked than spoken. Sune shook her head like a dog might, then plopped down on the ground. Her clawed fingers caressed the grass as if it was a beloved pet and from time to time she would rip out a blade or two and throw it into the fog.

"He was worried and he got it into his head that you think he is weak and useless and then he started to fret that you wouldn't want to call us anymore because we both failed and-"

Sune broke off with a choked noise and it took Chikako a moment to realize that she wasn't just gasping for air. The yokai was on the verge of tears, quietly sniffing and keeping her face averted to hide her eyes.

Chikako's fingers twitched. Hugging Sune seemed like it might be a good idea, but she wasn't sure whether the yokai would welcome the gesture or bite her hand of for trying to offer comfort.

"I don't-" Chikako started, then cleared her throat and tried again, more firmly this time. "That's ridiculous. Where did he get that idea?"

"I- I lost the boy and y- you send Kit away and," Sune trailed of at the end words turning into quiet mumbling. She'd said enough though and Chikako shook her head in dismay. What a mess.

"Okay, listen, I don't have time right now because I need your help with something else, but you are not useless and neither is your brother. I send him back during that fight so he didn't get hurt and Kakashi told me what you did to help. You did good. Both of you."

"So you'll keep the contract?" Sune slowly raised her gaze, eyes hopeful in a way Chikako had never seen before.

"Of course," she said slowly, a frown settling over her features. "I thought free yokai despised being bound and that Kit was merely doing me a favor?"

Sune shuffled, ducking her head again and suddenly very eager to change the topic.

"What did you need help with?"

 _Subtle_ , Chikako thought wryly, but didn't comment out loud. She really didn't have time right now, this had to go on the long list of things she'd deal with later. So instead of interrogation Sune about her slip-up Chikako explained Jiro's idea.

Back during the invasion of Konoha - that seemed like a lifetime ago now - Jiro had let Chikako slip into Gaara's mind, or at least the reflection of it in the Void. She didn't really grasp the whole concept. It had something to do with the way jinchuriki were bound to their demons. The Tailed Beasts were so powerful that their mere presence could reshape the Void around them, but apparently the connection to their humans went both ways. So while Gaara's chakra was tainted by Shukako's, in turn Gaara's mind also asserted influence over the Void.

Jiro had tried to explain how that part of the Void was cut of from the one Sune and Kit lived in, but she'd waved him off at that point. It was interesting to be sure, but didn't really help with what she needed to do. In essence, Jiro wanted her to go back into Shukako's part of the Void because he thought Gaara's mind was trapped there. The problem was that, without the Bijuu there as an anchor, Jiro couldn't just help her enter that twisted realm like last time.

Instead the little tanuki was playing the anchor in the real world so that Kit and Sune could help Chikako locate him from the Void, which would then supposedly lead them to the entrance of Shukako's realm.

At least that was what she'd gathered from his rushed ramblings. Most of it sounded surreal to her and she didn't really understand how it all fit together, but Sune was nodding along eagerly as if she made perfect sense. Well, as long as one of them knew what was going on.


	63. XIV - Remember

**A/N:**

Thanks for the reviews everyone. I don't know how FF alerts followers to story updates, but just so you don't get confused in case there are multiple notifications: I corrected some minor spelling and grammatical errors in 5 other chapters.

 _Yashamaru Kotohime_

Ah yes, the joys of binge reading at too little sleep. Glad it was worth it.

. . .

 **XIV - Remember**

Chikako didn't feel like Kit had a right to be angry with her for calling on Anwei. After all her other option had been to bleed out, with a leg torn open, an arm essentially cooked meat and Iron Sand in her lungs, there hadn't been much of a choice. At least this time she'd thought about what she was going to offer the nasty little yokai beforehand and had worded the deal accordingly. Something Kit would know if he'd let her explain instead of throwing a tantrum. Which wasn't to say that she didn't understand the sentiment. He'd already been worried about her, apparently also felt rejected and thought she'd done something stupid. Which, granted, she did stupid things all the time, but this hadn't been one of them.

After being led through the thick mist by Sune, Chikako greeted the surly yokai by telling him he wasn't getting out of their contract that easily. His eyes widened minutely and he shot his sister a glance, but then skipped right over the comment. Sune, also eager to switch the topic, quickly recapped what they needed to do in a way that made the whole thing seem even more confusing to Chikako and then they were off.

Just like that, no more questions or reprimands. She wished everything were that easy, but suspected that they mostly just didn't want to talk about the contract.

Last time the three of them had wandered the Void aimlessly until Chikako's mind had adjusted enough for her to see something other than endless black and then a landscape whose geography was impossible because it's distances hadn't added up, at all. This time Kit quickly led them through the white and crimson forest, then along a sparkling emerald river that was completely silent and seemed to be flowing uphill until it reached a cobalt blue waterfall. Where the two streams collided gravity suddenly became optional and the water floated around freely, merging into shapes that were too regular to be coincidence.

Kit and Sune had no problem gliding through the air as if that was in any way natural, Chikako however could not deal with the weirdness of it all and they had to pull her with them because she constantly got turned around, not knowing up from down or left from right. The only saving grace of that whole ordeal was that her stomach stopped twisting and turning when gravity set back in and sharply pulled all of them downwards into a system of tunnels that seemed to spread out like the roots of a tree.

It was pitch black at the bottom, yet for whatever reason Chikako had no problem seeing colors or shapes clearly. Which meant she immediately knew that the viscous liquid they landed in was a brilliant red. They'd made a big splash when they broke the surface, causing it to coat the walls crimson and the air to take on a metallic tang.

"A little warning next time," Chikako snarled as soon as her head breached the surface again. She was completely drenched and it didn't look like there were any showers around here to clean up either. Her ire held exactly as long as it took her to realize that Sune's disgusted and Kit's worried expressions meant that neither had known the pool was here.

"When did you bathe in blood?" Kit asked, starring at Chikako.

"What?"

"The Void is nothing until we make it something. It reflects what we know and expect, remember or think. It twists reality into surreal shapes, but it never forms into something that has never been and this has to be a memory. It's too detailed for anything else. The pool looks like blood, it smells like blood, it feels like blood and it tastes like blood.

"It also isn't here when Sune and I walk this path alone, so it has to be yours."

Chikako's brow furrowed as she thought back. The forest had had no animals, no wind or smell, the river had had no sound, or anything but river for that matter. She didn't even remember the ground they had walked on.

By comparison these tunnels could have been real, were real actually. She remembered wandering them for days, the metallic smell of blood slowly rising as she'd searched for the Akatsuki.

"I didn't bathe in blood. I just ... found it." Back in the Land of Rivers, where a group of Jashinists had made their lair. Where they had brought their kills and where they had eventually died.

Sune made a noise, somewhere between choking and laughter.

"You found blood? Like this?"

Three men and a little boy. Chikako didn't regret killing them, thinking about how she'd gotten her information, the way they'd enjoyed the pain, still made her feel dirty though.

"Yes, now can we move on?"

The female yokai kept chuckling as she watched Chikako try to reach the edge of the pool. It didn't seem to matter how far she swam though, there was always more red between her and dry land.

"Just stop," Kit grunted, putting all the annoyance Chikako felt into those two words. "We'll have to dive to the bottom to get out."

"Why?"

"Because I can't fly and what you're doing clearly isn't working. And while we're at it, are there any other surprises you want to tell us about?"

"Excuse me?" Chikako turned around, raising an eyebrow at the demon. His white kimono and hair were somehow still pristine without even the hint of a crimson hue. By now she'd resigned herself to the fact that this place didn't make a whole lot of sense, but he could at least make an effort. "Why the hell are you asking me? You are the one that lives here."

"Yes, well, the Void latches on to strong memories and Sune and I barely have any that aren't of this place. The deeper into the unstable parts we go, the more it will draw on yours. So should we expect an army of skeletons next?"

He barely got to finish the sentence before a black piece of armor drifted up from the depth of the pool. Two more followed and then they were suddenly sitting on a clattering mountain of metal. It shifted constantly, forcing the three of them to scrabble for purchase in an effort not to get separated.

Wind picked up, blowing the smell of blood away and replacing it with the cool, dry air of a desert night. Above them the stone crumbled, opening up a brilliant view of the sky and it's myriads of stars and Chikako's heart froze. She didn't have to turn back around to know that red eyes glowed under all those pieces of discarded armor. Red eyes, twisted chakra and grotesque creatures that used to be human.

The wind grew stronger, making grains of sand scrape over her skin. It's distant keening turned into a howl that ripped the night apart. Lightning struck and Chikako saw Sai jump in front of her, saw a wolf tear into his flesh and crimson wash over his pale skin. Then it was black again and she went to her knees, helpless to intervene, to move even a single step in order to prevent what had already happened.

She didn't land on sand though. The desert was gone and instead damp stone greeted her. Bright light flickered to life overhead, a lamp this time. There was blood here too, blood and even less savory fluids that stained the floor and walls. She hadn't seen this in years. Not since before the white animals had found her, ANBU, her Hound.

This was the Pit, where Orochimaru tested his experiments by making them fight each other. She had been spectator more often than participant, too valuable, the favorite. There had been no getting around spectating though. Not being able to watch was being weak and down here only the strong got to live. By the time she'd stopped caring about living she'd stopped caring about watching and killing too.

She did care now though, because the child on the other side wasn't just a new addition that hadn't earned a name yet. It wasn't just a faceless number that she'd forget about the second it's corpse was dragged away.

"Sai?"

Her voice sounded off. Small and half choked by tears. Her face was wet, her mind was fuzzy and she could feel an ache so deep in her bones she didn't think she could dig it out.

The boy didn't say anything. He just sat there, a kunai in his hand and at his other side a brush without ink. He blinked slowly back at her, once, twice, then his throat opened up in a grotesque imitation of a smile, skin and flesh peeling apart all on their own, but he still just sat there, starring.

"Sai!" Chikako called again, struggling against invisible chains. Her limbs wouldn't move an inch.

She could hear Orochimaru's laughter echoing off the walls. He was crooning something that might have been meant to be reassuring, but only made cold dread crawl down her spine like an icy river. Then white hot pain shot through her wrist and Chikako yelped in surprise.

The Pit wavered, turning into smoke, gray and fleeting as it vanished and she was back in a black endless void. Sune stood behind her, pinning her arms in place and Kit had left her wrist, claws dug into the delicate flesh right below the Summoning Tattoo. He looked both worried and angry, but his expression cleared as soon as the last echos of Orochimaru's voice faded into silence.

Chikako hadn't seen either of her companions, had completely forgotten that they should have been there, but it seemed they had watched the whole thing, maybe even in the same way she'd experienced Gaara's memories.

Kit gave her another long look, then loosened his grip to entwine his fingers with hers and tugged.

"Let's go, we're almost there."

. . .

Kit was a liar. It took them half an eternity to reach their destination, but with a yokai on either side they managed to keep Chikako from slipping into any more memories. The ones in which she'd been drugged were the easiest to avoid. They were too hazy to take hold, only half-remembered fragments. The rest, however, were tricky. They merged into things she didn't immediately recognize and tried to sneak up on her.

Infinite black slowly morphing into the walls of a prison cell or the inside if a Bijuu. Once it had turned into the interrogation room Ibiki had initially used to talk to her, but the man that had come through the door had been Danzo.

In the end she was yanked from left to right a lot, wickedly sharp claws piercing her skin. She probably left a trail of blood, but Kit was far more worried about her getting trapped again, so she ignored it.

Chikako was almost relieved when they finally reached the stone arch that stood all alone in the middle of nowhere. The feeling quickly evaporated when Kit informed her that she'd have to go through alone. He and Sune would have to guard the way because that trail of blood wasn't so inconsequential after all.

Chikako didn't argue with him. Her head hurt, which meant she didn't have a lot of time left and at this point dealing with someone else's nightmares seemed like the better option. So she took a deep breath and then a step forward, followed by a second and a third until chakra washed over her like a fresh breeze.

After another moment tiny white dots became visible in the dark. They fell slowly at first, but soon snow covered the ground and hazy shapes turned into buildings and people. She easily recognized Suna, waited for a tiny Gaara to walk past or the scene to change as it had last time, but nothing happened.

Without a pull to direct her, Chikako was lost. She knew the village's layout as it was - as it had been before Akatsuki's attack - and it didn't seem to have changed too much in the decade or so that lay between reality and this memory. That didn't help her much though, the house Gaara and his siblings lived in hadn't existed at that time and she had no idea where they used to live when their father had still been alive. Not that little Gaara had spent all that much time at home to begin with.

Lacking a concrete starting point she opted to wander around, following citizens from one location to the next until she recognized a pattern. They weren't all walking in the same direction, but they were all avoiding certain streets, all moving away from the center of the village.

That was where the administrative buildings should be. What she could see from afar matched up with her mental map as well, but the closer she got the more the village shifted around her and when she reached it there were no buildings at all. Just sand and a set of swings. In front of them, on the ground was a stuffed bear, but no little boy.

"Gaara?" She called, and again when only silence answered her.

Nothing.

"Don't be a baby Panda Eyes, there are people waiting for you."

No answer, but the sand stirred a little, as if picked up by a breeze.

"Come on, I don't have all day to wait for you. Your siblings are already mad at me. Remember those two? Your sister Temari, fierce, kind, gets really scary if someone tries to hurt her family? Or Kankuro? You know, your brother, the weird one with the puppets and the painted face?"

This time when the sand moved she knew it wasn't just wind. She could sense the chakra that carried it, twirled it around and made it dance.

"There are your people to think of too. They made you Kazekage so you can't just leave them hanging."

A shape formed. Only an indistinct blob at first, then hands and feet, sand turned into red hair and cautious eyes.

"Why are you lying?"

The boy stood several meters away from her, arms slung around himself in a protective gesture. Chikako couldn't feel his pain this time, but she could hear it in the waver of his voice, could see it in the way he held himself and the too bright sheen of his eyes.

"I'm not lying Panda Eyes. They are waiting for you. A whole village that wants you to come home."

He took a step backwards, shaking his head slowly.

"They don't want me. They're afraid and now mother is gone and I'm all alone."

"Shukako isn't your mother Panda Eyes. Remember? You promised me you wouldn't forget."

"Why are you calling me that? Who are you?"

Chikako smiled, sitting down in an effort to look less threatening. She had no idea whether she could catch him in this place if he decided he didn't want to listen to her. She had no control over her own chakra, but he could clearly move the sand at will and probably not just that either.

"We met some time ago. I saw you sitting on a rooftop and we talked."

He blinked confused, started to shake his head, but then his gaze snapped back to hers and some of the buildings faded back in around them.

"There was blood," he whispered. "I killed someone, but you didn't run."

"No, I didn't run and you didn't kill me. Later you attacked my village and I didn't kill you."

That had to be the grossest oversimplification she'd ever spouted in her life, but it seemed to work. Sand shifted to reveal roads, buildings crept closer and she could even hear distant voices.

"Are we," he hesitated, looked at the ground and shuffled his feet.

"Friends?" He wouldn't look at her again, neither confirmed nor denied that that was his question, but she answered him anyway. "Yes Panda Eyes, we're friends."

It took almost a full minute before he lifted his head, careful as if he was afraid she'd startle and run away otherwise. It was a little ironic, especially because the pounding between her temples told her she didn't have much more time to coax him back. Chikako held perfectly still though and waited until he seemed a little more comfortable before she started to tell him about Lee and Naruto as well as how much his siblings and the citizens of Suna would miss him if he didn't come back with her.

She tried to leave out anything that might upset him, which was a lot of insanity and murder, not to mention the attack on his home and how he'd been kidnapped. As the village puzzled itself back together around him though, the little boy grew into the young man she knew and with those years also came memories.

Memories and thick iron chains with battered and broken links. They lay on the ground, wound around buildings or dangled from the sky. Some looked like they'd simply lost the battle against rust and time, whereas others had been violently torn. Where they cut into the landscape it became blurry, nothing more than a bleached out smudge.

Chikako was pretty sure they were the same chains that used to hold Shukako, the one's she'd seen shortly before being ejected from the Void the last time she'd rummaged around in Gaara's memories. She had a really bad feeling about what they seemed to be doing to the place now though. What would happen if her or Gaara got caught by one?

"Come on, we need to leave," she pleaded, holding out her hand. He hadn't said anything else after that aborted question, but he'd watched her, paying rapt attention to every word.

"Are you sure? What if this is a dream?"

She huffed.

"Oh it's a dream alright, a nightmare to be exact. Now come, it's only going to get worse the longer we wait."

"You're here now, I was alone before."

"Oh for the love of-" Of course he would think having someone else to share his misery with was better. Chikako threw her hands up, then marched over to Gaara and grabbed his arm to pull him along with her. He yelped, too startled to offer any resistance and if her head hadn't felt as if a smith was using it as an anvil she would have laughed at him. As things were they moved quickly and quietly, giving the chains as wide a berth as was possible without taking detours.

The sand swiveled around them, occasionally batting against Chikako's skin in clumps, but it seemed more like curious exploration than an attack. She kind of got the impression that Gaara wasn't deliberately making it do anything, it just reacted to whatever he focused on at the time, forming shapes, carving lines into the ground and skimming over their surroundings.

They didn't have to run far before finding the stone arch that had brought her here. Usually that would have been suspicious to the point that she'd have searched for another arch just to make sure the thing hadn't somehow multiplied while she wasn't looking, but she was so done questioning this place. It might have rules, but that didn't make it particularly predictable because the rules basically said that anything could happen. So instead of agonizing over how far they should have had to go Chikako just kept moving.

She realized that something was wrong the instant they walked through. A wave of vertigo hit her, then her knees gave out and the next thing she knew she was back in the hospital, the taste of blood in her mouth and shouting all around her.

. . .

Chikako blinked her eyes open slowly, using one hand to shield her face from the glaring light. She recognized the bed as her own, which meant the blue shadow in her peripheral view had to be her roommate. Someone was pounding on the door, Naruto judging by the chakra signature. It reminded her of the last time Kisame had guarded her, right after they'd killed the Sanbi and she'd passed out from blood loss. He liked to do that, more because he enjoyed pissing people off than because she needed time to recover, but she supposed the reason didn't matter.

He had two Water Clones in position, one in the corridor and one in front of the window. No one in their right mind picked a fight with Kisame. They might grumble and protest or try to delay him, but if he stood in front of a door there was no getting through, period. So being present himself and having two clones as additional security seemed excessive.

Right up until she head a shouted, "Rasengan!" and remembered that Naruto didn't have a concept of 'too much'. There was an indignant yell outside followed by a crash and then Kisame's laughter. The sound was somewhat muffled because of the thick wooden door, but Chikako still groaned at the noise. She couldn't be certain because she'd never actually been drunk, but she was pretty sure she had a hangover.

"How long has he been trying to get in?"

"Dunno," Kisame said with a lazy shrug. "The loudmouth and the doctors take turns. Even got Momochi to come over and demand I let them see you."

"That makes no sense. Last thing I remember I was in the hospital. Also, why don't you let them see me?"

Her answer were another shrug and a drawn out yawn as Kisame stretched. His chair creaked in protested at the action. Chikako kept waiting for the battered, old thing to finally give out under his weight, but so far it put up a good fight.

"Jiro came running to me all hysterical, claiming they were only making things worse so I rescued you and kept the evil hordes at bay."

"Evil hordes? Seriously?"

"Yeah, you should have seen them." He grinned at her. "The little summon had to sacrifice himself so we could escape. Those medics do not mess around when their precious Wraith-sama has a nosebleed. They were all haemorrhaging this and we need to stabilize that. Wouldn't hand you over nicely either so I had to knock a few heads together."

"And of course you didn't explain anything to anyone."

"It's none of their business and it's not like the cat told me anything in the first place."

"Great," Chikako groused. She could already picture the faces of everyone that would want to talk about this. They'd want to know what had happened and what she'd been thinking. Or in Mei's case why her and Kisame hadn't been thrown out of Kiri yet.

Chikako sat up slowly, swaying a little and then her hand slipped and her weight shifted to the side far faster than she could compensate for in her current state. Kisame was next to her in an instant, one hand on her back and the other pressed against her hip to keep her from falling out of bed.

"Thanks," she mumbled. "For getting me here and standing guard as well. I didn't mean to bitch at you, it's just-" Chikako trailed off, waving her hand at herself and the room in general.

"You feel like shit?"

"Yeah, that."

"It's fine, just don't go all mushy on me."

"Aw, but you're such a big, cuddly-"

"Stop it or I'll drop you."

Chikako laughed, then winced as her head started to pound again and rolled back into her blanket.

. . .

The next time she woke it was because the door was blasted into a million little pieces that tore through the room like shrapnel. She had a barrier up around herself almost before she realized what had happened and Kisame protected himself with a wall of water, but the room was a total mess.

"You idiot!" Sakura yelled, then Naruto flew in through the now open doorway and landed ass over teakettle against the back wall. He righted himself with a sheepish "Sorry," scratching the back of his head and throwing nervous glances at both Kisame and the seething girl outside.

Chikako stretched, shuffled out of bed carefully and decided with a pointed look around the room, "I'm not cleaning that up," before she headed for the bathroom. Behind her Naruto spluttered, seemingly unable to find words to express how confused, outraged and happy he was. At least those were her three best guesses for how he felt, with his chakra all over the place it was hard to tell.


	64. XIV - It's Time

**A/N:**

Thanks for the reviews. Just like last time, I updated some spelling and grammar mistakes in a few old chapters. It would be nice if someone could let me know whether FF sends out multiple update notifications for that or if it's just the one for the new chapter.

. . .

 **XIV - It's Time**

Turns out what Kisame had called a nosebleed had actually been Chikako's brain swelling and blood leaking from her eyes, ears and nose. So, not technically wrong, as he kept insisting, but really rather inaccurate. On the bright side, Gaara had woken up, albeit disorientated and very confused.

While Chikako had been out cold, only about fifteen hours or so this time, Naruto had filled the Kazekage in on what had happened in Suna. Which probably meant he was aware of the bigger picture and completely in the dark when it came to the finer details. He'd piece the rest together eventually, but Chikako would prefer it not be colored by Naruto's opinions on the matter.

In the mean time Sakura had proven herself to be a more than competent Iryo-nin, which was why the medics had given her the run of the place for the time being. At least that was what it sounded like to Chikako. She'd actually had several doctors come up to her and ask whether some of the classified information they had on file could be shared in order to gain more insight from Tsunade's apprentice. Of course since Chikako had newly embraced the fact that she didn't fit into Kiri's hierarchy - and because she didn't want to deal with them - she'd sent every last one to Mei.

Sakura had apparently used her newfound power to order strict bed rest for both Gaara and Chikako. The Kazekage seemed seemed fine with that, which was why Chikako hadn't seen him yet. She, on the other hand, had no intention of lying around all day, especially not with her former teammate around to annoy her.

Currently Chikako was lounging in Zabuza's tub to avoid another door-shattering incident. Kakashi might be willing to stand back while Naruto made a fool of himself and talked the medics into a frenzy, but even he wouldn't let the blond break into the Mizukage's personal quarters. As an added incentive to behave Jiro had gotten Haku on babysitting duty, and then joined Chikako to make sure she didn't fall asleep and drown herself, or so he'd claimed. She was almost certain that he just used her as an excuse to get in because Zabuza had permanently banned any and all yokai from his bathroom after Sune and Jiro had turned the whole place into a winter wonderland of bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles. That had been a little over three months ago and the two had been complaining about how unfair it all was ever since.

"You really need to stop doing that," the little yokai groused. He was perched on the rim of the tub, dangling his feet in the water and trying to form the soap bubbles into ... something.

"Going back into the Void was your idea."

"I meant the pushing yourself too hard thing that always ends with you bleeding and unconscious."

Chikako sighed, blowing a few more bubbles towards her friend.

"I know, I know, but I couldn't just not try."

"You can try all you want, just be more careful. If you get yourself killed it will be over for you, but the rest of us are-"

"Oh come on Jiro, not you too," Chikako whined, sinking deeper into the water. "You make it sound like I want to die."

The little yokai's head snapped up, his bubble sculpture all but forgotten.

"You don't, do you?" He sounded apprehensive, as if the thought had never occurred to him before, but now that she'd said it, it became an actual possibility. Chikako didn't wait for his mind to spiral and start spinning worst case scenarios. She grabbed him by the ruff and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Don't start getting ideas silly. I was just saying that shinobi life is inherently dangerous. I get into a lot of bad situations, but I always come back don't I?"

"I want to come with next time," Jiro mumbled against her neck, snuggling further into the embrace.

"Okay."

"I promise I won't be a burden."

"Okay."

"And I'm not getting you hurt again and-"

"Jiro," she pushed him away a little, forcing him to look into her eyes instead of hiding his face like he had been. "I said okay."

. . .

The bath had been nice, warm and relaxing. Sadly that was probably the only reprieve Chikako would get for a while. Since she was no longer in danger of drowning, or more likely to avoid Zabuza, Jiro opted to go back to the Void for a while and catch up with Kit and Sune.

The disadvantage of using the luxurious bathroom to hide in was that it was only a temporary sanctuary and the only way out, that didn't require her to crawl through a window, was through the living room and into the office, where she could already sense the Mizukage, Mei and Kisame waiting.

When Chikako joined them the former two were discussing the academy curriculum, while the latter stood by the window, pretending he wasn't interested in anything they said. Kisame hadn't rejoined Kiri because she had refused Zabuza's offer to officially become part of the village, but that didn't mean he didn't care about his home. He frequently complained about being bored, but it wasn't as if anyone could stop him from leaving if that was what he wanted to do. Despite the fact that both he and Zabuza liked to pretend they didn't get along, the two swordsmen respected each other and Kisame seemed to be happy overall with the changes the new Mizukage had implemented so far.

"There you are," Mei exclaimed when Chikako closed the door behind herself. "What's this I hear about Wraith demoting people? I thought we had this discussion? Not that I don't approve in this particular case, but-"

"It's not my call, I don't have the authority and you are very concerned with my place, or lack thereof, in the hierarchy," Chikako finished for her, then added, "I'm assuming the fact that I quit offsets the problem somewhat."

"Excuse me? You can't quit! Who is supposed to lead the Hunter-nin?"

"Saizo," Chikako said with a shrug, unwilling to engage Mei. The woman might not want her in any position of authority, but she also liked to argue and considered any win that wasn't achieved because of her actions cheap. She'd probably talk Chikako into taking the position again, just so that she could then find a way to make Zabuza fire her.

"And where, pray tell, is dear Saizo?"

"I left him in Suna as insurance for ... borrowing Gaara."

"You stole the Kazekage?" Kisame laughed and Zabuza raised an eyebrow at her. Yeah, she should have probably been more specific about that part in her initial report.

"Well, officially the Kazekage is dead, which is why his sister currently wears the hat. And unofficially I evacuated him with Temari's full knowledge and grudging acceptance."

"Evacuated," Mei mused, twirling a lock of her auburn hair. "Has a nice ring to it, certainly much better than kidnapped, I like it. If you say it like that we could probably press Suna to make a few concessions for our generous assistance. After all it seems you have already given away Sasori's remains and the bounty without consulting anyone."

"Oh come off it. We don't really need the money, the body is nothing more than a puppet and I kept the scrolls he had on him, so stop pretending-"

"Enough," Zabuza cut in. "You two can scratch each other's eyes out later, it's time I finally get that full report you promised."

And report she did. Every little detail from running against a wall with the council, torturing the traitor, saving Kankuro, Akatsuki's attack, Gaara's kidnapping, her fight against Sasori and how Deidara had gotten away, to the second attack, Danzo's possible involvement and how she'd essentially threatened the council into agreeing to her terms after all. The only things she kept to herself were the fact that Naruto had nearly lost control of the Kyubi and that she'd gotten hurt badly enough that she'd needed to call Anwei.

Chikako fully expected a reprimand, at the very least for killing one of the council members to get the rest to comply, something that would more than likely make them want to undermine the alliance with Kiri. What she got instead were a simple nod from Mei, who looked like she was already plotting ways to handle potential future problems, and a 'good job', from Zabuza.

That matter apparently dealt with both of them went back to their previous discussion, leaving Chikako to blink at them stupidly until Kisame pulled her out of the office. He continued to lead her through the building, down several streets, past the outer wall and all the way to the beach.

His chakra took on a sour tinge somewhere along the way, but she couldn't tell whether that was because of anything she'd said in the office, the fact that she kept silent now or if he had something else on his mind.

Chikako certainly did. She'd somehow ended up judging Zabuza by Konoha's standards, expecting him to react not like her friend, the former A-rank nukenin and infamous assassin, but rather like she thought the Sandaime Hokage might have. That was wrong on so many levels, she didn't even know where to start.

Why the hell would he have taken issue with anything she'd done in Suna? He wanted an alliance and now all he had to do was sign the papers. The council might be unhappy, but she'd never banked on them to like her in the first place and for Zabuza this whole thing had been more a shot into the blue than anything else anyway. Fantastic if it worked out, no harm if it didn't.

As far as the rest of the shinobi world was concerned, all that had changed after Yagura's death was that Kiri had become even more secretive and closed off. The village had kept and cultivated the name Chigiri, turned it from an insult into a threat. Zabuza had allowed their own missing-nin to rejoin and after remaining quiet for a while, due to Chiako's training, the Mist's Hunter-nin had once again proven that they were the deadliest assassins in the Elemental Nations.

The last thing Zabuza needed to worry about was whether Kiri looked nice and friendly to outsiders. Chikako could have probably slaughtered the whole damned council in front of witnesses and he wouldn't have had to care. After all Wraith didn't wear the Kiri headband and both Saizo and Azusa had been on their best behavior.

Okay, that was an exaggeration, but her point stood. Since Kiri didn't have any alliances or trade agreements to begin with, the only thing anyone could threaten them with was war. Conflicts between the major villages were devastating though and nobody had a clear picture of how strong Kiri was at the moment, which made attacking over anything other than an active threat a very risky gamble. Least of all because it wasn't common knowledge that their second jinchuriki was out in the world somewhere and refused to come home.

Chikako sighed. She was absolutely overthinking this and way too late at that.

Fact was, Zabuza had done worse for less. She should have known that he wouldn't care, but Kakashi had questioned her decisions and she'd in turn projected his opinions onto anyone else she regarded as an authority figure. How stupid was that?

She was pretty sure the problem was that she usually didn't question whether her sensei was right. So since she thought of Zabuza in a similar manner that would mean if one of them thought her actions were wrong the other had to as well. As if they weren't two different people. Maybe she should throw Ibiki into the mix as well, just for good measure.

 _You are such an idiot_ , Chikako mentally chided at herself. _Question everything, just not the people that taught you. Brilliant, fucking brilliant._

Chikako had some issues to work out when it came to how she'd dealt with Sai's death, which impacted her decision making. For one, she wasn't quite fine with what she'd done in Suna, especially in regards to the traitor. Probably not for the reasons Kakashi would have wanted though.

If he was right, her moral compass was skewed beyond an acceptable margin, but did that even matter? Would he be happier if she did what needed to be done and then hated herself for it? That seemed like such a Kakashi thing to do. He was willing to make all the hard calls and then on top of that he shouldered the blame as well, refusing to accept that he hadn't had any better options.

She couldn't do that. Chikako understood the danger of having morals so far out of alignment with everyone else's that what was perfectly acceptable to her could seem horrific to someone else. She'd learned enough to know that Orochimaru had started out trying to do something good and she was sure that Danzo had only wanted the best for his village when his opinions had first diverged from those of his kage. Chikako didn't think she was nearly that far removed from the norm though.

Her priority had been to get Gaara back and keep him safe. She had no interest in power for it's own sake. When she tried to bend people to her will it was with a specific goal in mind, not simply because she could. In the same vein she found no joy in killing or torturing others, she just also didn't balk at the prospect when doing either seemed like the best solution to a problem. That was okay wasn't it? Simply part of a shinobi's job?

She'd meant it when she'd said that she would hold still if Kakashi wanted to kill her. Maybe that wasn't fair, because she knew from his perspective that meant he was partially responsible for her actions, Chikako hadn't known what else to offer him though. They obviously weren't on the same page and she didn't think she was in the wrong, but she wanted his approval nonetheless.

She'd thought about how she could have handled Yura differently. She'd also wondered what Kakashi would have done in her place. Konoha did have a whole T&I department after all and he was an ANBU. With time of the essence and an enemy combatant in custody that was likely to be privy to vital information, he would have had to consider torture. In fact she would be surprised if that wasn't what ANBU protocol recommended in such a situation.

That was what he'd meant when he'd told her she'd learned too much from him wasn't it? He wanted her to be better than him in that illusive way that she was pretty sure was impossible. Maybe Naruto could have made Yura talk without resorting to violence, but the only thing Chikako had come up with was that she had been too nice. Lacking an easy way to get the information she'd wanted, like a Yamanaka to walk his mind for example, she should have just called on Sune right away. Strike hard and fast to get things over with instead of hoping that the clinical kind of pain her Fox Fire caused would do the job. She disliked torture to the point that she'd tried to get away with as little as possible, even though she'd determined it to be the best course of action, and that had been the problem.

The friendliest thing she'd thought of would have been no better than a gamble, namely letting Yura run and hoping he'd lead her to his master. That might have worked if the man had been a lot dumber, but Chikako probably wouldn't have risked it even then.

She wrinkled her nose in annoyance and glared at the sea as if all the answers were hidden in it's depth. Then she crouched down to pick up a small rock and flung it at the water. The thing barely skipped two times before it sank.

"You know he never expected them to just sign right?"

"What?" Chikako was too deep in her own mind to follow Kisame's train of thought.

The sharkman sighed, gesturing for her to sit down on a boulder, while he pulled a dried out piece of driftwood closer to use as a bench.

"Suna's council, Momochi knew they would object to the alliance. He used you. You've proven over and over again that you'll do whatever it takes to get the job done and since you aren't actually a member of Kiri's military he can just disavow your actions to avoid political blowback if Suna cries foul.

"I'm not saying he doesn't care about you, but you've made yourself a pawn and he's played this game too long not to use all the pieces he's got."

"Oh that," Chikako laughed. "I know he was using me. That's his job. I just expected him to be angry at how I handled things, because Kakashi certainly was."

This time it was Kisame's turn to look at her like a fish out of water. She had to snicker at how literal that image was. The baffled expression quickly turned into one far less friendly though.

"That's your only problem with this isn't it? That fucking Hatake doesn't approve?"

"What else is there?" As far as the medics could tell Gaara was okay, which meant Temari and Kankuro would probably not stay angry at her for too long, no one she cared about had died and they'd even managed to take one member of Akatsuki out and severely wounded a second. That seemed like a huge win in her book.

"Oh, I don't know," Kisame mocked as if he'd never heard a more ridiculous question. "How about the fact that you put a giant fucking target on your back by killing Sasori? Akatsuki was already interested, because of your connection to Konoha's idiot jinchuriki, but you also managed to track Itachi and me down, were involved in killing the Sanbi and now you tried to interfere with an extraction.

"Then there's that guy in Konoha who wanted you dead. With all the shit that went down in Suna it's only a matter of time until he finds out that you're still alive.

"Also Orochimaru, because I guarantee he still considers you his property and while he probably isn't going to hunt you down, he likely wouldn't mind taking you apart to see how his little experiment has turned out. And let's not forget Iwa-"

"Okay, okay, fine," Chikako interrupted him with a glare. "I get it, people want me dead. But seriously, it's not like you are one to talk mister S-rank nukenin."

"Nice try, but unlike some people, I'm no longer wanted by my village of origin, which means I'm technically not a nukenin anymore." He grinned in victory, shark teeth gleaming in the sun like tiny daggers.

"Yes, I'm sure that will convince all the other Hidden Villages and your former gang of infamous missing-nin to forget you exist. And stop trying to cheat. As far as Konoha is concerned Chikako is dead so if we're being technical I'm not a missing-nin either."

They bickered a little longer, but as soon as the conversation turned back to Zabuza Kisame's mood took a turn for the worse once again.

"You gave him a goddamned village, filed the claws of his hunters into lethal weapons and now you practically handed over an alliance with one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries on a silver platter. When is it finally gonna be enough? Or do you intent to keep going like this? With one of us constantly in the village to make sure nobody steals Momochi's candy?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I didn't give him a village, that's just silly."

"Of course you did. Moron told me that he'd all but given up on going back home when you found him. Then you went out again, brought back a whole clan of shinobi willing to fight for him and even tracked down Itachi and me to help out."

"I stumbled across the Watari and-"

"Don't care. It doesn't matter what you wanted to do. Fact is, without you Yagura would still be in charge and someone would have probably offed Momochi in the first two months after he took over, or alternatively the Hunter-nin would have caught up with him sooner or later. You can stop playing his pawn now. It's enough."

Chikako leaned back, gaze focused on the clouds while her hand drifted towards her necklace. The shogi piece felt cool in her grip, like a small shard of ice. Not for the first time she wondered how much of what had happened since that day in the old temple Shikamaru had seen coming when he'd left the pawn for her.

It seemed quite fitting now, because Kisame wasn't wrong. She'd outright demanded Zabuza use her like he would any other tool when they'd prepared to attack Kiri and after that she'd just continued doing whatever he needed her to. The village had stabilized since then though. She'd done all she could to strengthen his position and that meant he didn't need her any longer. In fact, it seemed she'd become a problem as of late.

"We can head out at first light tomorrow if you want."

"What?" Kisame spluttered. She liked catching him off guard, he always pulled the funniest expressions.

"You're right, it's enough."

"Yes, I got that, but why now? I've been telling you that we should leave for ages and you always find something else that needs to be done first."

Chikako shrugged, gaze sweeping over the horizon. That far out the sea looked almost like a mirror, reflecting the clouds overhead perfectly. Shikamaru would have loved the view.

"Do you know what would happen if I walked into ANBU headquarters right now and told them to assassinate Zabuza?"

He shook his head and she smiled.

"I don't either. That's why."

. . .

Chikako spent the rest of the day in Gaara's room at the hospital. He seemed happy to see her, but barely managed to stay awake for ten minutes, so they didn't exchange more than a few sentences. It must be odd to sleep so much now when he hadn't gotten any real rest for years.

In Jiro's expert opinion, and bizarrely enough the medics actually considered him the authority on the matter, Shukaku hadn't been completely extracted, but what was left couldn't be called a sentient creature in it's own right. Chikako had no basis on which to judge that assessment, but she hoped that however much of the Ichibi Akatsuki had gotten was enough to satisfy them.

The medics claimed it was unlikely that Gaara had sustained any permanent damage, but refused to commit to that diagnosis because it was still too early to tell for sure and they expected his mind and body would need a few weeks at least to adjust to the sudden absence of the Tailed Beast.

Chikako didn't mind that he needed his rest. Now that Naruto was sure his friend would be okay he'd calmed down and, because the redhead was asleep, he'd found something else to entertain him. That meant the room was quiet and she could pore over Sasori's scrolls in peace.

Sakura was still wandering the hospital, so flattered by all the attention she received from the local medics that she was more than willing to share her knowledge. The girl would make a lousy spy. According to Kisame she'd tried to butter him up to get some information about Itachi out of him, presumably either for Sasuke or to find Sasuke. Of course she'd failed spectacularly, but at least that explained why she'd been friendly to him even before they'd entered the village.

Naruto on the other hand had run into some academy students and the little shits had made fun of him for being a Leaf shinobi. Last thing Chikako had heard, he'd retaliated by challenging people to fights to prove that Konoha was better than Kiri. As yet no buildings had been destroyed, which she figured was a good sign, but then Haku was still following him around, so maybe the chaos was merely more contained than usual.

The only one she was worried about was Kakashi. He'd vanished into Zabuza's office some time around noon. She hadn't sensed either man since and that made her nervous. Those two spending time together couldn't possibly be a good thing. There wasn't anything she could do about that though, so Chikako had decided to focus on something more productive instead.

The scrolls she'd lifted from Sasori's corpse were surprisingly easy to decipher. It made her question everything she read and look for any hints that there might be a second layer of encryption hidden in the first. She even analyzed the damned things for signs of steganography.

It was an exceptionally frustrating exercise because the notes were vague enough that they were almost useless to her, but cracking the code had still seemed far too easy. Yet there was nothing else to be found in the way of hidden messages. Chikako was ready to just dismiss the stupid things completely, thinking that the code was simply too sophisticated for her to figure out with nothing else to go on.

When the skin of her fingers started to prickle and the muscles trembled in involuntary spasms, however, she realized that her neck wasn't just stiff because of the way she'd held it for the past however-many-hours and her legs hadn't merely fallen asleep.

The medic that found her laughing like a maniac recognized the the symptoms immediately as being caused by a poison. He had far more trouble comprehending why she was so delighted by that though, especially after he'd told her her lips had already turned blue and that she would die within the hour if she didn't let him treat her. His earnest expression made her laugh even harder.

Sasori's poison was strong and her arms would probably end up as numb as her legs, but it didn't pose any real threat to her. Certainly not now that she knew what was going on and could actively combat the venom in her veins with chakra. More importantly, she should have known that he'd rely on one of his mixtures to guard his secrets. She'd have to warn the next person who handled the scrolls not to touch them with their bare hands lest they accidentally kill themselves, but for now she'd just be happy with the fact that what she'd decoded were apparently really Sasori's actual notes. After all, why bother with complicated and time consuming encryption if you could just coat the medium in poison. Actually, she should probably make sure it was indeed a contact poison and didn't have an airborne component as well before she gave the scrolls to anyone. Or even better, she could just copy the contents and keep the originals. That was probably the safest option for everyone involved.

. . .

The next morning arrived far earlier than Chikako would have liked. She didn't have a regular sleeping schedule anymore and napped as the opportunity presented itself, but being able to sleep a full seven or eight hours once in a while would have been nice, especially when she wasn't out in the wilderness.

Not that the place she'd chosen to rest in was much better. Still, the floor in the corner of Gaara's hospital room was probably more comfortable than the chair she'd ignored, because there was no table and she'd needed space to work on the scrolls. She'd stuffed the things themselves back into her bag before falling asleep, her notes however were strewn all over the place.

It was sloppy as hell, but they weren't only encrypted much more securely than the originals, she'd also taken another page out of Jiraiya's book and written them in pure chakra, anchored to the paper with a seal. It wasn't the one she'd found in Swamp with that nukenin from Kumo, she still couldn't just copy the Sannin's work, but it was a good start.

Unlike Jiraiya's seal, this one had no way of hiding and revealing a message written in ink. It really only served to keep the chakra on the paper stable, which meant an extraordinary amount of control was necessary to write anything legible and to read it one had to be in possession of the Byakugan or an ability that similarly made chakra visible. Meaning it wasn't nearly as safe as Jiraiya's version and useless to regular shinobi, but it still provided an extra layer of security for Chikako's personal notes and that was all she needed.

She stretched slowly, but then froze mid motion, gaze fixing on the other end of the room. The sun had just started to penetrate the thick mist around Kiri, keeping everything blanketed in dim, orange light and hazy shadows. It wasn't so dark that she couldn't clearly make out Gaara's bed, the abandoned chair and the empty back wall though.

Her eyes and sense of chakra told her she was alone with her friend, but she'd heard the intake of breath coming from the wrong direction. After Itachi had claimed that that was how he'd detected her, she'd started to pay much more attention to the faint sounds of regular breathing to determine whether it was actually a giveaway. To be certain Chikako activated her chakra sight and, sure enough, as the room faded to black a human's pathways came into view, outlined in the faint blue and purple of Lightning natured chakra.

"Kakashi," she guessed, more than a little miffed that she couldn't sense even a hint of his chakra. She saw it waver, knew that he was surprised, yet didn't feel a damned thing.

"How did you know?"

He became visible a second before his chakra flared back to it's normal level, no transition at all, as if someone had flipped a switch. Even she couldn't do that. Chikako was fast when adjusting her chakra to match the environment. She could do it in her sleep and even partially while fighting. Not like that though.

"Let's trade, I'll tell you if you explain how the fuck you hid in the first place," she offered as the black bled from her vision and the world returned to it's normal coloring.

He smiled at her, visible eye crinkling and then, because he was Kakashi and that was what he did, he deflected.

"I hear you quit."

"Did you hear I'm leaving too?" The question was half-growl, half-yawn as she slumped back against the wall. Technically it was first light already, so she should be on her way. She figured Kisame would have used last night to properly say goodbye to his lady friend bartender though, which meant she had a few more hours.

Kakashi didn't ask her why or where she was going. Maybe he knew. Zabuza hadn't been surprised when she'd quit after all and who knew what the two of them had talked about the previous day. Or maybe he'd decided not to pry so he couldn't report on her whereabouts.

Either way, he sat down by her side and they watched in silence as dawn bathed the village of assassins in hues of red and gold. It took her back to the days she'd spent at his bedside when he'd stumbled home from ANBU missions, exhausted to the bone and with barely enough chakra to remain upright. The pack would wait with her and ensure she took care of herself as well as him.

She'd been too young to be considered a shinobi and he hadn't been made a jonin sensei yet. Her life had been calmer then, like the quiet before a big storm. She couldn't remember whether she'd ever thought it would stay that way, but she hoped it could be again.

Chikako glanced over her notes. They looked just like empty pieces of paper now. She didn't know which one held the information she was mulling over, but she supposed it didn't matter. She'd memorized it and Kakashi wouldn't need to write it down to remember.

"Sasori has a spy close to Orochimaru. They are supposed to meet in a fortnight from tomorrow. The Tenchi Bridge in Grass, around noon. You can probably make it in time if you leave today."

. . .

Her parting gift given, Chikako only had one last thing to do before she left.

Mei lived close to the Mizukage's residence. She owned a spacious apartment in one of Kiri's few purely residential districts. It had a great view over the city, but the woman wasn't an early riser and probably hadn't seen the sunrise in weeks.

Chikako didn't bother with the stairs. While she'd still considered Mei a threat to Zabuza she'd kept an eye on her and knew that the balcony door would be open. She channeled chakra into her feet and ran straight up the outer wall, vaulted over the balcony's railing and into the bedroom, dodging two wire traps on the way.

Once that was done she slowly walked over to the lightly snoring woman and placed a kunai to her throat. Mei stirred, but didn't wake, so Chikako announced herself with a blast of killing intent that jolted even the people two floors below out of their beds.

This time Mei's eyes flew open, wide as saucers, but her whole body froze the instant cold steel dug into her skin. Chikako smiled down at her. They fought often, there hadn't been any real hostility between them for months now though. Mei had accepted that Zabuza was the Mizukage and on days that his desk overflowed with paperwork she even seemed glad at how things had turned out. At heart, however, she was still a schemer and Chikako didn't trust her as far as she could throw the woman, not when she wasn't around herself to verify that Mei behaved.

"Sorry to wake you, but since Kisame and I won't be here for breakfast I figured now is as good a time as any."

Mei glared at the false apology, but kept her mouth shut. Good, if she'd talked back Chikako would have had to get creative, but it seemed this would do.

"Just so we're clear. I'm making you personally responsible for Gaara's well being. So if anything happens to him or if you try to use him against Suna," she trailed off for effect before adding a cheerful, "well, let's just say it won't be pleasant."


	65. XV - Heavenly Crab Delicacies

**A/N:**

Thank you for the reviews everyone.

 _cassianaswindell123_

So many puns, you should get points for that, or cookies maybe. Itachi gets a mention next chapter, but I haven't decided yet just how much to involve him in this part of the story. He may have to wait quite a while to make a personal appearance.

 _Homarid_

We don't actually celebrate Thanksgiving where I live. I mean we do have the holiday and there are village fairs in some places, but I didn't actually notice that it was Thanksgiving until I read your comment. I do appreciate the sentiment though and hope your Thanksgiving was pleasant.

 _abohan_

Thank you and good guess about Chikako being lonely.

. . .

 **XV - Heavenly Crab Delicacies**

It was kind of depressing that Chikako and Kisame could fit their whole lives into a backpack each. On the upside, it was also very efficient and meant they'd barely needed ten minutes to gather their things and head out of the village.

She'd left a note on Zabuza's desk, just in case the man hadn't figured out that resigning from her position as head of the Hunter-nin also meant she wouldn't stay around. It was a whole page of text, but the actual goodbye was confined to only the first sentence. The rest were her reasoning for wanting Saizo to take over and a recommendation for Azusa to begin training as a Hunter-nin. A little formal maybe, especially because Zabuza had already expressed that he was likely to do both, but she wasn't good with farewells. They made things seem so final and Chikako had no intention of staying away forever.

While she'd been busy writing, Kisame had broken open one of the cupboards and stolen a bottle of fancy alcohol. He'd left a drawing of a shark biting off a stick figure's head in it's place. A really bad drawing, an artist that man was not. Not only that, she was almost certain he didn't even like the liquor and had merely lifted it to piss Zabuza off one last time.

They hadn't talked about where they were going or for how long they'd be gone. Kisame didn't seem to care, which made her wonder whether that was only because he'd promised Itachi to look after her or if he was just that sick of sitting around in Kiri without anything to do.

Chikako hadn't decided where to go yet either, so they'd simply picked a direction and started walking. She knew what she wanted to do, but had no idea where to begin. When she'd been traveling with Sai they'd mostly just tried to get away from Danzo and there had always been that distant plan to take the old warmonger down so they could go back home again. Now Sai was dead and even though she'd killed his murderer there was still a hole in her life where her friend should be.

Killing Danzo wasn't likely to change that either. It was just one of those things that had to be done, like eliminating Yagura. She couldn't get to the old man though and she didn't know enough about his people or his plans to interfere with them. She did, however, have a list that would help her get on someone else's nerves.

"What do you say we go clean out a few of Orochimaru's hidey-holes?" The question was casual, just an aside while she perused the landscape - water, rocks and more water - and mentally tried to figure out which one would be the closest and least likely to contain the snake. She wanted him dead eventually, but she wasn't sure she could take him on at this point in time, even with Kisame's help.

Chikako kept walking for almost two more minutes before she realized that her companion had stopped dead in his tracks to stare at her. At first she thought he was going to ask if she'd gone mental, but then his mouth stretched into a wide grin and she could feel his chakra churn with excitement.

"'bout time we do something fun again."

. . .

They ended up in an inn in the Land of Noodles. The food was uncharacteristically bland and the innkeeper had given Chikako a very odd look when she'd only asked for a single room, but Kisame's presence had a rather discouraging effect on arguments, so the woman's only protest had been a quiet "Are you sure dear?"

Civilians had the weirdest concerns sometimes. Sharing a room was a matter of practicality. It meant any intruder would have to sneak up on both of them. Not to mention that it was cheaper. It wasn't as if they'd need more than one bed after all.

Since learning that Kakashi could somehow hide his chakra in a manner that seemed even more effective than what Chikako did, she didn't feel comfortable any longer sleeping out in the open and trusting that she'd notice a foreign presence. Which meant that, despite her sensing abilities, Kisame and her would keep watch in turns.

It hadn't been particularly hard to convince him either. He'd lived as a missing-nin long enough to know that there was always someone more skilled than himself out there. Just because he enjoyed fighting didn't mean he was stupid enough to deliberately given an opponent an advantage. In fact, if Chikako hadn't, he'd probably have insisted they sleep in turns.

"Decided where we're going yet?" Kisame asked once they'd settled in for the night. She'd warded all four walls as well as the floor and ceiling with barrier seals, while he'd gotten food and then placed wire traps on the door and window.

"Not really." Chikako shrugged and tossed a crudely drawn map at him. "The closest base is in Hot Water, but that is marked as an important research facility, which probably means there is all manner of nasty shit in there that I don't want to deal with. Then there is one to the south of here, but I don't have a precise location for that. I just know that it's somewhere in the middle of the ocean. So unless you want to go search for that one or travel all across the Elemental Nations that leaves one in Konoha and one in Tea."

Kisame frowned at the map, turned it this way and that as if he couldn't tell what it was depicting. Asshole. She wasn't Sai, but her drawing wasn't nearly as bad as the sharkman was pretending. It was probably revenge for mocking his stick figure note. Chikako threw a pillow at his head, but he caught it without even looking and flung it back at her in the same motion.

"Tea, I didn't get to try the crab specialties they have in that one port town last time I was there."

Chikako was pretty sure she knew exactly which port town he meant and just for that she hurled both of their pillows at him. Once again, the first one got snatched out of the air, but he hadn't realized the second was right behind it and it hit him square in the face.

"Zabuza fell for that same trick."

"Oh, I see how it is," the sharkman grinned and gathered quite a bit of chakra for his next throw.

"Kisame! You can't just-"

"Totally can," he told her, sounding like a maniac. She had to use a Body Flicker to dodge that one.

"You're like a huge, blue toddler you know that?"

His answer was to throw the other pillow as well, which left him with no ammunition once Chikako decided to retaliate. But of course Kisame was a master swordsman and had no problem ripping off the curtain rod to defend himself. The first pillow survived just barely, the second, however, was not so lucky. It died in a glorious shower of feathers, which Chikako used to vanish from sight, snatch up the blanket and reappear behind Kisame. Her attempt to smother him didn't get very far though.

The bastard actually used Water Release to drench the whole place. They'd probably have to pay extra when they checked out in the morning, provided the innkeeper wasn't too afraid to throw them out before then.

. . .

The first thing Kisame did once they reached Degarashi Port, was seek out the famous crab specialties. At least Chikako thought they had to be famous, seeing as he wouldn't shut up about them.

She needed to talk to someone about something other than seafood, anything, so figuring that Jiro had had enough time to catch up with the others she summoned him. He'd wanted to come along and if she waited to call him until after they'd left Degarashi - and more importantly the food - behind she'd never hear the end of it. Chikako fully intended to drag both tanuki and shark out of the town as soon as they'd finished eating, but of course things were never that easy.

They sat outside of a small restaurant by the water when Jiro nudged her elbow and pointed at someone in the crowd. Chikako gave him a single nod. She'd already noticed and kept moving in her seat to make sure Kisame's huge frame shielded both her and the yokai. So far he'd ignored her behavior, but now that Jiro was also acting weird it seemed he had enough.

"Who the hell are you tryin' to hide from?" He asked between bites, then turned around, presumably to see if someone was doing something especially suspicious. Naturally that also meant he leaned away from her, thereby enabling anyone who cared to to take a good look at the rest of the table.

The reaction was almost immediate, because the big blue guy just drew attention simply by being present.

"You!" Idate hissed when he spotted Jiro and then her. She was pretty sure that was the exact same greeting she'd gotten last time, only then Jirocho Wasabi had been there to keep them from tearing into each other, verbally or otherwise. This time the only thing that separated them was Kisame and he was just delighted by the prospect of a fight.

"Doesn't look like much," he grinned, looking Idate up and down, then wiggled his eyebrows in an exaggerated manner. "Old boyfriend maybe?"

"Ew, no! That's my ..." She trailed off, nose wrinkling and tried again. "That's Ibiki's little brother."

Kisame chortled, which had Idate flinching back a step to avoid getting splattered with bits of half-chewed crab meat.

"Please tell me you were going to call Morino your dad just now."

Chikako winced and the shark laughed even harder. She'd never called Ibiki 'dad' to his face, but she couldn't help thinking of him that way. Just like she considered Itachi a brother and Kakashi a sort of weird uncle. Kisame might act like a loud ruffian, but he wasn't stupid and more than capable of reading between the lines when they talked. That didn't give him the right to hand information out though. Idate didn't even known her name and until just know he'd had no idea that she knew his brother as anything other than Konoha's head of T&I either.

"That settles it, you are definitely the toddler in this dysfunctional patchwork family." She glowered at Kisame and the food that he'd inevitably showered the table in during his little outburst.

"I don't think so Little Fish."

"Yeah, well, people that can't eat on their own are clearly not old enough to get a vote."

"Is this some kind of joke?" Idate demanded, drawing their attention back to himself.

"You better hope it is." Kisame smiled one of those razor toothed smiles. The laughter wasn't quite gone from his tone, but a quiet aura of menace had settled around him as if someone had flipped a switch. Friendly banter with her had suddenly turned into a threat, even though his voice and posture had barely changed. Chikako sometimes forgot how dangerous he really was when they bickered like this.

"Look," she told Idate, not willing to make this into any more than it already was. "We're just passing through. I don't want anything from you or the Wasabi, so just go back to whatever you were doing. We'll be gone by tomorrow at the latest."

He blinked at her, apparently taken aback by that answer and then his eyes widened in realization.

"You really meant that? About Ibiki?"

Chikako sighed, he'd been much less trouble when he'd still been afraid of her. She had the overwhelming urge to smack her head on the table, or better yet, Kisame's. Fighting the sharkman wasn't likely to turn out well for her though, or Degarashi for that matter, so she settled for a glare.

"Don't look so shocked. It's not like we're actually related or anything. Ibiki was my interrogator and afterwards he was supposed to keep an eye on me, make sure I wasn't a danger to the village. He just never stopped."

"That ... doesn't sound very parental."

"I don't care what it sounds like and it isn't any of your business anyway."

"It's just, how is he?"

"No idea. Last time I saw him was more than two years ago now. Since nobody told me he's dead though I'm assuming he's doing okay."

This time it was Idate who sighed, but instead of leaving like she'd hoped, he sat down next to her. Chikako was more than a little bewildered by the gesture and it must have shown on her face. He offered her a hesitant smile.

"If brother adopted you that means we're family, so we should at least try to get along."

"He didn't-" Chikako started, but Kisame cut her off, by flicking some of his crab at her head.

"Just take it," he advised. "We can always kill him later if he gets on your nerves too much."

"I've been told that murder is not the solution to every problem," she answered primly, mostly to annoy him, but he just laughed at her.

"I don't know. It usually works out fine for me."

Idate stoically stayed in his seat, but by the way he'd started to fidget Chikako suspected he already regretted his offer of friendship, not that she blamed him. No matter how light Kisame's tone had been, he hadn't been joking about killing Idate. He probably wouldn't if she asked him not to, but that was neither here nor there.

If Idate wanted to be friends that was on him, for now all Chikako needed was some information. So she questioned him about Tea's geography until she had a better idea of where exactly Orochimaru's compound was. The stupid things tended to be far from civilization, which meant the locations Sasuke had provided often only described natural landmarks or gave vague directions because he hadn't known any actual distances.

. . .

She hadn't managed to narrow the area they had to search down by much, but with Kit and Sune there to help as well it had taken them a little less than three days, which included the journey from Degarashi Port. So not bad all in all. Their prize on the other hand didn't look very promising.

The compound was underground just like the other one's she'd seen. The corridors and rooms were clean, which suggested it was still in use, but the place had been almost completely cleared out. There wasn't a single living soul around and most of the furniture was covered with cloth or stashed away in storage rooms. Kisame's disappointment was palpable, but the fact that he could destroy the whole structure once they were done searching it mollified him a little.

Jiro was really the only one who had fun that day. He managed to spot a dossier that had fallen behind a desk and then continued to lord it over all of them as if it was some great feat instead of pure luck. In turn Sune mocked him for not checking the file first, because the information in it detailed Sasori's movements over the past few years. While the two of them argued whether Sasori's death made the information useless, Chikako snatched the dossier away from them to take a look at it herself.

It was rather comprehensive and she couldn't help but wonder why the nukenin had been spying on each other. So far she'd assumed they had been allies since the jutsu the spy in Suna had been under seemed to have been of Orochimaru's making.

"Is this an ego thing," she asked, waving a few loose papers in Kisame's face. "Like, you aren't really a diabolical spymaster unless you spy on every other diabolical spymaster?"

He raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Probably, but I think in this particular case it's because they couldn't stand each other."

"Why? I mean, I'm not saying Orochimaru is likable, but was there a reason beyond his personality? These notes seem kind of obsessive and according to Sasori's scrolls his spy has been with Orochimaru for about a decade now."

"No idea. All I know is that they used to be partners and that Deidara and Sasori were sent to kill Orochimaru after he left Akatsuki."

"Didn't do a very good job, did they," Chikako grumbled, then went back to scan the dossier for anything useful.

. . .

By the time they had wandered through the whole compound the sun had long set and was almost ready to rise gain. Nothing else even remotely interesting had turned up and Kit decided that he would pick their next target, since Kisame clearly couldn't be trusted with the task.

Luckily the sharkman was too distracted with his attempt to destroy the whole compound at once and didn't put up much of an argument. Instead he concentrated on flooding the entire structure via Water Release, using so much chakra that it made Chikako's head swim. Once that was done he used a technique meant to create a massive wave. In this case, since water was more or less incompressible, the liquid that was already inside of the compound crashed into the walls, pulverizing stone and crushing everything else that had been left down there.

Chikako used her chakra sight to get a good picture of the whole thing, but to the rest of them there was only a deep rumbling noise and then the ground caved in, leaving behind a lake of mud and jagged pieces of what used to be the walls and ceiling.

They hadn't gotten much out of that trip, but at least they'd left Orochimaru a nice surprise.

Chikako crossed the location off her map and Kisame declared that he needed some more of 'those heavenly crab delicacies,' so they headed back for Degarashi. Since none of them wanted to sleep outside when they didn't have to they ran through the rest of the night and most of the morning to reach the port town, at which point Chikako was tired enough to just fall into bed at the first inn they came across.

Kisame stayed out until mid-afternoon, presumably to stuff his face in his new favorite restaurant. When he finally decided that he did need sleep after all, Chikako was already up again and busy copying part of the dossier they'd found.

Most of it was useless, just like Sune had suspected, but it did contain the names and descriptions of spies that might still be active as well as mentions of a few shinobi Sasori had killed. The former might lead to more information if the spies could be captured and the latter might help solve a murder or two. It wasn't much and she personally had no use for the information, but she figured sharing it wouldn't hurt.

There was some grumbling from her yokai companions when she informed them that they would have to play courier because Yata hadn't returned yet. Since the distances were roughly equal though, Chikako talked the whole thing up as a race to compare their abilities. Kit saw through her immediately and made a few snide comments about underhanded tactics, but when it came time to leave the competitive little shit was the first out the window.

As the strongest and stealthiest of them he'd be heading for Konoha. Since Jiro hadn't come with her last time, he'd chosen to travel to Suna, which left Kiri for Sune. The younger two yokai only carried the copies Chikako had made, but Kit also had a letter for Ibiki.

She'd meant to give the man an update when she'd realized that she actually had no idea whether he knew that she was alive. Whenever she'd seen someone from Konoha she'd asked them about the rest of the rookies, Kakashi and Ibiki, but she'd only ever sent one message back and that had been to her sensei. If they hadn't talked to each other it was entirely possible that nobody even knew how many of them she'd come in contact with since leaving the village.

It had been safer that way while she'd still been on the run, but Kisame was right, after Suna it was only a matter of time until anyone who cared became aware of the fact that she wasn't quite as dead as she was supposed to be. The last time she'd gotten involved in anything this big she'd just been some nobody foreigner. This time, however, she'd come as Wraith, the nukenin two of the Five Great Shinobi Countries had declared an ally. She'd also butted heads with the council, which meant someone was going to dig into who exactly she was and where she'd come from.

That had still left her with a blank piece of paper though. She'd had no idea what to say and so she'd found Idate and made him write a letter instead.

He'd been more than a little surprised, but gladly accepted the offer. Unlike her, he had a lot to share with his brother and she ended up encrypting three pages of apologies and five more detailing his life with the Wasabi Clan. Chikako neglected to mention that the man probably kept taps on him and would be aware of at least some, if not all, of what had happened to Idate over the years. She'd used the code her and Ibiki had come up with several years ago as an exercise, which she supposed was in and of itself a message, even if she didn't actually add anything of her own.

Idate had silently waited while she'd worked, but the second she'd finished he'd decided he wanted to talk to her. Chikako had taken that as her queue to leave. He had no proof at all that Ibiki cared for her in any way whatsoever and even though Idate disliked shinobi in general and her in particular, that claim he was willing to take on faith. It was ridiculous. Just because he missed his brother didn't mean he should latch onto the first person that might have any connection to him.

She could practically hear Ibiki's lecture on the matter, listing a hundred ways how this could be a ploy. Hell, Chikako had even used Idate's sudden willingness to be on good terms to get information out of him. Granted, it wasn't anything secret that she couldn't have learned from a map of the region, but that wasn't the point.

Idate was being a moron and looking at him reminded her too much of his brother, so she left him sitting alone with the original copy of his letter, just body flickered away in the middle of a sentence. Kakashi would have been proud.

. . .

Since Chikako had made the task of delivering messages into a race, the yokai had insisted the winner get a price. They had argued amongst themselves what would be appropriate while she had copied and encrypted the relevant parts of the dossier, so she hadn't paid much attention. It had to have gotten pretty heated at some point though, because Kisame had intervened once Sune had started using area genjutsu. Then he'd declared that Kit couldn't just decide their next destination and made that into the price instead.

Usually Chikako would have agreed with that solution, but she rather disliked the fact that Kisame used it as an excuse to spent some more time in Degarashi. He was obsessed with that stupid restaurant by the harbor and it drove her nuts because he wouldn't talk about anything else.

Since she wasn't about to make friends with the locals and intended to avoid Idate for the rest of their stay, that left her with no one to talk to and entirely too much time to worry about Itachi.

They weren't exactly in regular contact, but he usually sent an answer within two or three days if she had any pressing questions. They hadn't left Kiri too long ago and Yata had a knack for finding her, even when she wasn't traveling with a huge, blue shark. He'd been gone for quite a bit longer than that now though and it made her antsy.

Consequently Chikako spent the better part of her days on various rooftops to watch the sky. Each sunset and dawn she tried to summon her yokai, so they wouldn't have to run all the way back from their respective destinations and whenever Kisame could tear himself away from his food for a few hours she demanded they spar.

The first day they had fought in the woods to the south, but there were too many civilians in the area for the kinds of attacks Kisame preferred. So the next day Chikako had, against her better judgment, agreed to fight him on the water, because pausing once in a while to let a ship pass was far less annoying. Without Kakashi as backup though, or even a boat to stand on, that had meant she'd mostly had to concentrate on not drowning.

Walking on water was pretty easy in and of itself, harder than walking up solid surfaces, but not so complicated that she actively had to pay attention to it. At least that was the case when there wasn't a maniac around that deliberately tried to drag her under the surface.

Kisame very much enjoyed creating currents that flowed in opposite directions to throw her off balance or huge waves that followed her around, trying to box her in. There were also the whirlpools and sharks to take into account, not to mention the man himself.

Fighting Gaara in the desert was annoying because he never ran out of sand, but Kisame on open water was so much worse. If one discounted the bijuu, Gaara's fighting style mostly consisted of catching and then crushing his opponent. It was straight forward and only two things were required to beat it. One, don't get caught and two, have an attack that can get through his defense.

Of course that in no way meant the redhead was an easy opponent, but compared to the sharkman he was a boring one. As a swordsman Kisame moved around a lot during his fights and even though they almost all incorporated Water Release, his justsu were quite varied, even more so when there was no land to get in his way.

Their spars had always been uneven. More often than not Chikako either won within the first few minutes or lost a war of attrition to Kisame's superior stamina and chakra reserves. Constantly having to make sure she didn't sink into the ocean only shortened her window of opportunity. So, after several rather humiliating defeats, she'd decided to try something different. She'd meant to find an alternative to her regular style anyway and while Kisame wasn't a good opponent for her, it was still better than using unfinished jutsu against actual enemies, like she'd been forced to do with Sasori.

"How about I win and you buy me dinner?" Kisame suggested with a huge grin. He was a little like Shikamaru in that both of them enjoyed pitting themselves against an opponent far more than they did winning. Granted, in Shikamaru's case that generally meant playing shogi, but his tactician mind was easily applied to combat as well.

Chikako didn't answer the taunt. Usually she would use Camouflage to hide, followed by a chakra fueled jump to put as much distance between herself and the ocean's surface as she could manage. Kisame wasn't a sensor, but while the water was saturated with his chakra he could tell where she was even without seeing her. So she'd countered that by giving him as little information as possible, which he in turn got around by blanketing everything in mist, at which point her stealth skills became completely useless.

The first few days she'd tried to simply be faster than him, same way she did when they fought on land. With the ocean at his beck and call though Kisame had easily been able to keep her at a distance and then gone on the offensive, not giving her another chance to attack.

She'd tried clones and genjutsu as well, but there was a good reason she usually didn't use them. Even Kisame, as someone who never used genjutsu himself, was barely distracted for the fraction of a second by her basic Hell Viewing Technique. Her clones too didn't fare much better. Besides the fact that holding regular jutsu was disproportionately difficult for Chikako, she also didn't have the chakra to use them like Naruto did and since Kisame specialized in mass destruction and not one on one combat he had no problem attacking her and her clones at the same time, which negated their purpose to serve as decoys. He also tended to send at least twice as many Water Clones back at her, simply to prove that he could. It was annoying as hell, even if she could easily tell which was the real one.

Switching to a purely defensive style with her barriers and waiting for an opening hadn't gone much better. Kisame could outlast her any day of the week and he knew her style too well to get cocky. So today Chikako had decided to abandon her tried and true methods and instead opted to face her opponent head on.

The sharkman seemed surprised for a moment when the first thing she did didn't involve an attempt to hide or get behind him, but he easily adapted to the change and send a wave for her. It was too high to jump over and too wide to get around before it would reach her.

In the past Chikako would have changed course to avoid it, but this time she planted her feet in a wide stance and once the wave was close enough she struck it with an open palmed strike in a perfect imitation of the Hyuga's Gentle Palm style. Instead of releasing her own chakra on impact though she used a seal to harness natural energy, which gave her a lot more to work with.

The seal was still nowhere near perfect, as evidenced by the fact that, as she directed the natural energy through her hand, it burned the skin and made her muscles cramp. The result was worth it though. Kisame's chakra got disrupted, causing the whole wave to wobble and collapse in on itself and where she'd hit it the water burst apart as if someone had popped a balloon, allowing her to move through the opening unharmed and mostly dry.

Chikako didn't have much time to enjoy the disbelieve in Kisame's expression though. He recovered almost immediately and continued to pepper her with Water Bullets. While she dodged those, he used another Water Release that created five sharks. They homed in on her position the instant they were fully formed, just as deadly as the real thing.

She'd made the mistake of letting one of them get close before, trying to dispatch them with her blades. It worked quite well, but besides the massive teeth, their equivalent of hide was also unnaturally rough and had acted as a rasp when it had made contact with her left arm. The new skin was still pink and she had no intention of going through regrowing it again.

Chikako flipped backwards, giving herself a little more time to gather natural chakra. She landed in a crouch, then slammed both palms onto the ocean's surface and forced the energy outwards all at once. The closest three sharks got caught by the blast, exploding in a shower of saltwater and the remaining two got chakra laced senbon to the face, her own this time.

Kisame wasn't the least bit concerned by her new tactic, but he also didn't seem quite sure what to do with her. Any kind of large scale water manipulation he used she disrupted with her version of the Gentle Palm or dodged if it was something small. In the end - and in the interest of saving time as he claimed - he just let her come into melee range unchallenged.

Chikako was good with a blade in her hand. Not nearly as good as Zabuza or him, but she could hold her own. Chakra Flow was out of the question though, because Samehada would simply absorb the energy. She also spent far more time dodging than she did blocking or parrying, because getting hit by the massive sword, wielded with Kisame's superior strength, was like a hammer blow to the chest.

Her wakizashi was of high enough quality that it could withstand such an impact, but Chikako was still the one who had to hold it and she didn't fancy getting the weapon ripped out of her hand. Something that had become increasingly likely with every time she'd used the natural energy seal. By now the skin of both hands was raw, weeping both blood and clear fluid. On top of that tremors ran through the muscles of her right arm whenever she put a little strain on them.

It made fighting a little hard, especially because Kisame had no qualms to use it against her. He maneuvered her around and around, always forcing her to face him with the right side and not giving her any time to catch her breath. Whenever she put any distance between them at all he created another wave she had to take care of, making the problem even worse.

Chikako had expected this to happen though and once they'd fallen into a routine she waited for Kisame to turn even just a little bit too slowly. The second he didn't have her in full few Chikako used Camouflage and a Body Flicker to jump over and behind him. Her palm strike connected with his lower back, but he'd reacted in time and so, instead of stopping the attack to avoid lethally injuring him, she let it tear apart his Water Clone.

A moment later Samehada came to rest on her shoulder. Since it was too late to bring her wakizashi up or get out of the way, that effectively ended the fight. Chikako let her own blade vanish with an exhausted curse, then continued to mutter profanities under her breath in an effort to distract herself from her abused hands. Now that she didn't have to concentrate on avoiding Kisame's attacks any longer the pain took up most of her attention. Washing off the saltwater would probably help somewhat, but she was pretty sure she'd have to recover for a few days before she could try again.

"I don't get why you're angry," Kisame told her with a frown. Chikako glowered at him.

"Easy, not only have I lost the past twelve days in a row, I also have no idea what else to try to beat you. It's like you get three times stronger when there's an ocean for you to play with."

He laughed at her then, but instead of gloating it was just happy and inviting. She didn't join in, but it did lift her mood. Kisame laughed and grinned a lot, it wasn't usually because he was cheerful though. Humor was simply his default reaction to anything.

"Well, technically you did win. I know you can move faster than you did for that last attack and if that was what I think it was it would have probably killed me too so ..." he trailed off, waving his hand in a vague gesture that meant absolutely nothing. "You're still paying for my food though, seeing as I'm not dead and all."

Kisame was right, she had held back, because a chakra fueled blow like that would have turned his insides into soup and probably ripped the flesh to shreds as well and she didn't have so many friends that she could go around murdering a few here and there. Chikako didn't think he'd just humored her either, lying to make other people feel better wasn't really his thing. It had to have been close though. In a real fight that move could have gone either way and she wouldn't know for sure until it was too late.

That was the major problem when sparring. If you cared at all for your opponent you had to hold back in a manner nobody ever would against an enemy. Kisame never used anything he couldn't abort and neither did Chikako, which robbed him of half his arsenal and slowed her down considerably when it counted, meaning who won didn't say too much about how they'd fare in real combat against each other.

. . .

Back on dry land Chikako bought Kisame more crab than she thought any one person should reasonably be able to eat and then headed for the restroom to clean and bandage her hands. She received a few worried looks on the way, but nobody said anything. At sixteen - or so her file in Konoha claimed, she wasn't actually sure - she still looked like a child, which warranted concern as far as the civilians where concerned. She was also clearly a shinobi though and that, more often than not, ensured they kept their mouths shut and got out of her way.

Degarashi was a little better than most towns because they annually saw ninja for the race, but didn't otherwise garner much attention from the shinobi world. That meant they had just enough contact to know the deadly killers walking among them were faster and stronger than any regular person, but not so much that they could picture the scale of destruction a shinobi could cause.

At least that was how it had been before Chikako's and Kisame's first sparring match had created a new clearing in the nearby forest. She was pretty sure the close to daily demonstration of the fact that the big guy could easily create a tsunami if he so chose only didn't cause a panic because they trained quite far out and always took care not to inconvenience the ship traffic unduly.

Chikako didn't take long cleaning her wounds, but by the time she headed back Kisame was no longer eating. Granted, that was probably because of the shinobi that had taken a seat across from him and not because he'd overcome his weird addiction to crab meat, but one could hope.

The two men remained silent from the moment she'd spotted them until she reached the table, which she took to mean that the newcomer was here for her. Chikako had memorized Jiraiya's chakra signature a long time ago, so even though Kisame's massive reserves tended to make sensing anything in close proximity to him difficult, she should have been able to pick it out. Instead she felt absolutely nothing.

"It's a seal isn't?" She asked, accused really.


	66. XV - Yet Another Code

**A/N:**

Thanks for the reviews. Apologies in advance that nothing much is happening in this chapter. It ended up with a whole lot more talking than intended.

 _Elise142_

They do, but I think it's only briefly mentioned in cannon.

. . .

 **XV - Yet Another Code**

Jiraiya neither confirmed nor denied her suspicion that he'd created a seal to mask chakra, completely ignored it in fact, which only served to convince Chikako that she was right. It would be rather concerning if such a seal existed, because if anyone could use it that had the potential to change the face of the shinobi world, not to mention any future wars. Strong sensor types weren't common, but there were enough to guard important facilities and warn people like the kage of approaching danger. A seal that could completely get around that had a number of worrying security implications. There was also the possibility that Jiraiya might have come up with the seal specifically to make it easier for someone to kill her, which, well, she hoped she was being paranoid.

In any case, the number of people that could hide from her had just doubled and Chikako didn't like it. She was also tired and her hands hurt, which didn't do anything good for her mood either.

"What do you want old man?"

"I have a proposition of sorts," Jiraiya said, giving Kisame a look somewhere between contemplative and fascinated. "You see, I've heard rumors about a rather notorious nukenin in the area, one that hadn't been seen in so long that there were suspicions he might have been killed. So naturally I headed out to investigate. Now imagine my surprise when I got intercepted by a summon that handed me information on another Akatsuki member, encrypted with an old T&I cipher no less, but refused to answer any questions."

Chikako yawned. She considered stealing some of Kisame's food, but then decided it wasn't worth the risk. He didn't usually like sharing food and this particular meal would likely be defended to the death. "There a point to this story?"

"I was expecting Hoshigaki to be a little more hostile than this. Can I take the fact that he is with you and not wearing the famous red and black cloak to mean that you are both willing to help Konoha?"

Kisame, who had gone back to eating when Chikako had joined them, paused to glare at the Sanin.

"Do we look like dogs to you spymaster? You whistle and we come running? Just because the kid offered you a hand doesn't mean you get to take the whole arm."

Chikako frowned. She wasn't opposed to helping Jiraiya. He wasn't likely to let anything slip that would explain how and why Itachi had joined the Akatsuki, but maybe she could wrangle something else out of him. She kind of owed him anyway for handing over his notes on sealing. The information she'd traded him for that was neither worthless nor easy to come by, but it's value hadn't compared either.

"I'll need help with a seal and Kisame gets to stay out of it," she decided, far too tired to play games.

The sharkman groaned, sounding very much like he'd just been tasked with carrying a mountain across the country side. She couldn't tell if he meant it or if he was simply being contrary.

"You are hopeless," he grumbled. "Absolutely hopeless."

Chikako shrugged, yawned again and then expectantly looked at Jiraiya. He seemed decidedly more confused now than when she'd first spotted him, but also more open. Then his seal - it just had to be one - deactivated and she could sense his chakra for the first time that day. Not exactly what she'd call calm. Maybe a mix of excitement, an edge of nervousness and a sort of grim determination, none of which showed on his face when he fixed Kisame with a hard look.

"I need information on Akatsuki and Orochimaru. My original plan was to capture and interrogate you, but it seems that won't be necessary."

"Pretty sure at this point you know more than I do spymaster. I left the organization over half a year ago. That seems like something one of your Leaf dogs would have mentioned."

"One would think so, but I'm afraid this is the first time I'm hearing it."

"Well," Chikako cut in lightly. "Did they at least tell you that Sasori is dead and that Deidara lost a few limbs?"

"Yes, but it seems nobody could quite recall how Sasori died."

"That's probably because they weren't there."

"What are you saying?" Jiraiya didn't sound the least bit convinced and had clearly not even considered the possibility. "There is no way Hoshigaki traveled all the way to Sunagakure, got into a fight with another S-ranked nukenin and somehow nobody noticed."

"No, there isn't spymaster," Kisame agreed easily, mouth stretched into a wide grin and eyes alight with a malicious kind of glee. He treated the word spymaster like an insult, but the Sannin's profession likely wasn't the only reason for his bad temper. "Don't know if you've read any Bingo Books lately, but the kid can handle herself just fine. She certainly didn't need help from any of your dogs to kill Sasori."

The Jiraiya's gaze flung back to her and Chikako raised an eyebrow at him. Kisame sure made it sound like she hadn't nearly killed herself in that fight and as if that silly S-ranking she'd gotten from River had any basis in fact, she wasn't about to argue the point though. Chikako trusted that Jiraiya wanted the best for Konoha and thereby a lot of people she cared about, but that was it. She had no idea where she stood with him and didn't know him well enough to judge his reactions.

To him she had to be Wraith, and Wraith was a scary assassin with several do not engage and flee on sight orders to her name. That those were - with the marked exception of Konoha, who had been forced to issue a do not engage order because of their alliance with Suna - all from minor Hidden Villages didn't matter either because all of the major shinobi countries had acknowledged her in one way or another as well, be it as an ally, preferred bounty hunter or someone that needed to be killed.

The name Wraith wasn't anywhere close to being comparable to those of the Sannin, but it did hold a certain kind of weight and if using that mask made Jiraiya more inclined to take her seriously, then that was exactly what she would be doing. Their interests seemed to be aligned for the moment - even if they hadn't been, she would have been willing to make a deal for the mere possibility of getting her modified version of the Gentle Fist to work - but she wouldn't be his lapdog.

"How about you give me something to draw on, so I can show you the seal I need help with and we negotiate the rest from there? Also, I'm gonna need some tea if you want me to stay awake, this is going to take a while."

Jiraiya sighed, producing paper, ink and a brush out of nowhere. The man probably needed several moments to get the skewed picture he had of her and Kisame straightened out. The time it would take her to create the seal in the traditional way should be enough, even if she did hate drawing the thing. It was tedious, took ages and ink had the bad habit of drying unevenly, which impacted the quality of the seal. Jiraiya wouldn't actually be able to see it if she used chakra though, so there was no way around it. At least not if she wanted his help.

Skeptical silence enveloped the table for a few seconds. It probably included a raised eyebrow or two as well, but she didn't care enough to look up and check. Another disadvantage of ink seals was that they couldn't be corrected and she had no intention of drawing the thing more than once.

Jiraiya left to do as asked after a few more seconds, came back after a little over ten minutes to watch her work from across the table and by the time the tea he'd procured was done so was Chikako. The Sanin pulled the paper away from her almost immediately. He seemed oddly eager to inspect it closer, considering that the design was based on his and shouldn't be much of a surprise. She'd started with that idea he'd scribbled in the margins of his notes on how one might harness natural chakra and then merely layered other directives around it, so she could channel the energy through her own body or into chakra constructs.

That particular iteration was the one she used when she either wanted to release energy directly as she'd done with Kisame or for the bastardized Chakra Flow attack that had ended Sasori's life and turned her arm into cooked meat.

"Well," Jiraiya said after several minutes. "You need to direct the energy somewhere after you've harnessed it and-"

"What? No. I can do the directing just fine, the problem is what it does while in my system. It's like handling acid with bare hands, which is-"

"I highly doubt that. This seal contains absolutely no directives at all concerned with what happens to the energy after you've gathered it."

Chikako frowned at him Was he serious?

"Obviously, drawing all that shit would have taken at least another half hour. It's not like you need it anyway. The parts are completely isolated in functionality and I only need help with this one." She also wasn't about to just hand him the rest on a silver platter. It was bad enough that she had to give him this part.

Chikako might not be able to use the actual Gentle Palm the way the Hyuga did, but the taijutsu forms lent themselves very well to what she wanted to achieve with that seal and Hinata had taught her enough to develop her own version of the fighting style. She didn't need anyone picking that apart and devising counter measures before it even worked. At least not someone she didn't trust to have her back.

Jiraiya stared at her, again, then leaned forward to study her drawing once more. Kisame looked highly amused. All he knew about seals came from trying to get around the ones she used with her barriers, but it was easy to grasp that Jiraiya wasn't exactly in familiar waters with this one.

The Sanin spent a lot of time muttering under his breath about how one thing or another couldn't possibly work only to switch to a different section and decide that he'd been wrong. He also told her at least a dozen times that her layout was atrocious, unnecessarily confusing and his latest complaint had been that he could hardly read some parts because she hadn't managed space properly and drawn them on top of each other.

"It's kind of hard to map a three-dimensional seal correctly on a flat surface. How else was I supposed to do it? Drawing the layers next to each other is even worse, because then you can't tell how the sections need to be placed in relation to each other," Chikako groused. She'd crossed her arms on the table and rested her head on them, so she couldn't see Jiraiya's reaction. She did sense the spike in his chakra though and heard the sputtered fragments of an aborted sentence, making her curious enough to glance at him after all.

"What? Don't tell me there are special rules for laying out three-dimensional seals as well. I already got the message, my layout sucks, blah, blah, blah. Can we just skip to the part where you tell me what I did wrong so I can fix it?"

"I don't even know what to do with you," Jiraiya complained, shaking his head. "No, there are no special rules for laying out three-dimensional seals, because there are no three-dimensional seals. The obvious reason being that, as you already noted, you can't draw them properly."

Chikako stared at him, then stared some more, only snapping out of it when Kisame flicked a piece of crab shell at her face. She was by no means a sealmaster, as evidenced by the fact that her attempts at Exploding Tags were still rather pitiful. In fact the only seals she got to work as they were supposed to were the storage seals she used for her blades. Even her barrier seals, while usable, were more of a constantly changing work in progress, littered with at least one glaring flaw each that an observant opponent would easily be able to pick out. And then there was of course the mess of a seal Jiraiya had in front of him.

Still, he was being ridiculous. There was no logical reason to confine seals to two dimensions and she knew for a fact that making three-dimensional versions was possible because that was how she had initially layered barriers seals together to create knew ones.

"Are you telling me you actually draw all of your seals? I mean I get that I'm exceptionally slow because I don't really practice doing it that way, but how the fuck do you ever use them in combat? I have to adapt the ones I combine with my barriers all the time because of stupid things like moisture and air pressure, that isn't something you can just prepare beforehand and achieve the same quality. Not to mention that it's not like you usually have the time to pull out ink and paper in the middle of a fight anyway."

"You aren't drawing any seals? At all?"

"Well, duh. Takes way too long and as you've said, for the past forty minutes might I add, I'm not very good at it. Forming them with chakra is more practical, not to mention faster and less obvious."

"That's ... not possible. Not for something this complex."

Chikako raised an eyebrow at him, created a tiny barrier on the table and then slapped a seal on it with a simple touch. As the connection to her own chakra snapped, the natural energy flowed through the seal into the barrier and it changed color form a faint blueish purple to a hue that was somewhere between mint green and ocher.

She liked to think of it as the Fuck Off Samehada seal. It couldn't take much force and the real version needed five seals to work properly, but because it drew entirely on natural chakra once correctly set up and regenerated quickly it was a nice way to counter Kisame's cheating sword.

Jiraiya looked ... she'd like to say impressed, but exasperated was probably more accurate.

"Of course you're forming solid chakra constructs as well. Why the hell not."

"Did I miss something? I figured out how to do that before I took the Academy Graduation Exam. Granted those weren't barriers ye, but I'm pretty sure it's noted in my file somewhere."

"I assure you, it is not and if it ever was I'm assuming Kakashi is to blame for it's disappearance." Jiraiya stood, pocketing the piece of paper she'd drawn on. "Here's the deal, I'm going to help you with that seal and I'm going to teach you another one. In exchange I need both of you to tell me everything you know about Akatsuki and Orochimaru. I'll also provide you with names and locations of people and places that I need you to investigate."

"That might work for the Little Fish," Kisame said, razor toothed grin firmly in place, "But what's in it for me?"

Jiraiya's gaze wandered to the sharkman, then back to her, apparently seeking support of some kind. Chikako just shrugged her shoulders. Kisame wasn't hers to order around. The only reason he was there was because Itachi had asked him to keep an eye on her. That they'd become friends in the meantime didn't change that and it certainly didn't mean he had to help with anything just because she wanted to.

"What's your price then?" The Sannin relented. His answer came in the form of a single demand, spoken in a tone of voice that was uncharacteristically somber for Kisame, but also made it clear that there would be no negotiations.

"Get Itachi out of Akatsuki."

Could he even do that? Chikako had her suspicions of course that Itachi spied for the Sanin, but the Uchiha had never outright confirmed or denied any of her guesses concerning his actions and motives. The mere fact that the reply wasn't an immediate refusal though was almost proof enough.

Jiraiya hesitated for a long time. She couldn't tell if he was weighing the deal, trying to figure out how to hold up his end or coming up with a counter proposal, she didn't care either. If there was even a chance that he could actually get Itachi away from that organization she had to back up Kisame's play.

Chikako was just about to declare, that Jiraiya could forget about the seal, when the man opened his mouth.

"Not now," he told them. "I need a little more time to prepare, but if you get me the information I need I'll make it happen."

"Ask your questions, then make your list," Kisame sneered. It seemed their little excursion to get on Orochimaru's nerves had turned a lot more serious all of a sudden.

. . .

Jiraiya had a lot of questions about the individual Akatsuki members, the organization as a whole and the involvement of Amegakure. Kisame answered as best he could, but more often than not that resulted in various iterations of 'no idea'.

Chikako had heard most of it at one point or another, so while the men talked, she spent her time making a copy of Sasori's scrolls for the Sanin, using that same old T&I code once again. She would have preferred a current one, but while Jiraiya had promised to teach her one of his personal ciphers before they left, this would have to do for now.

She also wondered why Kit had handed the notes over to the old man instead of giving them to Ibiki or Kakashi as he'd been instructed. Because of the letter he needed to find the head of T&I anyway, so it couldn't have been a matter of convenience. Then again, maybe he'd use it to argue that he'd won the race no matter who made it to their Hidden Village first. Not that it mattered anymore.

. . .

"You think he's gonna hold to his end of the bargain?" Kisame asked her later that day. She'd taken a quick three hour nap and just woken up, to find him sitting on the windowsill.

"How would I know? I've met him like three times in my life. Although he did hand over his sealing notes as promised. At least as far as I can tell. There might be stuff missing, but what is there is a lot." Chikako yawned, stretched like a cat and then decided she'd stay in bed for a little while longer. The skin of her hand's didn't burn anymore, but it was still raw and the occasional tremor made her fingers twitch involuntarily. "More importantly, do you think Itachi's gonna leave Akatsuki?"

"Yeah, if he gets a direct order."

"You think he's actually working for Konoha then? Not just handing over information to Jiraiya?"

Kisame turned his gaze to her, shrugging a little helplessly.

"It's the only thing that makes sense to me. With how much he hates violence Akatsuki doesn't seem like a good fit. Leader did promise him what we do - did - would eventually result in peace, but I don't think he ever believed that."

"What about his clan? I can't wrap my head around why he killed them. I know that the Uchiha were mistrusted after the Kyubi attacked Konoha and even found a few old newspaper articles to that effect, but nothing that would explain why Itachi of all people thought it necessary to kill everyone but Sasuke.

"Just for the sake of argument, assume the clan had something to do with the attack. Why murder old people and small children? Not to mention that if you are right, that would mean he did it on orders. Sending a single person to kill that many skilled shinobi, his own family no less, seems like an unnecessarily big risk for a sanctioned mission."

"Dunno," Kisame said, leaning back against the wall and letting one of his legs dangle, while he pulled the other one up onto the windowsill. "I'd say kill everyone to tie up loose ends, avoid someone coming after you ten years down the road, but he kinda fucked that up with his brother. Can't say I'd be surprised if Konoha had decided to off their strongest clan though. Maybe even just as a preventative measure, make sure they don't get any ideas of grabbing power that sort of thing. I've seen enough of that shit in Kiri, back when Yagura was still Mizukage."

"So to conclude, we know jack shit, but are taking Jiraiya's deal anyway, even though there is no guarantee he'll fulfill his end."

"Sounds almost as stupid as when you decided to go find two S-ranked nukenin to help you kill a bijuu and take over a village, and that turned out just fine." Kisame offered her one of those shark grins and she had the sudden urge to smack him. Chikako almost threw her pillow, but then remembered what had happened last time and rolled over with an annoyed groan instead. She clearly needed more sleep.

. . .

They met with Jiraiya again around sunset. On an abandoned rooftop in the warehouse district this time. It wasn't pretty, but there were far fewer people around.

"Here," Chikako said, holding out the copies of Sasori's scrolls. She'd just finished them half an hour ago, but they still didn't make a lot of sense to her. "Most of that stuff is so vague that I have no idea what it means. At first I thought Sasori had used some extra layer of encryption that just looked like plain text, but that actually seems to be it."

"It is if that is how Kakashi learned about the spy in Grass," Jiraiya confirmed and Chikako nodded.

"How'd that go?"

"The spy in question was Kabuto Yakushi, the same genin I believe you pointed out during the chunin exams. He is loyal to Orochimaru though, not Sasori. My old teammate was there as well. Apparently they'd planned to kill Sasori at the meeting.

"Naturally Naruto demanded that Sasuke be returned to him and the whole operation went south." Jiraiya glanced at Kisame, probably contemplating just how much he should reveal. The sharkman merely raised an eyebrow in return, making it clear that he expected at least some degree of trust if they were going to work together. This wasn't going to turn out well otherwise.

The Sanin seemed to come to the same conclusion, because he continued to give them an actual report. Apparently two Akatsuki members, probably Hidan and Kakuzu, attacked the Fire Temple some time ago, killing almost all of the monks. Among them the head monk Chiriku, who used to be one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. In turn it seemed Tsunade had decided it was time to do something about Akatsuki.

She'd sent out twenty four-man teams to scour the Land of Fire for them, to hunt them down and bring them in alive. Chikako had interrupted at that point demanding to know whether the woman was insane. Killing them was hard enough, how the hell was anyone going to restrain them? She understood the need for information, but much preferred Jiraiya's approach to Tsunade's. Her feelings on the matter where somewhat detached nonetheless, she thought it was really fucking stupid, but that was it. At least until Jiraiya came to the part of the story that explained why he was telling them about that mission at all.

Kakashi hadn't gone to intercept the spy in Grass. He'd been made the captain of one of those teams. In his place a jonin that went by the name Yamato had been sent with Naruto and Sakura.

"Did you not hear Kisame when he called those two freaks Zombie Twins?" Chikako cut in again, more than a little furious. "They don't fucking die and at least one of them likes pain. You know the Jashinist? I met some of the lunatics that adhere to the religion. They were hiding out in a cave next to a goddamned pool of blood. Fuckers worship death and destruction, pain and suffering and they think that the Red Dawn will bring peace to the world.

"According to them, knowing true pain is a gift that helps people lose their fear of death and allows them to embrace it. And that's just Hidan. We're are talking about two S-ranked nukenin, who, according to everything I've heard about them, are immortal, which means at the very least they are really, really hard to kill, much less capture."

Jiraiya didn't seem particularly impressed by her rant. In fact he looked at her like one might at a naive child that should really know better.

"Kakashi is a jonin of the Hidden Leaf. It's his job to serve and protect his village and the Land of Fire. He is also one of Konoha's strongest shinobi."

All true, also all irrelevant. If Tsunade wanted to send her people to the slaughter, well, Chikako didn't agree, but she also didn't care all that much. Kakashi was pack though. He wasn't some nobody to be thrown to the wolves.

"Akatsuki members generally don't split up, so chances are whatever team finds them will have to deal with both. That is four jonin Jiraiya, four. Kakashi might be one of Konoha's best, but he can't go head to head with Itachi and he would probably have to go all out to kill Kisame in a proper fight. Note that I said kill, not capture. The man is an assassin for fucks sake and I don't give a shit who else is on that mission with him, because they aren't as good as him and that means he will do whatever it takes to protect them instead of himself.

"So let me make this very clear," Chikako growled, fixing the Sannin with a hard look. "If something happens to him on that goddamned mission I'm going to find Tsunade and I'm going to kill her."

It was irrational, she knew it was. That didn't change anything though. She'd let Sai die and she wasn't going to do that again, could hardly stand even the thought of losing another member of her pack.

As far as Chikako was concerned, trying to capture two Akatsuki members was an unnecessary risk. None of the intel they had suggested that the organization was an immediate threat, which meant there was time to gather information through safer means. Tsunade didn't need to put Kakashi's live at risk like this, but she'd chosen to do it anyway, so Chikako would make the Hokage personally responsible for the man's fate. She'd already helped kill one kage, who was to say she couldn't do it again?

Jiraiya clenched his jaws, clearly angry, he didn't pursue the matter any further though, just continued talking about their initial subject as if she hadn't said anything. He must either not think she was actually a threat to the Godaime or else really need their help with his information gathering efforts. It was probably better that way.

Chikako wanted to go after Kakashi, make him abandon the mission. He'd never do that though and unless she found a way to kill two immortals she wouldn't be any help to him either. That meant her best chance to make sure he was okay would be to work with the Sannin to get the information they needed.

Jiraiya's expression had evened out shortly after her threat, but Chikako could still feel how his chakra was curled tight with a low simmering anger as he relayed what had happened with the spy. Next to this Yamato guy, who had lead the mission in Kakashi's stead, another addition had been made to the team. A boy by the name of Hei, personally selected by none other than Danzo. Jiraiya didn't outright mentioned ROOT, but from what she understood the only reason the old warmonger had been able to push this change through was because the other two council members had insisted, not because the Godaime trusted him.

The mission itself had gone wrong on multiple levels. For one there had been the problem of Orochimaru's presence. Interestingly enough though, the snake hadn't actually wanted to fight the Konoha team. Apparently he saw Akatsuki as a thorn in his side and was of the opinion that it was better to let his enemies kill each other.

Of course Naruto had still wanted Sasuke back and basically forced the fight anyway. He'd also lost control of the Kyubi yet again, even worse this time. With four tails fully formed the demon's chakra had completely enveloped him and, while his anger had still been directed at Orochimaru, he'd also completely lost the ability to distinguish friend from foe and batted Sakura out of the way at one point, causing severe chakra burns.

Since Yamato, who had some unique ability Jiraiya wouldn't tell them anything about, had been busy containing Naruto, Orochimaru and Kabuto had gotten away. So had Hei for that matter, but as the Sanin told the story they had expected the betrayal and placed a tracker on him.

In the end that allowed the team to follow Orochimaru to his base, where they learned that Hei had seemingly not been send to make contact with the snake after all, but rather to kill Sasuke. Since he'd spectacularly failed though and ended up a scorched corpse, nobody had actually been able to verify that assumption.

Chikako had to smile when she heard that Sasuke had refused to fight Naruto. She didn't know if it was because she'd threatened him after the last time the two had fought, but the reason really didn't matter all that much. Fact was that he'd apparently been exceptionally rude to Orochimaru as well, which made her think he was still of sound mind and planning to kill the snake before his time was up.

"That seal you want to teach me, it's to help contain the Kyubi isn't it?" Chikako hazarded and the Sannin confirmed her guess with a grim nod.

"It seems you have a knack for seals, despite your shoddy drawings, and as Kakashi's pupil I trust you'll want to keep your teammate safe. If you could recreated a full containment seal on the fly Naruto would be able to harness the Ninetails' chakra without the risk of loosing control on going on a rampage."

Chikako frowned at him, but kept her mouth shut. It seemed to her that teaching several Konoha shinobi and having them carry around prepared seals would be the more logical option, but then she wasn't the sealmaster here and didn't actually know if that was a feasible solution. She also wasn't about to talk him out of sharing more than she'd asked for. His notes were helpful, but there were, for the most part, disconnected thoughts without any actual explanations. Getting taught by him could only be more useful and she suspected he had more selfish reasons beyond those he was willing to share.

He might have framed it as benefiting Naruto, which was true, and he probably actually cared for the boy, but in the end he was Konoha's strongest weapon. Had the potential to be anyway if he could control the Ninetails' power. Not to mention that Chikako too was a valuable asset if Jiraiya could manage to bind her to Konoha itself or even just wrap her up in his web of lies and secrets.

Right now what mattered was that Kisame and her got started on their end of the deal though, as it might end up helping both Kakashi and Itachi.

Jiraiya wanted them to go take a look at several of Orochimaru's hideouts, but of course he'd chosen the ones that Chikako personally would have avoided. His interest was mainly in the research facilities, which greatly increased the chance of running into guards or the snake himself. Then again, Jiraiya didn't actually want them to do much more than scout the places and maybe try to abduct and interrogate a few of the guards.

It seemed he was hoping for a stroke of luck more than anything, which told Chikako he had no idea what her and Kisame could actually do. She didn't enlighten him either. He wouldn't complain if they were more successful than he had expected and if his earlier reactions were anything to go by he wasn't likely to believe her anyway. That whole business about the containment seal he wanted to teach her was more than likely a test and maybe the rest of their deal was as well.

In any case, Jiraiya had assigned priorities to their targets and that meant they'd be going to River first. The Sannin told them that they were to hold on to any information they came across until one of his people contacted them. To that effect he made them memorize a set of phrases and answers that sounded rather innocuous, but were unlikely to be used in regular conversation. Any such messenger would then hand over updates and further instructions from Jiraiya and take the information they had gathered. All communication was also to be encoded in the Sannin's cipher and written on paper prepared with that seal he used to hide and sign messages.

He went over protocols and contingencies with them - at least half of which Chikako would deliberately ignore - and continued to give instructions as to which risks were worth taking and which weren't, what kind of information was most important, how to handle interrogations and a whole lot of other things.

She got the impression he was trying to given them a crash course on covert operations or something. It was as if he thought neither of them had ever been on a mission before. Kisame wasn't the stealthiest person in the world, but he had served for years before defecting and he certainly knew what secrecy meant. As for Chikako, well she'd grown up with Orochimaru, Ibiki and a bunch of ANBU as her role models, then headed a division of Kiri's ANBU for a while. Granted, with how little anyone seemed to have shared about her Jiraiya probably wasn't aware of that last part, but it didn't seem like he had much faith in either of them to make good spies.

Insulting as that was, it didn't change anything. The deal had been made and the last thing they needed to do before heading out was learn yet another code.


	67. XV - Let Loose

**A/N:**

Thanks for the reviews everyone.

. . .

 **XV - Let Loose**

"I don't like the Land of Rivers. It's all wet," Jiro complained, not for the first time either. He'd been the last of the yokai to return to the Void for her to summon. He also claimed that he'd managed to deliver his message faster than Sune, but then Kankuro had bribed him with lots of expensive sake to get an update on his brother's condition, which had caused a massive delay due to hangover.

Sune for her part was angry with Kit, because she considered the fact that he'd handed over his notes to Jiraiya cheating and Kit had tried to invoke the rules of yokai deals on Kisame and Chikako for swindling him out of his price.

In turn Chikako had sent both foxes back to the Void before they could start a war and only kept Jiro around because she'd promised him he could come before they'd left Kiri. She'd have to call the other two back eventually, but Kisame had decreed that he wasn't going to travel with more than one of the little monsters at a time and Chikako had easily acquiesced. Of course if asked she intended to claim it had been under duress and blame the sharkman for everything.

"Since when is wet a bad thing?" Kisame asked, sounding as if he'd been personally insulted.

Chikako refrained from mentioning that Jiro's argument made no sense because he liked Kiri well enough, instead shushing both of them with a muttered, "We're almost there, I can sense them."

The lab in River was as out of the way as all of Orochimaru's other hideouts, but this time Sasuke's description of the location had been much more comprehensive, so finding it hadn't taken long. Chikako hadn't been in this part of the country before, she'd heard about it however during the last time she'd been in the area on her quest to track Itachi down.

The nearest settlement was almost two days away, which meant sleeping out in the open and hunting for food. With a little luck it would also mean that they wouldn't cross paths with any Tani nin. Just because she thought her S-rank was bullshit didn't mean they would and Kisame's rank wasn't even in question. They'd probably adhere to their flee on sight orders either way, but Chikako wanted to avoid drawing attention, at least until the job was done.

The snake's hideout was, naturally, built into one of River's many cave systems, which made surveillance a nightmare. Kisame couldn't even risk entering the tunnels because he wouldn't be able to hide from anyone. Instead his job was to watch the closest entrance and the surrounding area.

Meanwhile Chikako snuck in as far as she could manage without actually entering the compound. Her general stealth techniques and a few strategic uses of Camouflage allowed her to stay out of sight, but also required that she stay alert at all times, which was exhausting.

Jiro had the easiest job. All he had to do was transform into a stone, stay wherever Chikako put him down and listen in on the conversations of anyone who passed him.

They did this for ten to sixteen hours every day, constantly changing the intervals to get a good picture of what was going on in the compound. By the end of the week they had compiled a list detailing how many different chakra signatures Chikako had been able to pick out and even managed to assign names and descriptions to most of the people that walked the tunnels during that time. The list also contained bits and pieces of overheard conversations as well as the guards' routines and anything else that seemed like it could possibly be important.

"Ready for phase two?" Kisame asked once Chikako had finished jotting down the last sentence and activated Jiraiya's seal. He'd been waiting for this the whole week and was unreasonably exited. Jiro on the other hand didn't seem nearly as happy because all he'd be doing was sit on the sidelines and he'd already thought that pretending do be a stone was boring.

Chikako glanced at the horizon. The sun had almost set, turning the surrounding trees into black silhouettes against a glowing red and gold sky. It was quite beautiful. Pity she'd miss the rest of it.

"Let's go."

She summoned both Sune and Kit, explaining the situation and promising them free rein of the compound as long as they didn't destroy information and at least tried to interrogate the scientists. Sune was appeased easily enough, but her brother was a little more stubborn.

"Do you think this is adequate compensation for your transgressions human?" He demanded with a glare. It sounded incredibly snooty and Chikako had a hard time not breaking out in laughter. For all that he looked like a vengeful god - or demon she supposed - come to demand a blood sacrifice, his chakra was nearly vibrating with excitement.

"Of course not. You also get to go in alone, I'll just be waiting by the door and Kisame is staying outside."

"I suppose that will do," Kit sniffed before he gave up on the act and a grin took over his face. Sune rolled her eyes at her brother's antics, but otherwise her expression matched his perfectly and both of them were right on her heels when Chikako entered the tunnels once more.

They did complain a little about having to sneak in, but that only lasted until Kisame's chakra rose, overpowering every other signature in the area. A moment later faint hissing echoed through the tunnels. The noise grew louder by the second and then water began trickling over the stone.

Chikako had lead the yokai a little past the door of the compound and instructed them to wait on the ceiling with her. It kept them in the shadows and out of the way as, less than a minute after Kisame had started, his Water Release had turned into a raging river beneath them. The initially clear water, now mostly white from all the air that was dragged under as it crashed into the walls and corners in it's path, was saturated with the sharkman's chakra as well.

While dangerous to civilians, to a shinobi the artificial river looked as if it merely required a little more focus on chakra control than usual, but as the first guard that left the compound to investigate soon learned, the water was also infested with hungry shark summons. The man was torn to shreds only seconds after stepping into the tunnel and his colleagues wisely chose to run along the walls instead.

All in all twenty-one more men and women headed out to find the origin of this attack. That left another eleven inside plus twenty-seven or so scientists. Chikako didn't know for certain since she hadn't seen any of them fight, but from their chakra levels she guessed that all of the former category were low to mid-level jonin and all belonging to the latter were chunin at best.

The ratio of about one guard to one scientist suggested that there might be more people deeper inside of the compound, but there had been no way to tell without actually entering. So while they weren't going in completely blind, the plan wasn't all that sophisticated either. It basically just entailed Kisame drawing as many people out as he could manage and playing things by ear from there.

Once the river died down and the sharks vanished Chikako let herself fall to the ground. Her two companions on the other hand decided to follow her along the ceiling, apparently liking the change of perspective.

They remained up there even after Chikako had reached the compound's door, a huge thing made entirely of steel and reinforced with a number of seals. She hadn't wanted to risk trying to break them before, because that might have announced their presence prematurely, but now she placed both palms flat on the metal and shifted to her chakra sight.

As the rest of the world faded to black, bright lines, blurry shapes and a low hanging mist replaced them. The seals, people and the residue of Kisame's jutsu respectively. Chikako only concentrated on the first, letting her own chakra flow into the shapes and tracing them backwards. They weren't all that complex, but she had to be careful nonetheless because missing even a single section could lead to a nasty backlash of energy.

Surprisingly enough the yokai waited in silence for the full three minutes it took her to burn the seals away and open the door. As soon as that was done though all bets were off. The corridor Chikako revealed was a boring gray with no decorations at all, only plain wooden doors occasionally broke up it's surface. It was also completely empty except for a stick thin woman with tan skin. She wore an impeccably white lab coat and carried a book under one arm.

A heartbeat later Kit rushed across the ceiling, barreling into her from above and digging his clawed hands into her chest. She made a surprised noise, eyes going wide, then her body hit the floor and Kit rolled forward to land back on his feet without loosing momentum. He shifted into his fox form in the same motion and sprinted further into the compound with a happy yip.

"No fair!" Sune complained in a rather petulant tone as she tried to catch up with her brother and instead almost managed to fall over his victim.

Chikako sighed, then shouted a, "Don't forget to count!" after them, closed the door again and leaned her back against it. That first kill had been a fast one. The woman probably hadn't even realized what had happened before she was dead, but the two little demons would probably start playing with their food soon enough, especially if they actually intended to get intel out of the scientists.

Meanwhile Chikako would guard the entrance, chakra sense spread wide to keep tabs on what was going on outside as well as deeper in the compound. With all that stone and earth around it wasn't terribly accurate, but she figured Kisame could handle himself and the yokai would call if they needed anything.

It took only a few seconds for the first two guards to locate her. They took one look at the dead woman and the splashes of crimson that now added a little bit of color to the drab surroundings and moved in to attack.

The one to her left was a young woman, maybe three or four years older than herself. She opened with a volley of kunai, that Chikako dodged by turning invisible and ducking under them. The woman immediately switched into a defensive stance, but not fast enough. Chikako was by her side before she'd even completed the motion, wakizashi angled for a clean decapitation.

The second guard, an older man with a bunch of decorative scars all over his face stepped in at the last second. He used a jutsu to make part of the ceiling come down, which forced Chikako to jump out of the way, aborting her attack.

Her Camouflage broke with the rapid changes in direction and she didn't bother with another. The man's chakra wasn't flowing through the stone, which meant that had merely been a good guess, but the corridor was too narrow to maneuver much anyway, so being invisible wouldn't make much of a difference now that she'd revealed the ability.

"Have it your way then," she told them with a shrug as Fox Fire sprang into existence all around them. The flickering of the flames bathed everything in an eerie blue light and made the shadows dance. Chikako added a healthy dose of killing intent into the mix and then threw the Hell Viewing Technique at the woman for good measure, while she concentrated on the other guard.

The man was clearly the more experienced of the two. His breathing hitched a little when the killing intent hit him, but he barely reacted otherwise. Chikako grinned at him, then feinted a lunge and instead called her flames in from the other side.

The Fox Fire struck him in the back halfway through his dodge and as his muscles cramped with the sudden, overwhelming pain he fell over his own feet, crashing face first into the wall. Chikako severed his spine in a single stroke, then turned back around to face the woman, who was somehow still caught in her genjutsu.

Chikako poked her int he arm with the tip of her blade, even going so far as to draw blood, but there was no reaction. The woman had gone to her knees, one hand pressed against the wall to keep her balance, but except for the heavy breathing and distressed noises that occasionally escaped her she was dead to the world.

Chikako crouched down in front of her to get a better look at her face, then slowly dialed back the killing intent while keeping an eye on her chakra to monitor how strong the genjutsu's grip was. Sure enough, as one lessened so did the other.

"Huh," she mused, oddly fascinated by the correlation. She hadn't used Hell Viewing often enough to know whether this synergy always worked, but she guessed it would depend on the specific scenario the victim had conjured up. In that case a fear of death or helplessness would likely have the greatest effect.

Either way, as soon as the woman's eyelids began to flutter open Chikako put the wakizashi through her throat, then she flicked the blade sideways to get rid of the blood before storing the weapon back in it's pocket dimension. The Fox Fire vanished as well, leaving Chikako alone in the corridor, now with three corpses to keep her company instead of just the one.

Kit and Sune seemed to draw a lot of attention, because nearly fifteen minutes passed before someone else came stumbling her way.

This time Chikako used Camouflage before the newcomer could spot her. A heavyset man, whose comparatively short stature made him look somewhat disproportionate, if not quite round. He was clearly in a hurry, nervously looking over his shoulder at every noise. The stress of the situation had gotten to him though. His hands were shaking badly and his run was more of a continuous stumble.

The lab coat marking him as one of the scientists was torn in three places, the left sleeve almost completely ripped off. The thing was also more red than white at this point, but since the guy was still mostly upright she figured at least some of that blood wasn't his.

Chikako knew that his name started with an e, but she couldn't for the life of her remember what it was, only that he was of little importance and therefore wasn't likely to know anything relevant. According to the conversations her and Jiro had overheard, his project, something about sentient plants, had been a massive failure and since it had been canned several months ago he'd acted as more of an errand-runner for everyone else.

His skin turned an interesting shade of gray when he spotted how Chikako and Kit had redecorated. Those couldn't be the first corpses he'd seen today - or ever, considering where he worked - but the prospect of having to crawl over them apparently disturbed him.

As he moved towards her his eyes were fixed on the door, his only hope to escape certain death. At least she figured his thoughts ran along that line. All she got form his meager chakra reserves was unadulterated terror.

Chikako let him come a little closer, then formed the natural chakra seal on the back of her hand, letting Camouflage fall the exact moment her open palm struck the man's solar plexus. The impact stopped him dead in his tracks with a rather pathetic wheezing sound that was accompanied by bright red blood and what she guessed were bits of lung tissue. He tumbled a little to the side, trying to catch his balance and ended up dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes. His head rolled to the left as he coughed two more times, spraying the ground with some of the shredded mess that used to be his insides, then he stopped moving altogether.

She flicked a piece of bloody lung - or whatever it was - from her shoulder and once again took her position by the door.

. . .

Chikako ended up adding the corpses of six more guards and three scientists to the pile before Kisame knocked. They hadn't all been entirely intact by the time they'd reached her either.

"Got 'em all," he told her, then raised an eyebrow at her collection of dead bodies. "You'd think they'd get suspicious of the corridor after a while."

Chikako shrugged and pointed further down the hall, where most of a guard was slumped against the wall. He'd turned tail after taking a single look at what lay between him and the door, but she'd used a Body Flicker and her wakizashi to decapitate him before he'd gotten very far. Sune had stolen the head at some point, to do who knew what with, and then later come back for a few fingers.

"That one was, didn't help."

"Mine weren't all that great either," Kisame agreed with a frown. "I kinda expected more of a challenge from Orochimaru's henchmen."

"Why? He just founded his Hidden Village a few years ago and probably lost a good chunk of his best people when he attacked Konoha. Also it's not like he had fresh genin guarding the place, judging by their chakra they were all around jonin level."

"Maybe someone should have told them that. You killed like - how many are that? - and don't even have a scratch to show for it."

Chikako frowned at him, then stepped around the pile of corpses to head further into the compound.

"Eight guards, four scientists. Can you leave a clone here to watch the door?" As far as she could tell there was no one left alive in this part and the kitsune had already moved further into the bowls of the place, but better safe than sorry.

"Sure thing. I could have probably used one to fight these imbeciles to begin with. They give you any trouble?"

"No, but unlike certain people that shall remain unnamed, I'm not in the habit of drawing fights out or give my opponents a chance to fight back in the first place."

"That's because you are boring kiddo."

"I like to call it smart."

"You go ahead and do that."

"Ass," Chikako muttered, but he only laughed when she elbowed him.

Not that Kisame was wrong. Fighting smart could be surprisingly boring. Against the sharkman or Kakashi it was the only thing keeping her alive, but against opponents such as these it was almost too easy.

That was why Chikako had always tested her stealth against all of the Hunter-nin at once during that game they played in Kiri. One of them alone simply wasn't a challenge if she played it smart, but doing anything else would lead to bad habits. Kisame's approach of playing with his enemies was certainly the more entertaining one, then again he could afford to go head to head with a small army.

Chikako on the other hand was still too much of an assassin for that. She was best in single combat or in situations in which she could pick opponents off individually, preferably in quick succession. That was why she spent her time with a pile of corpses in a narrow corridor, while Kisame got to amuse himself batting around almost two dozen shinobi out in the open.

She really needed to work on that alternative fighting style. She'd only used the natural chakra seal three times today, but even that was enough to make the muscles in her hands twitch involuntarily because of the damage it had caused.

As they moved through a maze of corridors, all plain gray with a fresh coat of crimson splatters across them, Chikako sensed more and more chakra signatures come into range. Their positions were oddly symmetrical, forming two parallel lines that stretched over several hundred meters. Most of them were stationary, but a few moved in tight circles or paced from side to side.

It was familiar in a way that made her immediately think of her childhood - chains and cages and bars. She wasn't at all surprised when they reached the yokai and found them running around in what was essentially a prison.

The cells were simple, nothing more than metal bars separating one from the next. As far as she could tell there weren't any seals on them to keep the occupants docile either. Yet, even though every last one of them was free to move around and had the chakra reserves of trained shinobi, they didn't even try to get free.

"Look at that," Kisame frowned as he peered inside of a cell. "Things are like animal pens. Nothing but cold stone and a bit of straw so they don't freeze to death down here."

"It could be worse, trust me."

"What?"

"This isn't too different from how I grew up. Cleaner maybe and more spacious."

"He held children like this?" Kisame snarled, banging the side of his fist against one of the cells, only to end up having to step out of the way as the door swung open on rusty hinges. Inside, curled up on the ground was an old woman, barely more than skin and bones. Her hair was matted and as dirty as the rest of her, but her eyes were clear and her gaze sharp.

"Is the master dead?" She rasped, heaving herself off the ground. Her movements were slow, looked like they hurt.

"Not yet," Chikako told her, while scanning the other cells. Were they all open?

"And will you kill him seven?"

Her head snapped back around, gaze fixed on the woman. She hadn't been referred to by number in a long time.

"Do I know you?" Chikako didn't think so. Orochimaru was the only adult she could remember seeing before the day the ANBU had gotten her out of that hellhole he called a laboratory.

The woman grinned, displaying a row of sharp teeth that just wouldn't fit into her mouth quite right.

"Oh, no, but I know you child. I read your file, read and read and read it until the characters lost all meaning. It was my idea you see, to make you the way you are. You should have been perfect. The numbers were all right, but then you were born just another puny human.

"Look at you!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in anger. "No claws or teeth, no thick hide and no power. You're nothing more than a failed experiment, left to rot."

Her head swiveled to the side as she paused for a moment, then her expression scrunched up into a confused frown. "Why aren't you rotting?"

"Well, that one is mad," Kisame said lightly before slamming the cell shut again and moving on.

Chikako watched the woman for a little while longer, but she just kept muttering to herself, eyes wandering in seemingly random patterns. If the teeth and the scaly patches on her skin were any indication she was one of Orochimaru's experiments as well, but that didn't mean her words couldn't be true.

The snake might have very well used the woman for her knowledge and then simply lied to her about the results. Chikako knew she hadn't turned out as intended, but if she'd been considered an absolute failure she wouldn't have lived long past that judgment.

Not that it mattered anymore. These days she was her own master, no need for Orochimaru's approval.

. . .

It turned out that the rest of the cells were indeed open. They were also filled with increasingly less human-looking people and one vaguely dog-shaped thing that may or may not have been a person at some point. Kisame tried each and every door, unable to comprehend why nobody left. He even tried asking a few of the occupants, but the answers were mostly gibberish and once in a while someone attacked him.

He killed those quickly, but for the most part the prisoners seemed docile. At least until Kit pulled open the last door down at the end of the prison block, thereby revealing a vast room that had been carved into the stone. It was completely empty, except for a balcony on the far wall that was clearly meant for shinobi use only, seeing as it lacked stairs.

As soon as the room was revealed prisoners started to march into it. They lined up along the walls in a very orderly fashion, but the instant everyone was in place mayhem broke loose.

Blood sprayed in all directions as people tore into each other with fangs and claws or even just their bare hands. Wet noises from soft tissue being ripped to shreds filled the air and Chikako wrinkled her nose when she spotted someone literally eating their opponent.

"What the hell?" Kisame sounded somewhere between confused, intrigued and disgusted, mostly confused though.

"It's a pit."

"You sure you're using that word right?"

"It's what it was called in my slice of hell. Every once in a while he'd pick a few children and throw them into the pit, survivor got to crawl back out again. It's his version of natural selection I suppose."

"Why aren't they using jutsu though?"

"They probably don't know how. He made us fight, but he never taught us anything. The larger chakra reserves are nothing more than a byproduct of his experiments."

"But why are they fighting now?" Sune asked. "Nobody made them do that. It's wrong."

Chikako raised an eyebrow at her, then looked back the way they'd come from. Crimson footprints clearly stood out against the dark stone floor, telling the story of what had happened here only minutes earlier. She knew what Sune meant, agreed even, but it was still a little odd to hear someone who had just helped kill a bunch of people voice it.

"We used to have rewards," she explained. "Special food, fresh clothes, a bath, that sort of stuff. Some liked the fights, either because winning made their lives a little bit better or because they'd learned to enjoy the taste of blood and death. These people might be the same, or maybe they are actually loyal to Orochimaru and want to prove themselves by surviving.

"I fought this guy once, Kimimaro. He was the last living member of his clan and utterly devoted to the snake. He actually felt regret over the fact that he was too ill for Orochimaru to take over his body."

"Sounds stupid", Kisame said. He followed it up with a Water Release that washed everyone inside of the room across the floor, pressing them into the back wall. Then he summoned far more sharks than Chikako had ever seen at the same time and declared an open buffet.

"I didn't want to wait for them to finish," he grumbled in answer to the look she shot him. "What with you insisting that we don't leave anyone to report back to the reptile and all."

. . .

The rest of the compound was far more interesting than the last one had been, at least from the perspective of gathering information. There were whole rooms stuffed with shelves and filling cabinets. They even found one that almost looked like a library. There was also a walk in freezer in which dead bodies hung from the ceiling and several lab rooms with jars that held what looked like mutated organs.

"Someone should burn the whole place down," Chikako muttered as she skimmed over a report. It detailed an experiment on several women that had been impregnated by that not-so-human creature they'd found in the cells. The descriptions were very clinical, but they still made her skin crawl, because all 'impregnated' meant in this context was 'raped'. If the list of injuries were any indication it hadn't been over quickly either.

Meanwhile Kisame sat on a table across the room, playing around with the lab equipment.

"Then why don't we?"

"Because it's knowledge. No matter how cruel or disgusting, this stuff has already happened and destroying the results isn't going to help anyone. Also, I keep hoping to come across something that's actually useful."

"Like what?"

"That file about me for one. I have an idea of what Orochimaru wanted to do with me, but I don't know what he actually did. I mean I didn't even know I could regrow my fucking eyes before it happened."

"Well, if that old crone wasn't completely off her rocker whatever you find here probably isn't going to be much use."

. . .

Kisame was proven correct a few hours later. There was indeed a file for experiment seven. Chikako even recognized her description in it's pages, but the actual data was blatantly wrong.

She was, however, vindicated in insisting they search the whole place when they came across a dossier on Jashinism. It figured that Orochimaru would look into anything that promised immortality, even if it was a cult.

According to the notes he'd caught a total of six followers of the religion. Five of them had been regular, if fanatic, humans, but the sixths had had the peculiar habit of not dying. It seemed no matter what had happened to his body, he'd remained alive and conscious the whole time while the pieces put themselves back together. He had even been able continue talking while his head had been separated from his neck, which had been endlessly fascinating to the Sannin.

At least for a while. Even though nothing Orochimaru did had any lasting effect. The man had apparently kept complaining that his god required sacrifices and eventually his regeneration just stopped. According to the file it had had nothing to do with the manner or frequency of the numerous injuries that should have killed him though.

The sole important factor seemed to have been the overall time he'd spent in captivity and, if his claims were to be believed, been unable to offer Jashin a worthy sacrifice. Orochimaru didn't put much stock in religion and since he hadn't been able to verify any of his findings without access to another, at least temporarily, immortal, he'd put the whole investigation on hold.

Still, it was far more than Chikako had known before and fell firmly into the category of relevant information.


	68. XV - Fake Names

**A/N:**

Thank you for the reviews everyone. Also fair warning, this chapter is almost twice as long as the last.

KadeBear

I haven't decided if/how to bring Ninshu into the story. I'm not a fan of the Sage of Six Paths or the Otsutsukis in general (especially Kaguya).

. . .

 **XV - Fake Names**

Clearing the base in River out completely took almost a full week, mostly because Chikako had to run to the nearest village to buy ink and paper so she could create several sealing scrolls. Half of them were complete garbage, but the rest worked as intended and got stuffed full of paperwork, dossiers and notes. Once that was done she used the remaining paper to make as many Explosive Tags as she could and had the yokai scatter them all over the compound.

She'd have to buy even more sealing supplies later - should really get into the habit of carrying them in general if she was honest. Using chakra seals would have been much more efficient, but in cases like this, when Chikako risked blowing her own arms off if she messed up, standard paper and ink seals seemed like the way to go.

"Think that's gonna be enough?" Kisame asked with a raised eyebrow. By now he should really know better than to doubt her ability to make things explode, considering that he'd watched her experiments in Kiri. After all it wasn't like she didn't use the tags because they weren't destructive enough, quite the opposite actually. The stupid things were volatile on a good day and she constantly kept a barrier ready to snap shut when she created them just to make the whole process moderately safe.

After drawing so many Chikako had gotten faster as well as more accurate, but the seals were not to be trusted under any circumstances, which was why she never carried any around with her. Down in the tunnels the yokai were fast enough to vanish into the Void if anything went wrong, but if one of the damn things were to explode in her pocket ... well, that would be a rather embarrassing cause of death.

"Can't be worse than your pitiful attempt," she told Kisame with a cheeky grin. It really couldn't. All he'd managed to do this time was rip a few doors of their hinges and get everything soaked. If they left the place as it was, mold would probably take over and turn it into a death trap, but then it would also be salvageable.

"Hey, that stone is unreasonably durable and the compound is nearly three times as big as the one in Tea. You'd need an actual Tailed Beast to summon enough water for that."

"Whatever you say big guy." Chikako continued to grin at him as she formed the Snake seal. Jiro had wanted to stay in the tunnels and watch, but she'd not only insisted that that wasn't an option, but also that they stay at least fifty meters away from the entrance to the tunnels.

She'd created exactly ten regular exploding tags. Those would be the ones she could detonate remotely. The others all drew on natural energy which made them much more powerful, but also meant they could only be activated by burning them. At least until she got that natural chakra seal fixed, then she might find a way around that limitation as well, but for now it would do. Her only concern was that she had no idea how many of the seals she'd drawn would actually work, because it wasn't like she could test them without activating them.

"Oh, oh, oh, I want to count," Jiro exclaimed, pulling on her clothing and jumping up and down excitedly.

"Go ahead."

"Three," he said in the deepest voice he could manage, drawing the syllable out to make it more dramatic. "Two. One."

The last word had probably been 'boom' it got drowned out by the actual explosion though. The regular tags created a chain reaction, igniting the natural chakra tags. Out in the open it would have resulted in a big fireball, but in such a confined space the release of so much energy at once caused a blast that obliterated everything in it's path. Additionally the rapid change in temperature caused the stone to crack, thereby weakening the compound's structural integrity even further.

There wasn't much to see from the outside, but the shock wave of hot air that had hit them even this far from the entrance had convince everyone that staying inside would have been a bad idea. Of course Jiro insisted that they check the damage anyway. As the only one with an Earth affinity he went first, carefully checking the rock every few meters to make sure it wasn't about to cave in.

What they found was mostly scorched rubble and a few pieces of wood that had survived. Chikako didn't think it was very interesting, but the yokai amused themselves by scratching pictures and a few rude messages into the soot.

Eventually even Kisame gave in, drawing another stick figure. This one had a snake's tail and again got it's head bitten off by a shark. When he was done he scrawled 'With regards from Wraith' beneath it and grinned at her.

"That make me an honorary Hunter-nin?"

"No, it makes you a shitty artist."

"The youth today, no manners."

"Poor old man. Did I hurt your feelings?"

"Yes, yes you did," he claimed, but his ridiculous attempt at a pout quickly turned into one of his trademark grins. "Which is why I'm going to sell you to Iwa."

"I'm sorry what?"

"The next target is an informant in Earth. A paper pusher with their Intelligence Division. Selling you to them is the easiest way to get in without blowing his cover. Then all you gotta do is track down the informant and get a package from him. Easy peasy and we'll even make some money in the process."

"Or," Chikako said with a glare, "I could just sneak in."

"And how long's that gonna take? Itachi can wait a little, but what about your precious Copy Ninja? How much time does he have?"

Damn, he had a point. Not only that if she got caught on her way in she'd land in a cell anyway, only then it would be obvious that she'd come looking for something. Didn't mean she liked this plan though.

"If it's that simple why don't I sell you?" She grumbled.

"'cause no one's gonna believe you caught me silly. And even if they did, they'd probably just try to take you prisoner anyway, puny little girl that you are."

Chikako sighed. He was right and she would be the better choice for the job either way, simply by virtue of being far stealthier than him. She didn't think he'd have any trouble breaking out, but he'd probably alert the whole village on the way.

"I don't like Earth prisons."

"Don't be such a baby," Kisame told her, then put an arm around her shoulders and drew her in for what was almost a hug. "You got out in one piece last time and you weren't even prepared then. This time you got backup from the start and if anything happens I'll come and get you."

"Fine, but when you hand me over you better make it sound like catching me was the hardest thing you've ever done."

. . .

They traveled through Wind into Claw, avoiding Rain completely. On the way Chikako stocked up on ink and paper, but mostly she used her time to create a third chakra storage seal. Her blades had one each because releasing a storage seal automatically produced all the contents of the linked pocket dimension. With this third seal she had a place to store her new sealing supplies in a manner that ensured she couldn't lose them, but also wouldn't hinder her in combat. It was far more convenient than carrying the stuff around in a bag as well.

They'd met with one of Jiraiya's people shortly after entering Claw, but since Chikako had no intention of handing anything over to Konoha, unless it directly pertained to Orochimaru himself or Akatsuki, and Jiraiya insisted any information not handed over in person was to be encoded, her bag was almost as full as it had been to begin with. The actual report and the copies she'd made for the Sannin had fit into two scrolls, whereas everything else took up ten times that many.

If the extra pocket dimension had been big enough she would have sealed them in there, but she'd already filled it with the things she wanted to keep on hand. Her newly acquired sealing supplies for one as well as the notebook she'd filled with lessons from Ibiki, Kakashi, Itachi and Zabuza. Also Shikamaru's pawn necklace, since it would probably be taken from her otherwise.

Kisame had magnanimously promised to keep the rest of her stuff safe while she was rotting away in prison. The bastard had been disturbingly cheerful since coming up with the plan to sell her to Earth, but at least his next idea made up for it.

Since she'd demanded he play up how difficult capturing her had been, he decided they needed to do it right, which in this case meant she got to tear into him a little. The cuts and bruises she left him with weren't serious of course, but throwing pointy things at him while he wasn't allowed to doge was very therapeutic. He'd heal within a week or two, faster if he found a medic, but he'd definitely have to buy new clothes. His were completely ruined, because Chikako had taken care to hit areas that bleed a lot even if the actual wound wasn't deep to make it look better, like his head for example. Kit had also contributed with his Wind Release and afterwards both of them had thrown some mud at him for authenticity's sake, and because it was fun - mostly because it was fun.

Kisame hadn't complained at any point, which Chikako suspected was his version of being a good friend. Or maybe it was meant as some sort of penance for handing her over to a hostile country. Not that she was angry with him in the first place. She'd agreed after all and he was right that it was the fastest way to get in.

Still she'd actually had a nightmare about the last time she'd spent in an Earth prison. She hadn't said anything of course, but he'd noticed that something was wrong and easily guessed what had caused her lack of sleep. After the second restless night he'd offered they do it another way, but a different approach would waste time they didn't have so Chikako had turned him down.

He was right about this being the fastest option and with Kakashi out and about searching for two immortals the focus had to be on speed. Getting handed over was also safer in a manner. This way she knew what was coming and could be prepare, whereas if she tried to sneak into Iwagakure and got caught she'd end up in the same position, only then it would be clear that she'd tried to infiltrate. People that had been brought in against their will though weren't generally suspected of trying to steal something or make contact with a spy and therefore didn't require that security be tightened.

After the last time, with those stupid traps along the border, she wasn't going to risk getting caught again. She did rather enjoy Kisame's startled yelp though when the ground suddenly caved in below his feet. He glared at her for that and glared even harder when he realized that trying to use chakra to get out only caused more earth to flood in and harden around them.

Chikako took a minute to laugh at his expression, then used natural energy to disrupt the seal, so Kisame could heave both of them out of the dirt. He likely could have easily overloaded the thing considering how much chakra he had at his disposal, but the way she knew him that would have ended with enough water to turn everything within two kilometers into a sea of mud.

His revenge was to throw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and because he'd bound her hands behind her back she couldn't even hit him for it, at least not without making it obvious that the restraints were only for show. There wasn't anyone watching as far as she could tell, but apparently that didn't mean as much as she'd always thought, so no point risking the plan for petty revenge.

"You're a real menace when you're afraid you know that?"

"I'm not-"

"Sure you are. It's fine though. I'm afraid too. Imagine what Itachi's gonna do to me if I get you killed," he told her earnestly, then switched to a much more chipper tone of voice. "You got this Little Fish. And while you prove that the price on your head should really be much higher, I'm gonna spent the bounty on new clothes and recovering from your abuse, so take your time."

"You're such an ass."

"Aw, you say the sweetest things."

. . .

Chikako sensed a patrol about twenty minutes or so after their encounter with the seal trap, but navigating around them wasn't too hard. They continued to avoid Earth shinobi until they were close enough to Iwa that bringing her there was the logical choice, after all this whole plan would be a waste of time if someone decided Wraith wasn't important enough to be interrogated in the Hidden Village itself. Once they were in range though Kisame simply strolled down the street, carrying Chikako over his shoulder. Meanwhile Kit stayed close, but out of sight and in his fox form to avoid drawing attention. He even changed his fur color from the usual brilliant white to a reddish brown so he would fit in better.

This time a patrol was on their trail almost immediately. The shinobi didn't actually show themselves until after Kisame had passed an outpost though and it became obvious that he was headed straight for Iwa. The fact that they'd waited to pick up backup probably had something to do with it as well, not that they'd been particularly well hidden in the meantime. Chikako hadn't even needed to tell her companion that they were being followed.

Earth might have the biggest military in the Elemental Nations, but they also chose quantity over quality, big teams and hardly any personal training with a more experienced shinobi to guide new genin. These people were a bunch of amateurs that wouldn't even have gotten through Kiri's academy with stealth skills that atrocious.

In the end there were almost forty when they finally decided that it was time to stop the intruder. They came out of hiding with all the grace of stampeding cows to surround Kisame. The apparent leader then started in on some speech about keeping the Land of Earth safe, that sounded as if it's main purpose was to bolster the morale of her fellow shinobi. It was a rather pathetic display, especially considering that Kisame had politely stopped to talk. Thankfully he didn't let the woman drone on for very long though.

Instead - and Chikako was absolutely going to hit him for that later - he threw her into the dirt and demanded the bounty plus hazard money. The shinobi she could make out form her position on the ground looked completely stupefied. They'd probably never been faced with an S-ranked shinobi and this clearly defied all expectation of how such an encounter would play out.

"That's ... I think that's Wraith," one murmured to the guy next to him and then a third one nudged Chikako with his boot to roll her over and reveal the tattoo's on her arms. She scowled at him, but didn't bother getting up.

"It is indeed," Kisame told them with a mean grin, then went on to describe how he'd supposedly caught her and almost ended up dead in the process. He used a lot of their sparring matches as references to create a rather vivid image, which he further embellished until it sounded as if he was describing a war between two mythical creatures. He also very creatively changed what exactly either of them could do and how they fought in a manner that made the information completely useless.

All in all the story was ludicrous on the surface, but he emphasized a few core aspects of the hunt and subsequent fight that seemed just believable enough to pass inspection. If they stripped his story down they'd be left with something that contained just enough truth to connect all the made up parts. Then they could feel good about having seen through his bullshit and stop questioning what was going on before they'd even scratched the surface. For someone who didn't like secrecy and spies Kisame was a pretty good liar, even if his technique was just as loud and straightforward as them man himself.

The fact that he was an infamous nukenin and, at least as far as these people knew, part of an organization known to cash in bounties on the regular, probably helped sell the act as well. After all, even if they didn't believe him, they were in no position to challenge him on the matter. It was quite clear that they neither could nor wanted to fight him, so why look a gift horse in the mouth?

. . .

Chikako had no idea whether Kisame actually got the hazard bonus in the end, because she was marched off shortly after someone had compared her to the Bingo Book description of Wraith. They stripped her of her flak jacket and shoes, put those fancy chakra suppressing shackles on her, then confiscated all of her weapons and even removed the ninja wire from her braid. Nobody asked her any questions though, not before the half-hearted escape attempt she made for forms sake and not after.

All she got were a few insults for breaking one guy's arm and shattering another's jaw. They chained her ankles together as well once they got her back under control and then commandeered a cart from the first farmer they passed, so they could transport her without getting too close.

"Hey, any of you geniuses mind telling me why sabotage charges were added to my Bingo Book entry?" She still hadn't figured that one out, but it seemed there really wouldn't be any talking, only stony silence and grim faces. In fact they didn't even speak to each other.

Her escort was only half as big as the group that had initially confronted Kisame, but twenty shinobi, even if most of them were chunin, was still a lot. They drew all manner of curious looks from the people they passed. It didn't seem like anything interesting would happen though, so Chikako leaned back and pretended to sleep, while using her chakra sight to keep an eye on things. It wasn't quite the same as being able to sense the people around her, but it would do for now.

Someone really needed to redesign those shackles. Just because they prevented a shinobi from forming chakra outside of their own body didn't mean they were infallible. Especially not this model, not that she was complaining. This version, same as last time, was merely the variant that blocked chakra, but didn't drain it, which was just fine by Chikako.

The shackles might prevented her from sensing chakra normally or using chakra constructs, her sight however worked just fine and so did her Summoning Tattoo. If she got into trouble she'd be able to pull on the bond and then Kit could alert Kisame, while at the same time using the thing to find her. If necessary she could also form chakra seals beneath her skin. That should work just fine for her barriers if she required quick protection.

. . .

By the time they reached the village gate Chikako gave up on pretending to sleep and instead looked around normally. Her guards had made a few comments about how she wasn't nearly as scary as some people seemed to claim, but that was about it, so there was really no point.

While she didn't think much of it's shinobi, Iwa itself was kind of pretty with it's towering buildings that had been raised directly from or built into the stone. The dominant color was gray and there were barely any plants, but the roofs of nearly every building were painted in vibrant shades of mostly blue, purple or bronze. There were also hundreds of bridges, all decorated in some way or another. They didn't look particularly safe, but were probably a lot of fun to play tag on.

Sadly Chikako didn't get to admire the architecture much. Shortly after entering the village proper two masked shinobi that actually looked competent relieved her guards. They led her underground and down so many stairs that the temperature went from cool to warm again as the heat of the sun was replaced by that of the earth.

The corridors all looked the same and the layout was confusing to boot, deliberately so no doubt. Without the ability to create a mental map like she'd done while blind, Chikako lost track of where exactly they were less than four floors in and then just concentrated on staying calm while her brain shoved impressions of her last stay in an Earth prison at her.

She was fine right up until she got thrown into another cell without a door. She managed to keep herself together as the metal bars rose from the floor to connect with the ceiling, but rolled up into a tight ball in the corner the second she was alone, thought she was anyway.

"Are you crying?" A voice asked from the other side of the corridor.

She wasn't, but that took so much effort that Chikako ignored the question in favor of taking deep breaths and holding them in for as long as she could. This was absolutely stupid. She'd been trained to withstand torture. In fact she had fucking withstood torture. She'd gotten out and everyone in that fucking prison had died.

She'd been fine in Orochimaru's underground compounds and in the tunnels of River, so why the hell did her chest have to constrict now? Nobody had even touched her so far, yet her pulse was too fast, her goddamned breathing too shallow. She screwed her eyes shut in hopes that it might help her concentrate, but no dice. All it did was make the sensation hat the world spun around her even worse.

"Crying doesn't help you know? It only gives you a headache."

Chikako cursed under her breath, but tried to concentrate on the voice. If nothing else it was a distraction and she really needed one right now. Without her chakra sense the world felt dead somehow, huge and empty and at the same time like it might crush her.

Had to be the shackles then. That was the difference. If those came off she'd be okay and she could call on one of her summons anytime to do that. Ergo, everything was fine. Now she just had to convince her damn subconscious of that.

Seep breaths, slow and steady.

"I'm not crying," she forced out.

"Huh," the voice said. It was definitely male, but also pretty high. "You really aren't. You sound kind of angry actually."

"Good."

"I'm Sho by the way. What's your name?"

"People call me Wraith," she said and that actually came a little easier. It seemed distraction was more effective than trying to reason with panic, irrational as it was. So, when Sho told her that Wraith wasn't a name she didn't blow him off.

"It's an alias and some people treat it like a title, but you're right, it's not a real name. You can call me Chikako if you want."

"Chi-ka-ko," he mused, drawing the syllables out. "That's so long. I'm gonna call you Chi."

"I suppose that works too."

She could sit up now and her heartbeat had almost evened out again.

She'd realized that Sho's voice sounded quite young earlier, but actually seeing him was still a surprise. He was ten at most, with a missing front tooth and the disproportionately large eyes that all children had. Dark bruises and blood-crusted cuts marred both of his arms and no doubt the rest of his body as well. What drew her attention though were his longer than average canines, the slightly pointy ears and stunning blue irises that hid beneath an unruly mop of black hair.

Unlike Naruto's, Sho's eyes weren't reflections of a clear summer sky though. They had a deep, rich shade that almost seemed to glow in the dim light, like sapphires held close to a flame. He sounded like a curious child and there was a friendly smile on his face, but those eyes said he'd seen things, knew things. They weren't cold exactly, but certainly guarded and she recognized that look all too well.

Chikako checked him over with her chakra sight just to make sure he wasn't an interrogator in disguise, but all she got was the minuscule amount of chakra that all civilians possessed. It seemed he was really just a child, not even a shinobi in training.

"Why are you here Sho?"

"Made a woman kill herself," he said with a careless shrug that looked like it took some effort to pull off. "She wanted to adopt me, but she'd already taken Baji and then Junko. Everyone at the orphanage said she was really nice, her smiles were all fake though and she always smelled like blood. I didn't wanna go with her, but old Kanae said I had to.

"The lady's house was really big, with servants and expensive stuff and she gave me this huge room too. It smelled like Baji and Junko, but the servants said they'd run away. They wouldn't have though. They really wanted a home and were happy when the lady came to pick 'em up. So I went to find them after everyone was asleep. Followed the scent down to a cellar and there they were.

"Junko was chained to a wall and half of her was missing. She looked really afraid, but when I tried to get her free Baji attacked me. He was chained up too and really, really thin, like he hadn't eaten in forever. He tackled me and then tried to bite me, was behavin' like one of those wild dogs that old Kanae says need to be put down, but I didn't wanna kill him. Didn't wanna get eaten either.

"I think we made a lot of noise fighting each other, 'cause the lady found us like that, rolling across the floor and ramming into tables and shelves and stuff. There was a guy with her, a guard I think. He had a sword and she told him to kill me.

"He got Baji instead and I managed to run away, but I came back for Junko the next night. There wasn't anything left of Junko though. Just the lady. She sat down in the cellar at one of the tables with this huge piece of steak. It didn't smell like Junko, smelled just like meat, but I know it was her. And then I ... I don't know. I got really angry and told the lady she was a monster and that I was gonna kill her with that knife. Then she ... she just started stabbing herself. She was crying and screaming at me to make it stop, but I didn't even know what I was doing ... didn't want her to stop either."

The end of his story was just an angry growl. His hands had balled into fists and the defiant look he shot Chikako said he expected a reprimand of some sort. She didn't know for what though. He'd tried to save his friends and ended up avenging their deaths.

"You did good," she told him and his mouth fell open.

"I ... what?"

"You did good. Protecting those you care for is never wrong and neither is collecting debts. She owed you for taking your friends away and you made her pay for it."

"But," he started, swallowed and then tried again. "Everyone says she was nice and they didn't believe me either. That man, the guard, he told them that I attacked the lady without warning. They claim I was jealous because the lady was still heartbroken about Baji and Jun- ... Junko running away and that I was ... that I was lying when I told them what really happened."

Sho bit his lower lip, whimpering quietly, but no tears had spilled over yet and it seemed like he was trying really hard to keep it that way.

"Is the guard still alive?"

"What?" He asked, a little confused. His voice quickly hardened again though after her next question.

"The man that killed Baji, is he still alive?"

"Yes."

"And could you find him if you got out of here?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now hold on to that anger, but don't let it take control. It's a tool, use it to stay strong. You won't be down here forever, but it's going to get worse before it gets better, so I'm gonna need you to hold on for a little while longer. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes," he said for the third time. There was a healthy dose of steel in his voice and not a single tear had escaped his eyes.

Chikako suspected Iwa held him down here, in a corridor that was completely empty except for her, because of what he'd done to that woman. Rather how he'd done it. It sounded like a kekkei genkai to her. If he'd been a shinobi she'd have guessed genjutsu, but an untrained orphan wouldn't be able to, accidentally no less, trap someone in an illusion. Bloodline Limits were an entirely different matter though.

If they weren't active from birth they usually manifested in situations of great emotional turmoil. Sho's story certainly fit that bill, as did the fact that he didn't know what exactly or how he'd done it. That would also explain why he was imprisoned with shinobi instead of civilians.

No matter what those people he'd talked about claimed, someone in the military knew or at least suspected that his story was true and they probably intended to turn him into a weapon. If they could break him while he was still young they could mold him like clay until all that was left was an obedient puppet. Just like Danzo did with his people. Like he'd done to Sai.

. . .

Jiro pulled Chikako's mind into the Void a few hours later. She thought it had to be night by then, but there was no way to tell underground.

The Void was as odd as always, impossible and cloaked in brilliant colors. This time the sky was golden and the grass azure, whereas the trees ranged from slate gray to silver. Sune sat next to a ghostly fire, whose flames flickered between shades of emerald and purple. Jiro stood by her side and both of them looked at Chikako expectantly.

"Everything went according to plan so far," she informed them. "They threw me into a cell and put those chakra suppressing shackles on me, but the bond works as it should and so do my eyes. I'm pretty far down though, so you have a lot of scouting to do before I can attempt an escape."

"Just leave it to us, we'll get you all the information you need," Jiro assured her. He puffed up a little too and even smacked a paw against his chest in a salute. It was adorable and Chikako felt almost bad for her next words.

"One more thing. There is a boy in the cell across from mine. We're taking him with us when we get out."

"A kid?" Sune demanded. "Why would you risk getting caught for some kid? You said this was important and that we couldn't take any risks, because we don't have the time to waste!"

Chikako sighed. Sune had a point.

"The boy is ... he reminds me of Sai. I think he's special and they're going to break him."

"Is he more important than the dog man? Are you going to risk the mission for him? What about your life?"

"No and I won't have to. He's smart, he won't make any trouble."

"And if he does? What then?"

"I'll kill him."

The answer was cold, but it was also the truth. Chikako wanted to help Sho, but if she couldn't do that she could at least spare him having to grow up like she and Sai had. She'd also be taking a potentially very powerful weapon away from Earth.

It was exactly what Sune had wanted to hear. The female yokai could be abrasive, but she'd come to care for Chikako. She'd also been against this whole plan from the start and had only agreed after Kit had talked to her.

Sune enjoyed the excitement of a fight, but she disliked it when Chikako put herself in danger. Even more so when Sune didn't agree with the reason. Since she considered most humans a waste of space, saving one rarely met with her approval.

"Fine," she hissed and then Chikako was back in her cell.

The two yokai followed a moment later, quietly squeezing through the bars of her cell as not to wake Sho. He'd see them once it was time to leave, but until then he couldn't know they existed. It wasn't very likely that an interrogator would ask a question that's lead the boy to give up their existence, but then Chikako hardly knew him. He might decide that cooperating with the guards beyond what was required was the better option than to trust the stranger in the cell across the hall.

There was just no point taking the risk, so she didn't.

Sune had, just like Kit, muted the color of her fur. Instead of red though she'd chosen a shade of brown that veered far more towards dark gray, but the effect was the same. She'd more easily blend into the shadows.

Both her and Jiro ran up the corridor walls and then scurried along the ceiling and out of sight.

. . .

Sho got dragged form his cell twice over the next few days and each time Chikako made sure to ignore him and the guards. If they knew she liked the boy it would only cause trouble for both of them. She'd explained that to Sho too and while he'd looked sad, he never did anything to contradict her behavior.

He was roughed up a little more each time they brought him back and Chikako actually had to order Jiro not to clean out his wounds. It wouldn't do him much good at this point and might wake him up. They couldn't afford to make anyone suspicious, especially not with what the yokai had overheard on the second day.

Apparently Chikako hadn't been questioned yet because the Iwa nin were waiting for someone. If Sune was right said someone was the brother of the interrogator form the other prison. He'd have an ax to grind with her for what had happened to his sister and, while Chikako rather enjoyed that nobody had touched her so far, she wanted to be gone before the guy arrived.

Something that finally became a possibility on night five.

"Found the exit, got the keys too," Sune informed her, once again in the shape of a young girl. "Jiro is out tracking down your contact."

She made quick work of Chikako's shackles and after a significant look headed over to take care of Sho's as well while the boy stared at her in wide eyes amazement. Meanwhile Chikako activated the seals to make the bars of both cells glide back into the ground.

"Come on kiddo," she said kneeling down. He complained a little about being able to walk himself, but shut up quickly enough when she gave him the choice of either staying here alone or doing as she said, when she said it. That also took care of any questions he had regarding Sune.

Moving along the ceiling with Sho was awkward because he clung far tighter than a backpack and restricted her movements somewhat. Since they had to move slowly anyway it wasn't too bad though. Without the chains to bind her Chikako could once again sense her surroundings, but since Sune was the one who knew the way the yokai took the lead.

Just to be safe though Chikako stopped whenever a guard came too close so she could pull camouflage over all three of them, something that was completely impossible while moving. After she'd gotten the package for Jiraiya it wouldn't matter much if someone saw them escape, provided the informant wasn't implicated in any way, but a fight right now would be really inconvenient.

They crawled along the ceiling for a long time, Sune always in front and Chikako right behind her. Their progress slowed down the closer they got to the surface, because the number of guards increased and by the time Sune had distracted the two shinobi posted by the front door with a genjutsu Sho was a shivering bundle of nerves, he still clung tightly to Chikako's back though and hadn't said a word.

"Almost there," she told him as she slipped into the shadows.

The yokai had timed the escape to coincide with the early morning hours, which meant it was still dark out and the likelihood that the spy was in his bed was very high. It made Jiro easy to track down, since Jiraiya's list included a general description of where his contact's residence was located and following the tanuki's chakra signature from there was no problem at all.

What was a problem though was the man that waited in the house. He claimed to be Katsu Watanabe, but used none of the three passphrases they were supposed to exchange. In answer to her greeting he should have asked about the health of her grandmother, yet simply replied in kind. Next he should have told her that he hoped the whether would change soon, to which she would have replied that she rather liked it the way it was. Afterwards, when she asked him for green tea, he told her it would only take him a few minutes to prepare some, instead of claiming that he didn't have any and asking whether she would like jasmine instead.

He didn't seem surprised to see her and his physical description matched that of Katsu Watanabe, his chakra did not though. Watanabe was supposed to be a low-level chunin. This man had far too much chakra for that though and very good control over it as well.

Then there was the way he moved. Every motion was smooth, no fumbling around and no gesturing as he talked. He didn't have a single nervous tick, completely confident in his right to be where he was and do what he did. Jiraiya hadn't described Watanabe's character, but that still seemed unusual. A spy that only rarely made contact should at the very least be suspicious when confronted with someone he'd never seen before, even if he knew that the person acting as a middleman wouldn't always be the same. This guy though hadn't even commented on the fact that she was barefoot and probably reeked of old sweat.

 _This is just great_ , Chikako cursed to herself. Jiro and Sune were outside with Sho, hiding in the bushes on the other side of the street, which meant she wouldn't have to worry about them getting hurt. It also meant she was alone with a man that was a jonin or potentially ANBU and had apparently been instructed to impersonate her contact.

That he hadn't immediately attacked her either meant he was waiting for backup or more likely that he was hoping to gather information first. Watanabe had clearly been discovered as a spy, but it was very likely that he hadn't had much to say. After all, Chikako's visit wasn't a scheduled one. According to Jiraiya's note Watanabe prepared his packages weeks, sometimes months, in advance and whenever possible another of the Sannin's assets, usually disguised as a traveling merchant, would smuggle them out of the village.

The meetings happened as was convenient and followed no pattern, so this guy couldn't have expected her. There was also the fact that the list contained instructions not to converse with Watanabe, especially about his allegiance, which made her think the spy didn't actually know who he was working for. If true that was quite the feat on Jiraiya's part and consequently meant that even if the man had talked, Iwa didn't actually know anything.

The shinobi who'd let her into the house could have been pretending to be Watanabe for weeks, just waiting to be contacted. Under different circumstances she would have sat down and played his game with him to see how much information he would spill while thinking he had the upper hand, but her time was running out. In a few hours someone would head down to find her and Sho gone from their cells and they needed to be out of the village by then.

So while the man was busy in the kitchen Chikako slowly circled the couch, layering three seals over each other on the back, the front and each corner. She offered him a friendly smile once he returned and made sure to stand in such a way that sitting down in either of the armchairs on the other side of the living room table would have been an inconvenience for him.

His chakra flickered with uncertainty for a fraction of a second, but he never broke stride and the expression on his face remained perfectly pleasant. She'd been right then, definitely an impostor. He'd noticed how she'd positioned herself, but couldn't tell why and if he went out of his way to sit anywhere other than the couch he risked giving himself away.

That left him with two options. He could play along and see what would happen, after all this could just be a test and he wouldn't want to blow his mission because of a mere suspicion. He could also be cautious and attack, hoping to take her by surprise.

Too bad it was already far too late.

Chikako didn't need him to sit on the couch. He got more than close enough to it when he placed the tea cups on the table for both of them. She pulled on her seals a little, repositioning them around him and then let the barrier flicker into existence to cage him in. That was another advantage over using ink. Chakra seals took more concentration and needed to actively be held, but since they weren't physical objects they were both invisible and could be relocated without the need to actually touch them.

The man tried to jump out of the way as soon as he noticed that something wasn't right, but only managed to slam into the barrier. It was barely bigger than him and left no room to move. He couldn't use any destructive ninjutsu either, because even if he managed to break through, whatever he chose would also hit him as well.

He must have realized it too, because he didn't even try. Instead he raced through several hand seals, despite the confined space, and hit her with a powerful genjutsu. It would have worked on someone else. Without her ability to shrug most illusions off she'd have lost control over the seals and he'd have been free. As it was however Chikako merely stood there and waited.

He seemed somewhat confused by that, right up until his eyes fell shut for a little bit took long on each blink. Then panic set in, because while far from the worst way a shinobi could die, the brain had a rather primitive reaction to asphyxia. Once it became clear that there wasn't enough oxygen in a person's blood and that breathing didn't change anything about that, the survival instinct kicked in. That meant Adrenalin and the need to do something other than stand still and slowly suffocate.

Chikako hadn't expected the combination of barrier seals that had turned out to be airtight to come in useful and this took decidedly too long for her taste, but since she had no intention of actually killing the man this was quite handy.

The man redoubled his efforts to break through the barrier by pushing against it, but with Chikako right there to supply chakra and his ever shrinking oxygen reserves he didn't stand a chance. He collapsed a few minutes later and Chikako waited another two before she called Sune inside and let the seals fade away. Too long would have risked brain damage, but not long enough and he might have woken up again within seconds.

"Keep him in a genjutsu until I find something to bin his hands with. If you use something that looks like this room and he wakes up into it he shouldn't notice the difference right away."

The kitsune bared her teeth in annoyance, but did as told while Chikako rummaged around in the man's pockets and then the nearby drawers when all she found were a handful of senbon. The first drawer she looked through only contained books and the second held nothing but an expensive looking shogi set. The third, however, had some ninja wire taped to the underside.

She had no idea whether it belonged to the impostor or the real Watanabe and didn't care either. There wasn't much time before the guy would wake up again, so she hurried to strip him of any clothes except for his underwear to ensure he didn't have any weapons on him. Then she bound his wrists and ankles together behind his back, stuffed his shirt into his mouth, which she also fixated with ninja wire and added a blindfold for good measure.

"Now what?" Sune demanded.

That was a really good question. There was no way for her to find out where the real Watanabe was in the next few hours and still make it out of the village before anyone noticed she was missing. And that was assuming he was still alive.

No Watanabe meant no package and no package meant no information. The impostor might know something useful, getting it out of him wouldn't be easy though and she certainly couldn't do it here. At the very least she needed Kisame to stand by in case the guy got free.

"Damn it," Chikako cursed, then kicked the guy in the head as hard as she could without killing him. That should keep him out of commission for a while. Afterwards she tugged on the bond twice so Kit knew to go back to the Void, but also that Kisame should stay outside of the village. She would have preferred for the sharkman to cause a ruckus somewhere on the other side of Iwa, but they didn't have a signal for that and since Kit still refused to learn an actual code she'd have to improvise.

Chikako gave the kitsune two minutes before trying to summon him and then two more when the first attempt didn't work.

"Sorry," Kit grumbled. "He wasn't happy when I told him his services weren't required. Who's that?"

"Not important. I need you to cause some trouble in the village, preferably as far away form here as you can manage. Make it big and loud and lead the guards on a chase. I'll pull on the bond when you can stop. If you need to get out earlier for whatever reason you do the same."

"On it."

He was out the door a moment later and Chikako waved Jiro over.

"Search the house, see if you can find the package or anything else that looks useful. If you can't or if it looks as if someone is coming return to the Void," she instructed, then turned to Sune. "We need to be fast once Kit starts. Can you carry Sho and trap anyone we can't avoid in a genjutsu at same time? I don't think the guy is going to wake up soon, but I don't want to spend too much time avoiding Iwa nin either."

Sune gave a sharp nod and kneeled in front of Sho. The two were almost the same size, but as a yokai she was a good deal stronger than she looked. Neither of them seemed particularly happy about the arrangement, but they kept their complaints to themselves.

Sho had obviously understood that something bad had happened even if he didn't know what exactly was going on. His chakra was a confused mess of fear, excitement and what might very well be hope. Chikako had wanted to deal with Watanabe quietly and then go take care of the guard that had killed the boy's friend, but the way things were going that wasn't happening.

She grabbed one of the impostor's arms, then channeled chakra into her muscles so she could heave him up and over one shoulder. Her back wouldn't thank her for it and he'd likely feel even worse, but it was his own fault for getting in the way of her mission.

There was a loud noise outside that sounded like stone crashing down, followed by screams that moved away from their location. Chikako waited a few more seconds, but when the noise didn't die down, she motioned Sune out the door.

"Let's go."

They stuck to the shadows, but didn't go slow this time. Kit wouldn't be able to keep whatever he was doing up forever, so they needed to move fast. Chikako avoided as many shinobi as she could, but every now and then there were no clear paths. Whenever that happened Sune hit whoever they ran into with an illusion to distract them and Chikako swooped in with a Body Flicker and chakra fueled palm strike.

The trail they left behind was one of blood and death, obvious and easy to follow. It wouldn't be much longer before someone noticed and there were still too many shinobi at the nearest gate for them to just run past. On her own Chikako was confident that she could outrun any pursuer, but then she'd not only have to kill Sho, but the mission would also have been a complete failure. The chance that Jiro would find something in the house was slim to none and that meant the unconscious impostor was their only way to get the information Jiraiya needed.

Sune almost barreled into Chikako's back, when she halted abruptly.

"This isn't going to work."

"So kill the humans and make a run for it."

Chikako shook her head and put the impostor down.

"Then we'd have wasted our time coming here. You two wait here, keep an eye on him. I'm going to introduce myself to the gate guards."

"That'll draw attention."

"If it does you can use it as a distraction to slip out."

"I can't carry two humans!"

"No need. Sho can run on his own and it's enough if you drag the other one after you. He only needs to be able to talk, not look pretty. Kisame should be close by. All you have to do is reach him."

"I don't like this," Sune hissed, but Chikako only smiled at her.

"It's going to be fine, wait ten minutes then come to the gate. If it isn't quiet sneak out and I'll meet up with you later."

With her presence completely masked and no extra weight to lug around she could properly weave in and out of the shadows, employing Camouflage whenever necessary to stay out of sight. She was a ghost like this, a proper assassin and since Kit had drawn all the attention to himself nobody would notice a little more blood on the breeze.

The closest gate was the one facing north-east. It was small, only guarded by six chunin whose main job was probably to process paperwork, not keep watch. There were also a bunch of genin hanging around with a jonin, who Chikako assumed was their sensei. It seemed like they'd gotten in late from a mission.

Whatever Kit had done had caused an alert to be raised, but so far it wasn't a big enough deal that any civilians had to be evacuated. They'd probably classified him as a contained threat, which meant, if Iwa was anything like Konoha, that this jonin would probably just wait here with his students until the coast was clear. After all, if he wasn't needed to protect the village his first duty should be to them.

She could tell him to take them and leave. They were merely in the wrong place at the wrong time. If the jonin disagreed though, which he most likely would, she'd have to rely on Sune to get Sho and the unconscious ANBU out alive.

 _Sorry Kakashi._

Chikako moved in with a Body Flicker, calling on her wakizashi and ramming it's tip through the jonin's rib cage. His eyes widened in shock as a thin trail of blood trickled down the corner of his mouth and he even managed to activate an Explosive Tag before he collapsed.

Maybe he wasn't such a caring teacher after all. The resulting fireball did precisely nothing to Chikako's chakra barrier, his students however weren't so lucky. The one that had stood closest died in the blast and the kid right behind him had half of his face melted off. The remaining genin rushed in to help their comrades almost immediately and Chikako decided to ignore them in favor of dealing with the gate guards first.

The six had taken formation around her, two in the front, one to either side and two in the back. They all held the Rat seal, channeling chakra into the ground and a moment later the bedrock rose up around her, bringing with it a cloud of dust.

Chikako rolled her eyes, using Camouflage with a Body Flicker to get out unseen. Stone might be strong, but it wasn't all that fast. By the time the slabs of rock slammed shut one of the chunin had lost his head and she was halfway through decapitating the second one.

The others finally noticed that something had gone wrong when, instead of compressing further to crush the empty air inside, the jutsu simply crumbled in on itself.

"Here," one shouted when he spotted Chikako moving towards him. He brought his hands together in the Tiger seal, transforming the earth below her feet into a muddy river. If it had taken her by surprise she might have stumbled. but as it was Chikako merely channeled chakra into her feet to walk on top of the sludge, never even breaking stride.

Whatever the guy tried to say next ended in wet gurgling noises as he chocked on his own blood. His head was still mostly attached, because Chikako had to dodge backwards to avoid getting hit in the head with a baton, but she'd still managed to lay his throat open.

"Who the hell are you?" One of the remaining three shouted

She didn't answer, just ducked out of the baton's way once more and then jumped into a roll, so the stone shackles that had started to form around her feet snapped shut on nothing but air. Baton Guy was on her again in a heart beat, this time aiming for her wrist, while the other two threw kunai at her from two sides to cut off her escape path. Chikako let the wakizashi vanish the moment the baton connected. After channeling natural chakra several times on the way here, she wasn't sure she'd have been able to hold against the attack. She was, however, certain that her hand could take a little more abuse.

Instead of trying to get out of range she moved in closer, blocking the baton with a barrier and slamming an open palm into the man's chest.

His back exploded in a shower of blood and gore, painting everything in it's path red. One of the remaining chunin fell to his knees, shaking his head wildly as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. He might have managed to get his desk job without ever seeing a comrade die in such a gruesome manner. In contrast the other one was even more eager to kill her, in his rage he seemed to have lost every last shred of common sense though.

The handful of kunai with Exploding Tags attached to them that he launched at her had precisely as much effect as the first explosion, which was to say none whatsoever. Her barrier barely even wavered and as soon as the coast was clear Chikako ripped the idiot's throat out with her chakra claws.

The last one still hadn't moved from his position on the ground, but he starred at her then, eyes wide and chakra trembling so much he probably wouldn't have been able to form a jutsu had he tried.

"Grab the kids and get them to a medic," she instructed.

"Y-you're not going to kill us?"

Chikako looked the genin over, five in total. They'd all been burned to some degree or another by the jonin's attack. One was already dead and another would soon follow if he didn't get help, while the rest would likely carry the scars for however long they managed to survive.

She turned back to the chunin, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I will if you don't get out of here within the next ten seconds."

That got him moving fast. He grabbed the kid with the worst injuries and then barked at the others to follow him as he sprinted away. They had a hard time keeping up and looked back several times, but when Sune stepped out of the shadows, dragging the unconscious, and now very dirty, impostor behind her, all of them were out of sight.

Sho came running up to them a moment later. He was huffing and puffing so much Chikako half-expected him to collapse, but instead he simply fell asleep as soon as Sune had let him crawl onto her back once more.

The yokai waited until Chikako had picked up the Earth shinobi and they'd made it several hundred meters away from the gate without being pursued before growling a quiet, but remarkably angry, "You should have killed all of them."

"Probably," Chikako agreed, then pulled on her bond to let Kit know they were out.


	69. XV - Where There's Smoke

**A/N:**

Thanks for the reviews everyone. This chapter somehow got even longer than the last one, albeit not by much.

. . .

 **XV - Where There's Smoke**

They didn't get away completely unnoticed. Chikako didn't know whether her handy work had been discovered or if the chunin she'd let go had sent someone after them, but it wasn't like the reason mattered. A four man squad caught up to them a little under twenty-five minutes after they'd escaped through the north-eastern gate. By then Kisame was close enough that she could easily sense him, but not so close that they'd reach him in time.

So Chikako pointed Sune in the right direction while staying back herself. She wouldn't have to buy much time, only long enough for her kitsune to alert the sharkman. To that end she walked up one of the few trees in the area and stashed the impostor on a thick branch where he would be out of sight. Then she moved over to a boulder and sat down, waiting.

The landscape was craggy and had numerous isolated hills with very steep or even vertical sides. They made it easy to break line of sight and were what had allowed Chikako and Sune to make it this far without being seen, even though the Iwa team had been pursuing them for at least fifteen minutes before they'd split up.

Now that Chikako had stopped it didn't take them long to reach her location, but since she'd chosen a position right behind one of the hills it still took them by surprise when several senbon hit them from behind. The needles were the ones the impostor had carried, so she didn't know whether they were poisoned, but that was probably too much to hope for.

Judging by the Iwa nins' uniforms, more specifically their masks, they were all ANBU and while Chikako might be willing to take them on in one on one combat, four at once were a little much after the night she'd had. So stalling it was.

She ran circles around them, literally, ducking behind one boulder or another and dodging around hills, but never leaving the general area. She didn't engage either. Going into melee range in this fight was just asking for trouble considering how much she'd used natural chakra already. Her hands needed some time to recover before wielding blades was a viable option again and since she'd been relieved of her throwing weapons her best bet was to let Kisame handle things.

It didn't take the ANBU long to figure out what Chikako was trying to do, but since they had no idea why they couldn't do much about it. Their first attacks had been pretty straight forward and involved many Earth Release techniques. For the most part she just jumped out of the way of these, which was pretty easy since she didn't have to look around to know where the next one was coming from.

Then they'd switched to trying to herd her into a bad spot, cage her in between themselves and the terrain. Their coordination was impressive, especially because she couldn't figure out how they communicated, but again, Chikako knew where all of them were at any given time and she was also faster, which made slipping away a breeze as long as she didn't get distracted.

If they'd had the time to keep this game up she'd eventually tire out and make a mistake, but Kisame didn't wait that long to make his grand entrance. He created a wave that swept through the area like a tsunami the moment he was as close as he could get without being noticed.

Chikako had felt him mold the massive amount of chakra that required and then, guessing what was about to happen, waited until the last second to seek high ground, so as not to tip the Iwa nin off.

Two of them got smashed against the side of a hill and ended up looking like broken toys. The third barely managed to avoid sharing their fate, but got dragged underwater despite his efforts. He was still alive when his signature, weak as it was by then, left Chikako's range. She didn't think he'd stay that way for long though, not with the sharks in the water.

The fourth was arguably the most lucky of the lot. He'd avoided the wave completely by staying right on her heels. Not that that helped him much in the end, because it meant he was the last one left. Chikako used a Body Flicker to close the distance between them in an instant and then tore his throat out with her chakra claws. He didn't even react, too focused on Kisame and clearly not having expected her to suddenly go on the offensive after all she'd done previously was run and hide.

The body fell to the ground with a dull thump and Chikako crouched down, going through the guys pockets to stock back up on projectile weapons now that she actually had the time to do that. He didn't carry anything else useful, only a handful of pills that she wasn't going to touch without knowing what was in them and a Bingo Book that matched the one she already had.

"What's with this guy?" Kisame asked once he joined her. He had the Watanabe impostor slung over his shoulder in a manner that looked much more comfortable than how she'd carried the guy. He also seemed rather skeptical at the man's state of undress.

"Our contact wasn't there, only this guy. I left Jiro behind to look for the package, but since he most likely won't find anything we're going to hand that idiot over instead. I figured it's better than nothing and chances are he has at least some useful information.

"And the kid?"

"His name's Sho. He's a civilian, but I'm pretty sure he has some kind of kekkei genkai. Since Iwa kept him in a shinobi prison I'm assuming they suspect the same."

"So ... we're taking him with us?"

Chikako shrugged, nose wrinkling in a frown. She hadn't really thought that far ahead. The boy had reminded her of Sai and the fact that he'd likely be turned into an asset for Iwa provided enough of a logical argument to let her pretend that her emotional reaction shouldn't be ignored for the sake of getting the job done.

"My plan kinda stopped at getting him out of Earth. I suppose we could drop him off in Kiri, Zabuza likes kids."

"You have got to be kidding me," Kisame groaned. "You are not handing that boy over to Momochi. He's only gonna turn him into a second Haku and his ego really doesn't need that. We'll have to get the kid a sword though and he'll need some proper clothing as well. Isn't squeamish is he? I can't take an apprentice that's afraid to get his hands dirty."

Chikako blinked at him one, twice, then a third time in case that would help. She'd been ready to argue that they couldn't just leave Sho behind to fend for himself, but apparently that hadn't been an option in the first place.

"What?" Kisame snapped once he noticed her wide-eyed expression.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," she assured him, holding her hands up. Chikako tried valiantly to keep a straight face, but it only held for a few seconds before breaking into a grin. "Your apprentice huh?"

"Ah, don't look at me like that. If Momochi can have one so can I."

"Sure, whatever you want big guy, but maybe ask the kid first."

. . .

It didn't take them long to catch back up with Sune and Sho, as soon as they did the former vanished back into the Void, thoroughly fed up with humans. In fact the yokai demanded a holiday, probably deserved one too considering that, unlike her brother, she wasn't actually obliged to do anything Chikako asked of her.

Sho for his part had been skeptical about becoming Kisame's apprentice, but that had quickly changed when the sharkman had promised him they could make getting revenge one of his training missions once he'd progressed far enough.

Chikako wasn't entirely convinced that the boy wasn't in shock. She did have confidence though that Kisame would let him go without making a fuss if he changed his mind later. As far as teachers went Sho could definitely have done worse and while he'd most likely get beaten up a little in training, his new sensei wouldn't let him come to any serious harm.

On that note, maybe she should find Gatsu again and see if any of his kids wanted to join Kiri. Living in Frost wasn't easy and they'd shown both competence and enthusiasm for the short time she'd taught them. The Hidden Mist could certainly do with some fresh blood. Then again Gatsu worked for Jiraiya and the children had good reason to be loyal to him. That'd practically be asking for a spy or ten.

"Oi, careful with the hair," Kisame complained. He'd decided to carry Sho on his free shoulder, to 'balance the weight'. Chikako rather suspected he just didn't want to run the boy ragged before training had even started. There was also the fact that they needed to get out of Earth fast and Sho had no hope of keeping up on his own, whereas Kisame could easily take the additional weight.

. . .

They ended up running without pause for three days to put as much distance between themselves and any potential pursuers as possible. With both the boy and a hostage in tow fighting would be unnecessarily complicated.

After they'd made it out of Earth and into Waterfall their grueling pace had slowed down somewhat, but they still only slept three hours a day each until they reached Iron. By that point Sho was completely exhausted because Kisame had kept him to the same sleep schedule, the Watanabe impostor had made a futile escape attempt and ended up with two broken legs for his trouble - after all he really only needed to be able to talk when they handed him over - and Jiro had reported back that the house in Iwa had been completely cleaned out.

While in Iron Kisame used the chance to get Sho a practice blade. According to him the samurai where, besides Kiri's smiths, the only people in the Elemental Nations that could be trusted to make good swords. Chikako had gotten into an argument with him over that statement, because she didn't think there was anything wrong with either the wakizashi or tanto Kakashi had gifted her, but it was mostly a means to pass the time as they waited for a snowstorm to die down. Kisame valued quality work no matter where it came from and if he'd seriously thought her blades were flawed she'd have taken his word for it.

The journey from Iron to Fire was pretty uneventful for the most part. At least until they reached the border, which was crawling with patrols. That was unusual enough that Chikako decided to scout ahead on her own to figure out what was going on.

She actually had to slip past three two-man teams before she even made it to the first outpost. Thankfully the guards there were pretty chatty, mostly because the orders for the increased patrols had come in just two days prior and nobody really knew what was going on, only that they applied to the whole north-western stretch of the border. That covered at a minimum Iron, Waterfall, Grass, Rain and probably parts of River and Rice. or in other words, all the countries someone could reasonably be expected to travel through when coming from Earth.

She could guess for who's benefit that was, but since nobody seemed to have any specific instructions Chikako didn't bother showing herself. Instead she headed back to get Kisame.

He wasn't all that impressed, insulted actually. Jiraiya really didn't seem to have much confidence in them and while this particular gesture was probably meant as a show of support, it implied he thought they'd come crawling back and in need of help. Chikako figured he had no idea what had gone down in Iwa, only that the package they were supposed to get hadn't been delivered on time and maybe that there had been fighting. It probably looked bad and she personally didn't mind in the least that the Sannin had apparently pulled a few strings to assist them.

Still, she didn't argue with Kisame when he decided they weren't going to make contact with the first patrol they came across like good little dogs. It was rare enough that the man opted to be stealthy instead of waltzing right into a situation with a grin on his face and sword in hand. It'd be a good lesson for Sho as well.

They ended up sneaking past several patrols and two outposts. Kisame had wanted to travel all the way to Konoha, but Chikako vetoed that idea. Instead they headed for a town where one of Jiraiya's contacts resided to send a message. It would have the same effect, namely mocking the Sannin, while at the same time allowing them to rest. Just because they could live on a fraction of the recommended hours of sleep and travel all day long every day didn't mean they should. If nothing else Sho needed a break to stretch his legs a little after being carried around for days. A warm bath and an actual bed wouldn't hurt him either.

The same was true for their hostage. She'd broken his legs cleanly and Kisame had kept him wrapped up in a cloak so he wouldn't freeze to death, but he'd also used Samehada to keep the man's chakra low, which had visibly taken a toll and slowed down the healing process. The impostor's skin was almost ashen and he'd gotten so passive that Chikako checked the gag that kept him silent several times a day to make sure it was still in place. If the thing slipped he might decide to bite off his own tongue, either to ensure he couldn't talk or to choke himself.

The former wouldn't be too much of a problem, the Yamanaka in T&I didn't necessarily require their victims be able to speak, but the latter would leave her embarrassingly empty-handed. On the upside, Ibiki's people probably wouldn't have to do much breaking to get the guy to cooperate.

"Chi? Are we bad people?" Sho asked the first night they spent in an inn, right after Chikako had stuffed the impostor in a closet and sealed the door shut.

"Because of him you mean?"

"Yeah."

"Depends. He'd probably say so, but he's actually gotten off light so far. His legs will heal just fine, provided no one kills him first and I only broke them after he'd tried to run. Both Kisame and me could have hurt him far worse to ensure his compliance or done other things like refuse him food. Those are common interrogation tactics and something all shinobi are taught," Chikako explained as she tugged Sho into Kisame's bed. The sharkman had first watch and wouldn't need it until morning. "You see, in the end we are all just doing our jobs and we all knew that the life of a ninja is usually short and bloody. He would have tired to capture me for interrogation if I'd given him the chance and instead he'll be the one who gets thrown into a cell. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can justify anything if you look at it from the right angle. Labels like good and bad don't mean all that much. You just have to decide for yourself what you can and can't live with."

"Oh, okay," Sho said and that was that. He was amazingly willing to take her word for everything while at the same time eyeing everyone except for her and Kisame as if they might attack him at any moment. In fact, so far he'd completely ignored it if anyone else had tried to talk to him.

It was probably normal to latch onto people you perceived as your saviors. Chikako had done the same thing with Ibiki and any member of ANBU that had been willing to actually interact with her. Still, they couldn't let the kid get too paranoid. Trusting everyone wasn't the way to go, but trusting no one could get him killed just as easily.

. . .

They spent four days in the inn before something changed. It was very subtle and if Chikako hadn't sat on the roof most days to watch the clouds drift by she wouldn't have noticed. The village wasn't too big and they'd chosen to stay at a place in it's outskirts. Usually there was a flock of ravens around at breakfast, lunch and supper, waiting for the leftovers to be thrown out. The landlady often tried to chase them away with a broom because they tended to topple the trashcans on their quest for food.

Despite that they didn't seem to mind civilians all that much and merely hopped away a meter or two if one got too close. Chikako was treated more or less the same in the beginning, but Kisame they handled like an open flame. She'd initially thought it was because he looked different, but a few hours of experimentation had shown that at least two of them reacted to chakra, quite accurately at that, and the rest followed their lead.

She supposed it made sense that, since humans had natural sensor types, other animals did as well. Ravens were smart enough to realize that a person with more chakra was dangerous, especially if they'd been attacked by one before. Not only that, they also had good memories. As soon as she'd revealed her own reserves they kept their distance from her as well, even after she'd started concealing her chakra again.

That morning though there wasn't a single bird to be seen. They'd been more careful in her presence, but they'd still showed up for every meal. Chikako didn't think they'd suddenly changed their dietary habits, which meant there was something in the area they considered a threat, more shinobi most likely.

She didn't sense anything unusual, just the regular guests and people walking around in the streets. Except for her there was nobody on any of the surrounding roofs either. Chikako frowned, switching to chakra sight and taking another look around.

Matching her regular sense of chakra with the visual representation of energy was quite annoying, especially because it was about the time when everyone headed to work, filling up the streets and never staying in one place for long. What she saw was always a little blurry because chakra was constantly moving even if a person stood still. How far away she was from whatever she looked at had barely any impact on that, but that didn't help much because as the energy of different people, animals or plants overlapped it seemed to mix. What she felt on the other hand was incredibly precise close up and the stronger a person's chakra was, but got increasingly less distinctive with distance. On that front she could separate signatures, it was however almost impossible to know how far away someone was with a comparable degree of accuracy.

Since all human chakra more or less looked the same that meant, to inspect crowds she had to try to pick out each chakra signature by feeling, by trying to distinguish between the shapes of energy she saw and then compare that with her regular vision. It gave her a headache in about five minutes flat, but there was nothing for it. If she was being paranoid she'd have wasted a little bit of time, but if she wasn't this might very well turn out to be important. After all the person they were waiting for was Jiraiya and Chikako knew for a fact that he could hide from her chakra sense and was enough of an asshole not to simply seek her out as requested.

All in all it took her about twenty minutes to find five signatures that she could see but not sense. Or rather three, two of them were off somehow. Their chakra was hidden most of the time, but occasionally it leaked. When that happened the signatures never felt exactly the same, as if there were different parts missing each time, but she could feel them.

Either whoever this was wasn't using Jiraiya's seal or the thing was faulty. Neither possibility boded well. Chikako really didn't need any more people that could hide from her and the second option wasn't any better because she didn't believe for a second that the Sannin would have botched his own seal, so one that didn't work right would have been created by someone else.

The five people weren't moving together exactly, but they never strayed far from each other either, which made keeping tabs on them easier. It also quickly made it obvious that they were searching for something or more likely someone. Chikako was pretty sure she was the only person around that warranted this level of caution to keep chakra concealed.

She quickly moved back into the room they'd rented and woke Kisame up. He'd have to stay back to protect both Sho and the hostage, but he also needed to know that something was going on. Chikako gave him a summary of what she'd observed and what it might mean for them.

The whole exchange was a short one because whenever they stayed somewhere the first thing they did was decide where to meet if they got separated. It hadn't happened so far, but with Sho around Kisame needed to carefully consider when he could afford to fight and when getting the boy out of harm's way was more important.

He wasn't entirely willing to just hang back though. Since he couldn't personally come Kisame created three Water Clones imbued with some basic behavioral patterns and the simple instruction to do as she told them to. They obviously weren't as autonomous as Shadow Clones would have been, but with how much chakra he could afford to spend on them they'd be more than helpful if it came to a confrontation.

Chikako slipped back out of the inn only minutes later with Sho none the wiser. She told the clones to surround their target location, but keep their distance until there were signs of a fight. In the meantime Chikako made her way across the roofs on a straight path, quickly and quietly.

It didn't take long to cover the distance and once she was close enough she employed Camouflage to stay out of sight and take a look at her prey.

What she found weren't five strangers though. In fact the faces of Jiraiya, Kakashi and Team 10 were rather familiar, if unexpected. They all sat at a table on the porch of a teahouse, seemingly waiting for their orders to arrive. Without being able to sense their chakra signatures she couldn't tell whether they were actually who they looked like though.

Jiraiya was supposed to show up, the other four on the other hand were suspicious. It seemed unlikely that both her sensei and her friends just happened to be in the area. Even if Kakashi was leading Asuma's team for some reason, the Sanin wouldn't just have let them tag along. Also what was up with his seal? She was neither willing to believe that he handed it out like candy, nor that he'd mess it up, yet the chakra of Team 10's members was, at least partially, concealed.

Chikako wrinkled her nose in annoyance. It seemed she'd have to do this Jiraiya's way, stupid passphrases and all.

She slowly walked over, dodging around people to avoid drawing any attention. Invisible or not, any shinobi worth their salt would notice if pedestrians started bumping into nothing. A Body Flicker would get her in position immediately, but it would also announce her presence to five potential enemies. So instead Chikako circled the porch, leaving chakra seals in her wake. The barrier they were for didn't regenerate, but it could take quite a beating, which would hopefully give her enough time to call the clones for help and warn Kisame if necessary.

Once finished she waited for a large group of civilians to leave, seeing as the others would be trapped inside. Then she positioned herself directly next to the man that looked like Jiraiya, but just outside of the perimeter, and let the barrier flicker to life. Chikako dropped Camouflage a moment later to offer the man a pleasant smile.

"How do you like your tea gramps? Two sugars or three?"

Choji, and she now knew for a fact that it was Choji because his seal stopped working completely, nearly jumped out of his skin. Ino stood up so fast that her chair toppled over and Shikamaru had his hands up in the Rat seal. His shadow latched onto hers with ease, completely bypassing the barrier. Kakashi for his part hadn't moved at all and Jiraiya merely blinked at her in mild surprise.

"It seems you were right," he said easily, "she did find us first."

Chikako narrowed her eyes at the man and let her barrier fall again before any of the civilians noticed what was going on. Then she send her chakra through her feet in a quick burst that unraveled Shikamaru's hold on her.

"You know I keep thinking you're just doing your job and judging you for it isn't fair, but maybe it's exactly what I should be doing. Your tests and attempts at supervision are aggravating at best. We aren't your fucking dogs to be leashed and collard," she snarled at the Sannin and then added a calmer, "no offense sensei," in Kakashi's direction.

The reaction she got from her teacher was a blank stare, completely void of emotion. He wasn't usually all that expressive unless he chose to be and without even his chakra to go on, reading him was particularly hard, but there was just nothing there. No glimmer of annoyance or amusement in his eye, no clenched jaw or scrunched up nose, not even a single twitch to give away that he'd heard her at all. His expression was simply blank.

Not Kakashi then, Hound. The one that doesn't feel. The one that tracks and chases and hunts. The one that kills in cold blood without asking questions first, or ever. Kakashi needed reasons, all Hound needed was a target. He wasn't in his ANBU uniform though and with Team 10 here that meant ...

"Asuma?" She asked, because why else would his students be here and not the man himself? They, after all, were neither trackers nor assassins. Kakashi didn't answer, he just looked at her, cold and unyielding, so she gave a sharp nod and turned around. "This way."

The whole table got up in silence, the remaining seals that masked their chakra deactivating, and followed her through the streets without protest. Chikako had wanted to just hand over the Watanabe impostor and be on her way, keeping Sho's existence a secret, but if something had happened to Asuma that changed things. She wasn't going to let Kakashi out of her sight while he hid behind the blank facade of Hound and the same was true for Team 10. Choji didn't smile, Ino didn't bitch and Shikamaru smelled like fresh smoke.

They wanted revenge, all of them, and not the cold logical kind either. Chikako understood. She had after all threatened to kill the Godaime Hokage at the mere prospect of Kakashi getting injured, not exactly the most rational thing she'd ever done.

The landlady threw them a look when they entered the inn, but Kisame had payed her a good sum in advance in exchange for privacy, so she let them pass on by without comment. Upstairs everything was quiet. Chikako had taken a direct route back, so Kisame's clones were still active and the man didn't know what was going on.

She knocked to announce herself, using the pattern that meant everything was fine. There was another for 'run' and one that signaled caution in case either of them had somehow been forced to lead someone back against their will. It was a simple thing to do, one they'd never needed before, but now that there was a civilian child around that had to be kept safe both her and Kisame were a little extra careful.

It took almost two minutes before he opened the door and she raised an eyebrow at him when he finally did, about to ask just how many booby traps he'd installed, but a shriek cut her off.

Ino rushed past her so fast Chikako only saw a blur of blond and purple. The girl threw herself at Kisame with all the finesse of an enraged animal, using her nails instead of weapons to claw at his face. He actually stumbled backwards half a step in surprise before catching her by the shoulders and holding her at arm's-length.

"You know I like my women fiery, but this one seems a little young," he told Chikako, seemingly unconcerned. His stance was wide though and he used his body to block the doorway completely. If Ino did anything he perceived as a real threat he'd probably break her neck first and ask questions later. Training had proven that Sho, while a willing student, was also practically helpless and Kisame wouldn't risk the boy's safety for a stranger.

Shikamaru must have realized the danger his friend was in as well, because he was the first to step in. He didn't look happy about it, but he used his shadow to force Ino backwards and out of Kisame's reach. She hissed at him like an angry cat, then threw both of her teammates an accusatory glare as if they'd somehow betrayed her.

Chikako on the other hand directed her ire towards Jiraiya. If she'd interpreted things correctly Asuma had been killed or at least suffered considerable injury while following Tsunade's orders to try and capture Kakuzu and Hidan. Then that asshole Sannin had brought Kakashi and Team 10 to meet with Chikako, apparently without mentioning that she didn't travel alone. Kakashi had already known that she was friends with Kisame, so seeing him here wouldn't have been a surprise to her sensei, but the other three clearly hadn't been warned in advance.

Team 10 was aware that Chikako had tried to track down Itachi and Kisame before attacking Kiri, but that was all and she highly doubted they'd told Jiraiya, which made this even more of a dick move on his part.

Chikako could come up with a few reasons for that, first and foremost gathering information. He had to know that she wasn't sharing anything with him that wasn't covered by their deal and this could very well have been a test to see how much her friends knew. Of course it could have been a genuine oversight as well, after all she hadn't thought to warn them either. Then again, so far all she had were guesses and blank stares. Chikako was in no mood to give the spymaster the benefit of the doubt.

"Get inside and you better explain fast," she said, biting off the threat at the end of that sentence. The only thing she could really do to him was call their deal off and that wasn't an option, not when there was a chance to get Itachi away from Akatsuki.

Kisame eyed all of them skeptically, but then sighed and stepped back, clearing the doorway. The room wasn't big enough for so many people. It had barely enough space for a table, two chairs, a closet and two narrow beds. Hers was the one under the window, currently occupied by a little boy pretending to be asleep. His was between the closet and door, empty but unmade.

"Come here kid," Kisame rumbled, scooping Sho up carefully and then sitting down on his own bed with him. Kakashi just positioned himself next to the door like a guard might and Chikako leaned against the closet to hide the seals she'd drawn on the wood from Jiraiya's gaze. Team 10 sat down on her bed, as far away from Kisame as they could get without leaving the room, and the Sannin took a seat at the table, looking grim but not particularly concerned.

"Hoshigaki has left Akatsuki almost a year ago. Both he and Chikako are currently working for me, helping to gather information on the organization," he started, truthful albeit not very forthcoming with the details. Shikamaru gave him a curt nod and he turned from Team 10 to face Chikako. "Two of the twenty squads that have been sent out to capture Kakuzu and Hidan have been eliminated. Their bodies were found in the same location and the times of death fall within the same range, suggesting they fought side by side. Neither Akatsuki member was found at the scene, there were however large amounts of blood that couldn't be matched to any of the dead. That in conjunction with the fact that Asuma Sarutobi's body, which is worth a substantial bounty, has been left behind lead the analysts to conclude that one of them was badly injured during the fight. Accordingly Tsunade-hime has ordered the remaining teams to combine into eight-man squads and urged them to caution. The objective remains capture for interrogation."

Jiraiya didn't hand over the actual autopsy reports and kept the names of the other seven victims to himself, but he described both their wounds and the location they'd been found in in detail. The fight had been drawn out over at least an hour. Every single one of the dead had numerous injuries that were either too shallow or in the wrong place to be lethal. They had, for the most part, been caused by a weapon that tore as much as it cut.

A symbol had also been found at the scene. It had likely been caused by a jutsu, but nobody seemed to know to what end exactly. It depicted a circle with an equilateral triangle inside. The general assumption was that is was part of a sacrificial ritual for Jashin.

"That's a nice little summary," Kisame sneered, "Too bad your Intelligence guys are idiots."

Jiraiya didn't protest that statement and Chikako had to agree with Kisame's sentiment as well. If the analysts had come to the conclusion that only one of the Akatsuki members had been injured that meant they'd only found blood from one of them. Consequently the other had to have been either like Sasori, unable to bleed, or not been wounded badly, if at all.

The information they had on Kakuzu suggested that he was a bounty hunter, interested in money and not much else. He wouldn't have left Asuma's body behind if he'd had a choice in the matter. For the analysts' scenario to work he'd have to have been the injured one.

That Jashin's symbol was all over the place though meant that Hidan had to have fought. Chikako might not like how she'd come by the knowledge, but she'd learned quite a bit about the religion of death and destruction. The man wouldn't have been allowed to claim a sacrifice for his god unless he'd killed it himself.

"Hidan fought alone," Chikako said, thinking out loud. "He thinks pain frees people from the fear of death, so he maims before he kills. Kakuzu considers his religion a waste of time, he wouldn't have drawn things out like that. The blood is probably Hidan's too. According to Orochimaru's experiments he could have lost liters and it wouldn't have been more than a minor inconvenience. Actually, Kakuzu might not have been there at all. He wouldn't have liked to wait for his partner and even if Hidan had been injured badly enough to need help, I'm willing to bet that Kakuzu would have prioritized getting the bounty on Asuma's head anyway."

"Oh, he was there," Kisame said. "Splitting up isn't allowed unless it's for a mission. You're right about the bounty though. Only way Kakuzu would have let that slip through his greedy fingers is if he'd gotten a direct order."

"What are you saying?"

"They got another jinchuriki. Extracting Tailed Beasts takes priority over just about everything else. They'll have to spend at least three days on that, probably twice as long now that Akatsuki's down to seven members. I wouldn't be surprised if they come back for the body afterwards though."

"How would you know how many members Akatsuki has if you left?" Ino cut in, words like venom. "They could have easily replaced you."

Kisame grinned back at her, but there wasn't an ounce of friendliness in the expression.

"I'm irreplaceable darling," he purred, accompanied by a wave of low-key killing intent.

Chikako sighed and slapped him upside the head.

"Behave, both of you or this meeting is over." She waited a few seconds for the killing intent to abate and Ino's posture to relax before she continued. "He knows because of the rings. Akatsuki can get as many new members as they want, but they need the rings for the jutsu that lets them extract bijuu. Orochimaru kept his when he defected and since then there have only been nine members. Kisame still has his ring as well and I took Sasori's after I killed him. I'm not sure about Deidara's. He lost his left arm fighting Gaara and Kakashi destroyed most of the right one, so that ring may or may not be lost. In any case, that means Akatsuki has at most seven members to perform the extraction."

"You killed Sasori of the Red Sand?" Choji asked wide-eyed. His tone was caught somewhere between awe, surprise and disbelieve. It made Chikako rather uncomfortable, even more so when Kisame started snickering.

"I told you, puny little girl."

She smacked him again, but that only made him laugh harder. He almost choked on it when Shikamaru asked if that was why Jiraiya had brought them here, so that Chikako could help them hunt.

"Not happening," Kisame growled before the Sannin had a chance to answer. "Kid just let herself be imprisoned in fucking Iwa to get a package for you. You know, the same assholes that have tortured her before and then put a price on her head? You're not sending her after the goddamned Zombie Twins."

Jiraiya gave him a cool look, then turned to Chikako.

"Aren't I?"

The question was a rhetorical one, meant to mock. He already knew her answer. If there was a way to keep her friends safe, or at least safer, she'd do it, no matter what. Chikako had only known Asuma as Shikamaru's sensei and Kakashi's friend. His death didn't mean much to her personally, but it meant something to them and for that alone she would have agreed.

Kisame knew it too. Instead of trying to argue any further with the Sannin he fixed her with an angry gaze.

"You got a child involved, a civilian child. He can't defend himself and I'm neither taking him to track down two homicidal immortals nor am I leaving him behind in some inn to look after himself. Have fun hunting." With that he grabbed his bag, then signed for Sho to climb on his back and walked out.

Jiraiya followed his every move, seemingly waiting for Kisame to turn around and declare it all a joke, but that never happened. Still the Sanin's attention was glued to the door long after it had already fallen into the lock with a quiet click.

When he finally turned back around, an expectant expression on his face, Chikako merely raised an eyebrow at him. It had never been her help he'd been interested in, but he'd never been this obvious about it either.

"You didn't actually think he'd care about any of this, did you? The only reason he's helping you at all is because of our deal and that doesn't include fighting Akatsuki."

"He's just leaving you behind? After being your partner for over a year?"

This time it was Chikako who laughed, a surprised sound ringing with actual humor.

"I've never once fought side by side with Kisame and we've been on exactly two missions as a team. I'm sure you know which ones. Hell the first time we even traveled together was from Kiri to Tea,. so calling us partners is a little bit of an exaggeration."

It really wasn't. Everything she'd said was technically true, but of course that didn't mean much. They might not have fought side by side in the literal sense, that was only due to the circumstances though and not because they didn't have each other's backs. The same was true for missions and traveling as well, after all one of them had always been in Kiri to protect Zabuza. Despite that they'd spend more time with each other than anyone else during the past year or so. He'd started out as her babysitter and quickly turned into a friend, but the less ammunition the spymaster had against either of them the better. The fact that he wasn't an enemy didn't make him trustworthy.

Jiraiya seemed almost as stunned by her words as he had been by Kisame's exit.

"I saw that compound in Tea. There was nothing left but rubble. Are you telling me that wasn't an assignment?"

"Yeah," Chikako shrugged, "We left Kiri to go have some fun."

"You left the Hidden Mist?"

"Technically, yes. Kisame never rejoined and I refused the headband when Zabuza offered, so it's not like we defected or anything. You weren't expecting me to call the Hunter-nin in on this, were you? Because I wouldn't have done that in any case."

"I see," Jiraiya sighed, getting up from his chair. "This was a waste of time then."

"Sit back down old man," Chikako told him coldly. "Maybe you forgot, but you didn't seek me out. I called you here. What is their clearance?"

He stopped short, then asked the others to wait downstairs. Kakashi went without protest. Hound left no room for anything other than orders and his target it seemed, not even curiosity. Team 10 took a little longer to file out of the room, mainly because Ino was more than a little fed up with the situation, but in the end they too did as requested.

"I'm assuming they aren't on a mission?" Chikako asked as soon as the door closed again and Jiraiya placed a privacy seal on it.

"Why did you call me here?"

"Answer my questions first."

He scowled, but really, what was he gonna do? Leave without learning what had happened in Iwa?

"Tsunade-hime has denied Team 10's request to join the hunt, so they tried to leave on their own. I caught them at the gate on my way out. Kakashi was still in the village at that time because he was the one who found the two dead squads and when he noticed what was going on he volunteered to lead Team 10. It didn't seem likely that either they or the Godaime would change their minds and I'd rather not lose any more of our shinobi to revenge, so I told them they could go under the condition that they accompany me here first."

Chikako approved, kind of. It had been stupid of him to assume that he could get Kisame or Kiri's Hunter-nin involved just because he knew that she wouldn't refuse help. She would never order someone she was responsible for to risk their lives for personal revenge and Kisame wasn't even a subordinate. She neither could nor wanted to make him do anything he didn't agree with.

"Are they going to be punished?"

"Most likely, but it's hardly going to be worse than a stern lecture and grunt work. Now, why am I here?"

"Because your spy got caught. The man that waited for me in his house fit the description, but his chakra reserves and the level of control he has don't match up with Watanabe's rank. He didn't get any of the passphrases either and the house had been cleaned out, no package to be found."

"He wouldn't necessarily have hidden it in his house."

"Yes, well, I didn't exactly have time to investigate any further."

"So not only did you get caught, you don't have anything to show for it either." It wasn't a question and Chikako was half-tempted to just throw him out. What needed to happen for him to take her seriously? To trust that Kisame and her weren't just two morons bumbling around without a clue?

"Yes, you conceited bastard, I made you come all the way here from Konoha to tell you that we fucked up royally," she snarked, then let her hand glide over the closet at her back to burn the seals away and open the door. The impostor was curled up in a corner, still gagged, blindfolded and wearing nothing but his underwear and a plain cloak. "Not the package you wanted, but the next best thing I could get my hands on. And for your information, I didn't get caught. I let myself be captured to save time and avoid drawing attention to your spy. Not that that matters anymore considering he's probably dead."

"What exactly happened? Iwa hasn't yet updated the Bingo Book, but there are rumors they'll be raising your bounty to at least five million ryo."

"I broke out of prison, killed a bunch of shinobi on the way out of the village and kidnapped the guy they had impersonate your spy."

"You fought your way out? Alone and with a hostage? Where the hell was Hoshigaki?"

"Waiting in the next town over obviously. I'm not taking that man on any stealth missions. But don't worry he did his part killing the ANBU Iwa send after us, most of them anyway."

"This is a disaster," Jiraiya ground out. "You were supposed to get a package, nothing more. And what happened in River? I sent someone to follow up on your report and he said all that's left of the compound is scorched debris."

"Are you seriously complaining about this?" Chikako demanded, more than a little annoyed. "We cleared out two of the snakes compounds, made sure he couldn't use them again and even got you the information you wanted. Iwa was just more of the same. If we'd followed your orders to the letter all you'd know now is that your spy didn't show up when he was supposed to, instead you can be sure that he was discovered and I even brought you someone to question. So what the hell is your problem?"

"You! I gave you precise instructions for a reason. Reckless operatives are dead operatives and you're no use to me six feet under. The man you kidnapped is more than likely an ANBU. What you should have done was run the second you realized he wasn't your contact. Just because you got lucky this time doesn't make your actions any less arrogant."

"Take him and get out of here," Chikako said blandly. She'd skipped right past livid and straight into 'I don't care anymore'. They had a deal, one that the Sannin was better taking seriously if he valued his health, but she didn't need him beyond that. Chikako required neither his respect nor approval to hold up her end and she sure as hell wasn't going to beg for either. She'd gone out of her way to get him what he needed and she wasn't moving a step further on that road.

Jiraiya clearly wasn't happy with the abrupt end of their conversation, if it could even be called that anymore, but he did as instructed, only halting when he stood with his back to her, prisoner over one shoulder and hand on the door knob.

"Who is the boy?"

Her answer was a spike of killing intent much more focused and far purer than Kisame's had been earlier. Despite that she could sense the chakra of a few civilians that got hit with barely a fraction waver in fear as a sudden wave of inexplicable terror dragged them under. She also felt Team 10 and Kakashi rushing towards them, but Jiraiya didn't even twitch. The warning had been received loud and clear though. He left without repeating the question, only letting the others know that he'd contact them if there was new information on Akatsuki's movements.

Chikako summoned Kit the instant Jiraiya was out of the building and instructed him to shadow the Sannin.

Shikamaru watched the whole thing with a frown. She couldn't tell whether he was more surprised by the hostage or the fact that she'd first threatened Jiraiya and then sent one of her yokai after the man, but this whole day probably hadn't gone how he'd expected and it wasn't even noon yet.

"Trouble?"

"Nothing you need to worry about."

. . .

They settled back down in the room. At Chikako's request Shikamaru explained that Jiraiya had indeed given all of them a seal to conceal their chakra. It was one time use and had been meant to help them travel through Fire unnoticed, since the Hokage had expressly forbidden Team 10 to leave the village. Apparently the seal required a certain level of skill though and of the three of them Ino was the only one with good enough control over her chakra to use it properly.

Chikako had never heard of a seal like that. In her experience they either worked or they didn't. If one of hers didn't do what she wanted it to it wasn't because she couldn't use it properly, but because the design was wrong. Jiraiya's notes hadn't mentioned anything like this either, but then she'd already accepted the possibility that they might not be complete. So she filed the idea away for later examination and moved on to the next topic.

Namely the hunt and what they would be doing to find their targets. The time frame Kisame had given for Akatsuki to extract another bijuu had almost passed, so if Kakuzu and Hidan hadn't moved on yet they would soon. It was possible that they would head for Konoha to steal Asuma's body, but Chikako didn't think it very likely. It seemed like too much trouble, even for a thirty-five million ryo bounty, especially with a partner like Hidan, that would want to fight instead of sneaking in and out again quickly. Smarter to go after someone else.

"Are any of the Twelve Guardian Ninja still alive?" Chikako asked. All she knew about the group was that it had been supposed to protect the Fire daimyo and that it had been disbanded about fifteen years ago.

"There shouldn't be," Shikamaru told her with a speculative look on his face.

"But?"

"Kazuma Nakai convinced half of his fellow guardians that the Land of Fire couldn't have two rulers and that the Hokage needed to be eliminated. They fought each other until only Asuma-sensei and his friend Chiriku were left. The confrontation was devastating and caused a lot of destruction, but Nakai's body was never found, so it's possible that he managed to escape."

Chikako frowned. That wasn't what she'd wanted to hear. A man that, if he was even still alive, had been in hiding for over a decade wasn't much of a lead. Especially considering that there was no guarantee Kakuzu would try to find him in the first place. Shikamaru seemed to like the idea though.

"We might not know their next target, but they'll head for a bounty station sooner or later. There can't be that many willing to deal with nukenin."

"You'd be surprised. Fire alone has at least five."

"Uhm, Chikako-chan?" Choji asked carefully. "How do you know that?"

She shrugged.

"It's just something you pick up looking for ways to make money when there isn't a Mission Assignment Desk. Also, I did lead Kiri's Hunter-nin division for a year or so."

"Kiri's Bingo Book is almost empty," Ino said.

"It is."

"You helped kill all those people?"

"That's ... classified actually," Chikako told her with a wince. Most of those shinobi had rejoined Kiri or had chosen to stay away and simply not committed any crimes after Zabuza had granted amnesty to anyone who'd left during Yagura's reign. Still the Hunter-nin division was part of ANBU, so she couldn't share who exactly they had and hadn't targeted. And it wasn't like she hadn't killed or ordered the deaths of plenty during that time, just not these particular ones.

It didn't look like that answer was enough for the Yamanaka, but Shikamaru stopped his teammate before she could start an interrogation.

"Ino," he drawled. "We are currently discussing how best to hunt and kill two men."

"I know it's just ..." the blond trailed off, apparently unsure how to put her concerns into words. Not that Shikamaru seemed very inclined to listen even if she had managed.

"Chikako had blood on her hands when you first met her and she only added more to that over time, for example when she saved us in Bird. So it hardly matters whether she killed those people or not, because at that point she was already a murderer. And guess what? So are the rest of us, so was Asuma-sensei."

"That's not the same!"

"And where do you draw the line? Will you go over every old Bingo Book entry and decide who deserved to die and who didn't?"

"I don't ... I didn't mean-"

"Yeah, didn't think so," he cut her off. It was rather harsh treatment from the usually relaxed Nara and actually ended the argument. Chikako had kind of expected everything do devolve into a shouting match, at least on Ino's side, but the blond kept her mouth shut and gaze on the floor.

Shikamaru skipped right over the odd behavior and continued laying out potential courses of action, but even though Chikako did answer his questions when he had any, she mostly just observed the three members of Team 10.

Ino was annoying as hell when she started screeching at people for real, or imagined, infractions, but this subdued version was just wrong. The Yamanaka certainly wasn't the best kunoichi Chikako had ever seen, she was far from incompetent though and had always been confident in both herself and her abilities. Before that day, if anyone had told Chikako Ino would just back down from a confrontation, well, she'd have called them crazy, yet here they were.

Then again, she wouldn't have believed that Shikamaru would talk to the girl like that either. There was no trace of the typical Nara Slouch in his posture and his eyes burned with a determination that bordered on dangerous. If his quick reaction was anything to go by, he'd been more than ready to attack when she'd surprised them at the teahouse. It reminded her of Sasuke and not in a good way.

That left Choji, who hadn't said much at all so far, only kept an eye on both of his teammates. He seemed worried, yet unsure what to do. As his oldest friend, he'd likely want to support Shikamaru, but the fact that Ino hadn't defended herself at all clearly concerned him.

All in all the atmosphere wasn't particularly pleasant and after agreeing on a few basics, they all went their separate ways for a few hours. Shikamaru to work on a plan, Ino to secure rooms, Choji to stock up on food, Kakashi to scout and Chikako to take a nap on the roof.

. . .

"Are you and Ino okay?" Chikako asked later that day. It was almost sundown and Shikamaru had joined her on the roof of the inn a few minutes ago. They'd be leaving at first light to head for the closest of the bounty stations she knew about. Kakashi hadn't said a word so far, but she was pretty sure he'd have made the effort to speak if he'd been aware of any others.

"Yeah," Shikamaru said. "She also told me to tell you she's sorry. We're all a little on edge at the moment."

"It's fine, she has a point after all. I've killed a lot of people and they certainly weren't all nukenin. Hell, some were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I'm starting to think it's inevitable. The Hidden Villages were founded to stop the constant skirmishes, but it seems to me that that only shifted the tides. Instead we now have big wars with longer periods of peace between them, but they are even more devastating, and when we don't fight we spy on each other. Children are still trained to be murderers and most shinobi don't have living grandparents or even parents. It's like we live to kill and kill to live."

"Well, then I suppose the least we can do is be good at it," Chikako quipped, earning a wry smile. Shikamaru wasn't wrong, she just didn't think there was a solution. Violence and strife were parts of human nature. If there weren't any weapons they'd use words to fight each other and if nobody could speak they'd find something else. Humans were creatures too complex to ever be in absolute agreement with each other and at some point the differences in opinion would inevitably become too great to bridge or ignore.

They stood in silence for a while, watching the darkening sky. Chikako rather enjoyed the company, even if the circumstances were less than ideal. She also felt somewhat guilty for being glad that it was his sensei instead of hers that had died. It was a stupid thing to feel, because she didn't want Shikamaru to hurt the way he was, but she was very aware that she could have easily been in his place. She'd had nothing to do with Asuma's death, but if someone had made her pick between the man's life and Kakashi's she wouldn't even have needed to think about it and that, irrational as it was, made her feel responsible somehow.

Chikako might growl and snap at Jiraiya a lot, but he wasn't wrong when he called her reckless and she wouldn't argue if he wanted to add a few more adjectives to the list - like selfish for example - it was just easier to direct all of her anger and frustration at him. He should have been Godaime Hokage and not after the invasion either but rather after the Yondaime had died. If Jiraiya had taken the hat they wouldn't be in this situation right now. He didn't agree with Tsunade's approach any more than Chikako did.

Not only that, he could have rooted out Danzo long ago and taken care of Orochimaru. Her whole life might have been different. Surely he wouldn't have let his former teammate-

"When's Hoshigaki going to be back?" Shikamaru asked out of the blue, catching Chikako completely off guard.

"Who says he is?" She tried, but it was no use. If he hadn't been sure before asking he certainly was after seeing her reaction. Surprise wasn't easily hidden at the best of times, especially not when one was too busy drowning in their own thoughts to pay attention to anything else. The Nara had a mind like a steel trap, so she capitulated before she could embarrass herself trying to lie to him. "I don't know. It depends on whether he brings the kid all the way to Kiri or hands him over to someone on the way, but a few days at least."

"We can't wait here that long."

"No need. I'll tell Jiro to stay back," she assured, then frowned at him. "Go to bed. You look like shit and I'm not taking orders from a strategist that's dead on his feet."

He didn't actually look all that bad, a little pale maybe. She was more concerned with the cigarette in his right hand. He'd always called the habit disgusting, but he'd already smelled like smoke earlier that day and the fact that he hadn't coughed or choked once told her it was far from his first.

It likely served as a kind of memento or maybe tribute to Asuma, the implications still worried her though. He was undeniably still her friend, even with his shoulders squared and smoke curling around his fingers, but it was hard to tell if those were the only changes and which were yet to come.

How much was he willing to compromise who he was for this hunt? Kakashi might have offered to lead Team 10, but Shikamaru was the one in charge. Would he end up bending himself into something unrecognizable if getting revenge took too long? Or maybe break under the pressure?

"Stop nagging me woman," he complained as if he'd heard not only her words but also her thoughts. That remained his only protest though as he pressed the cigarette out on the roof tiles and headed inside.


	70. XV - A Worthy Sacrifice

**A/N:**

Thanks for the reviews everyone and a happy new year to all of you.

. . .

 **XV - A Worthy Sacrifice**

Chikako waited a few moments in silence, focusing on Shikamaru's chakra to make sure he was actually going to bed. Not that she could do much more than annoy him if he decided to stay up all night, but it still made her feel better.

Then she turned around and looked straight at the chimney of a neighboring house.

"You should get some rest as well sensei."

Kakashi had been sitting over there for a while now, keeping watch. He wasn't using Jiraiya's seal, but the tight control he had on his chakra and his position in the shadows definitely qualified as hiding. From what Ino had told her he hadn't said a word to any of them after offering to lead the team and he hadn't spent much time with them either, constantly on the lookout for threats.

She gave him a minute, but when he failed to react, she moved over to him instead.

"Don't even pretend you aren't tired," Chikako warned. "Jiraiya wouldn't have split watch only between the two of you with three other shinobi at hand and I know you, the only shift you would have been willing to sleep through is his."

Silence.

Chikako sighed, called her wakizashi and put the blade to Kakashi's throat, while at the same time blocking the kunai he drew in response with her tanto.

"See? Your reaction time is pathetic. You need sleep."

He narrowed his visible eye at her in an accusatory glare, brow drawn down in displeasure. As if she'd be thrown off that easily.

"Nice try, but not only have I been here for days and had more than enough time to rest, I also took a nap earlier, as you well know."

He huffed, leaned against the chimney and put the kunai back in it's pouch. Chikako in turn let her swords vanish as well. She had to admit this was a better spot than the inn's roof to observe the surrounding area, even if it wasn't nearly as comfortable.

 _Wake - me - in - two_ , Kakashi tapped against his thigh in one of the old Kiri codes they had replaced after Zabuza had become Mizukage. That particular one had been used in ANBU, which was why Chikako had bothered learning it at all, but her sensei most definitely shouldn't have been privy to it.

Seemed like he'd snooped around in Kiri after all and she hadn't even noticed. Cheeky bastard. At least he'd been tricked into memorizing the old codes. Chikako had thought Mei's scheme to keep them around to fool foreign shinobi completely unnecessary and overly convoluted, but apparently she'd been too short sighted. Just like Sasori, who'd only protected his information with poison and a laughably easy encryption, because he'd trusted too much in the former. Of course Chikako could never admit that to Mei or the woman would hold it over her head for the rest of her life.

She tapped an affirmative in the same code and then leaned against the chimney as well. Chikako would have preferred if he'd headed inside, but she supposed this was the best she was likely to get. Arguing further would only keep him up longer.

. . .

Her two hours passed without incident, as did his. After that he let her have the remaining four as well, so by dawn Kakashi had gotten a glorious six hours of, nearly uninterrupted, rest.

He woke almost immediately when Chikako nudged his shoulder with hers and then both of them headed inside for an early breakfast. Choji joined them only a few minutes later, Ino and Shikamaru following right on his heels. As far as Chikako had been able to tell they'd all slept through the night - or at least lain in their beds, but none of them looked like it.

Accordingly the meal was a quiet affair and afterwards Shikamaru filled them in on the plan for the day. He'd asked her to draw a map with all bounty stations she knew the day before. Since then he'd added several lines to it, charting the path he suspected Kakuzu and Hidan had taken. He could only be sure of three locations they had definitely been to, the Fire Temple, the bounty station at which they'd exchanged Chiriku's body and the location in which they'd killed the two Konoha squads. Those he'd overlaid with the approximate search areas of the other teams as well as a bunch of circles depicting how far the two nukenin could have moved depending on different circumstances.

"It seems they entered the country from the north-east, traveled down to the Fire Temple and then headed straight for Konoha after the bounty station, but got intercepted on the way. If that is true, it's actually quite likely that their original target was Naruto. After all Akatsuki has already proven that they don't shy away from attacking Hidden Villages to kidnap a jinchuriki."

"But doesn't that mean they should have reached the village by now?" Choji asked.

"If they'd taken a straight path, yes, but they are obviously willing to make detours. They know there are teams out looking for them, so their best bet would be to pick a less obvious route, either far north or south of the one they'd planned. So this bounty station," Shikamaru said, pointing to the one three days south-east of the town they were in, "is the only one they could use without going unreasonably far out of their way."

Ino frowned at the map.

"That's assuming a lot."

"It's almost guaranteed that their target is Konoha, so we'll have to head in that direction regardless of whether they'll also stop at the bounty station."

"And even if the analysts had expected an attack on the village, they would have reconsidered by now because the delay makes it seem like their theory about either Kakuzu or Hidan having been grievously injured is correct," Chikako mused.

"Precisely. Jiraiya-sama will have sent word back right after leaving, but it's unlikely new orders are going to reach any of the teams in the field in time."

"Can they really hope to defeat two of the Sannin though?" Ino asked skeptically.

"It doesn't matter," Choji told her. "You heard what happened to Suna. We can't let them attack the village."

"Okay, but how do we stop them? I mean lets say we do manage to catch them, what then? They defeated two squads and if what Chikako said is right it wasn't even a challenge. How could we possibly stand a chance against that?"

Shikamaru gave her a flat look. He didn't seem angry per se, but there was definitely a spark of irritation in his chakra.

"Nobody is forcing you to-"

"Plan. Now," Chikako cut in. If this ended the same as the previous day they might as well forget about the whole thing. Teams existed so the members could support each other and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio had a long tradition of outstanding teamwork that had held over several generations. It had also caused them to primarily develop jutsu that were meant to be used together, which made them considerably weaker on their own. Whatever this was, they had better get over it fast.

"I can't offer much," Shikamaru sighed. "We barely have any useful information, which leaves us with two options. Either we go into the fight carefully, trying to stay back as much as possible to observe their abilities or we go all in from the start to take them out before they get a chance to retaliate.

"The first option runs a high risk of exhausting ourselves, seeing as except for Choji none of us have particularly large chakra reserves. Which means even if it helps me come up with a perfect strategy, we might not be able to execute it at that point. The second on the other hand could win us the fight immediately, but it's also far more dangerous because we won't know what to expect.

"I'd prefer to prepare traps, but for that we'll need to know where exactly we'll encounter our targets. So Ino, I'll need you to take control of a bird, while Kakashi-san and Chikako scout the area from the ground. If you find the targets report back immediately."

He continued laying out various scenarios, but they were all pretty general. What little information they had on Hidan, or rather the temporarily immortal Jashinist Orochimaru had experimented on, only served to illustrate how not to kill him and they knew practically nothing at all about Kakuzu.

If one of the Hunter-nin had come to her asking to take a mission like this Chikako would have slapped the guy upside the head and told him to cut his losses. Live to fight another day and all that.

Sadly the chance of convincing bot her sensei and Shikamaru not to pursue this, at least until they knew more, seemed rather bleak and she certainly wasn't going to abandon them.

Chikako got up with a sigh and summoned Jiro so that they could leave. He wasn't happy that he had to stay back and wait for Kisame, but the landlady seemed delighted by the fluffy little tanuki and somehow ended up bribing him with food, completely sparing Chikako the headache of having to argue. She left another wad of cash with the woman just for that.

. . .

As instructed, Ino took over the mind of a bird, while Chikako and Kakashi headed out on their own.

They reported back every two hours or so, but Chikako was essentially alone for the following two days, only staying with the others when it was time to rest for the night and by then she was too exhausted to do much more than sleep. The quiet was kind of refreshing after having spent so much time in company, but it was also lonely. She would have much rather scouted with her sensei, but time was of the essence and splitting up allowed them to cover far more ground.

The first night Kakashi only slept during Chikako's watch. She glared him into submission the day after, arguing that she'd stay awake the whole night if that was the only way he'd rest, but that that would be stupid from a strategic point of view. He once again managed not to say a word the whole time, which probably made her look like a crazy person for carrying a seemingly one-sided conversation, but in the end she got her way so Chikako didn't particularly care.

They reached the bounty station a few hours before noon on the third day.

Since Kakashi was too recognizable he stayed outside to keep watch. Team 10 on the other hand simply removed their hitai-ate. Chikako had never actually been to the place, but since Ino had taken over a mouse earlier to scout, finding the entrance wasn't a problem. It did, however, smell exceptionally unpleasant, seeing as it was hidden between two urinals. The inside of the station, which was really just a big freezer with an office in it, wasn't much better either.

"You lost kids?" A man asked in a tone that made clear he didn't give a shit. He was standing in front of a shelf, sorting books and had barely looked up before dismissing them. His clothing was in the style of civilian medical professionals, a white coat over blue scrubs, but his chakra said he was a trained shinobi.

Chikako smiled and blasted him with a wave of concentrated killing intent, strong enough to make him break out in cold sweat as he stumbled backwards and into the wall. She'd warned her companions beforehand that that might happen, but even though she'd instructed them to stay several steps behind her, they only barely managed not to react outwardly. In fact Chikako was pretty sure she heard one of them whimper involuntarily.

"Try again," she said pleasantly. In his position the man had to have ways of defending himself, but he also needed to know when to back down, which was exactly what she was banking on with this show of force. The look he gave their group this time quickly flew over Team 10, but got stuck on the tattoo that decorated her left arm, then jumped to her right wrist and back again. He swallowed once, had probably heard stories and didn't know how afraid he should be since he'd never met her in person and couldn't tell whether she was just another assassin for hire or maybe the mentally unstable sadist Shimogakure portrayed her as.

"Apologies Wraith-san. How may I be of assistance?"

"I'm looking for two Akatsuki members, Kakuzu and Hidan to be precise. They come through here lately?"

He shook his head no, apologizing once again, but Chikako had neither expected nor needed him to give her a useful answer. There was no way he would tell her anything no matter what, because nobody in their right mind would be more afraid of her than of the Akatsuki.

Luckily they had a Yamanaka on hand. All Chikako had needed to do was focus the man's thoughts on the correct topic so Ino could skim his mind for the information without him realizing what was happening.

"That's a pity," Chikako said. "You see I have this piece of jewelry they'll want back and I wouldn't want to upset anyone."

He perked up at that, sensing the opportunity for additional business. These places might be called bounty stations, but they always did more than simply exchange money for corpses.

"What kind of jewelry are we talking about? I could relay the message for you."

"They'll know."

"Of course, of course," he quickly assured her. "Is there anything else you need? Maybe the current Bingo Books?"

"Sure, why not. I'll take anything that's been printed within the past six months. Oh, by the way, did Iwa update my entry yet?"

"I don't believe so," he told her, stacking books on the table. Kiri's current one was not even half as thick as is it had been during Yagura's reign, it would cost her the same though. Kumo's had also shrunken quite a bit over the past year.

"No, no it seems Iwa's Bingo Book hasn't changed yet, but I know I've seen a new wanted poster somewhere. Just give me a moment." He started rooting around in a box under his desk, mostly for show she suspected. "I think it came in a few days ago. Ah yes, here it is. That will be two hundred twenty-five thousand ryo total."

Chikako paid the money without comment, watched him count it and then took her books as well as the poster. Afterwards Team 10 followed her outside in silence, the same way they'd entered. She had no doubt that the man would write down what they looked like and then sell it to whoever asked about Wraith's associates.

She couldn't have entered on her own though, because Ino had to see her target to use Mind Body Switch. And of course someone needed to make sure the Yamanaka's body didn't collapse, so the boys had come as well.

"That was a lot more civilized than I expected," Choji commented, looking back warily a few times. Chikako shrugged.

"It's safest for him if he provides good service. What do you think happens if he pisses off someone like Kakuzu?"

"I suppose. Was that okay though? I mean buying all those Bingo Books to give Ino more time? That was a lot of money."

"Don't worry," Chikako laughed. "Zabuza did actually pay me while I was working for Kiri. Also Bingo Books tend to pay for themselves. Did you get anything useful Ino?"

The girl nodded, explaining that Kakuzu and Hidan had been to the bounty station only a short while ago, but she hadn't been able to tell how much time exactly had passed since then. Both men had seemed in perfect health, even though Hidan's Akatsuki cloak had been crusted with dried blood and most of the upper right half had been missing, leaving him more or less bare chested.

"We're close then," Shikamaru concluded. "If it was recent and he hasn't replaced the clothes yet the damage is probably from fighting the two Konoha squads or whichever bounty had them coming here."

On one hand that meant they were indeed on the right track, but on the other it also meant there wouldn't be any time to pull ahead of their targets and lay traps before they reached Konoha. It wasn't quite Shikamaru's worst case scenario, but close enough.

Accordingly everyone - except Kakashi maybe, he still seemed to be ignoring the fact that emotions existed - was quite relieved when Chikako announced that she could sense Kisame moving towards them a few hours later. She knew he'd hurry, but it was still earlier than she'd expected him to make the trip back.

He wasn't alone either, the person accompanying him wasn't Sho though. It was a young woman in a Kiri ANBU uniform. Her mask was plain white without any markings, denoting her as an operative in training. The only defining feature was her wild, copper hair, which had been tamed into a tight ponytail.

"Look what I found," the sharkman said with a grin that bordered on smug. Nothing wrong then. Well, except for Azusa maybe. The young woman stumbled forward, letting herself fall to one knee in front of Chikako and bowed her head as she saluted, right fist over her heart.

"Got a message ... for you ... Wraith-sama," she panted.

Chikako raised an eyebrow at Kisame and he grinned even wider.

"Your pets were out looking for you, found me a little over a day ago. Boy's with the Viper now, so he'll be fine and I won't have to miss all the fun."

Moron. She was pretty sure he didn't want to fight Kakuzu or Hidan any more than she did, but of course he'd phrase it like that. She shook her head at him and turned back to the still kneeling Azusa.

"Get up, I quit in case nobody told you so there's no need for this nonsense."

"Ah, about that," the girl said, still sounding a little breathless. Kisame had probably made her run all the way back here at a speed she wasn't used to yet and without pause. "Saizo-san instructed me to tell you, and I quote, 'All due respect Wraith-sama, but go fuck yourself.' Uh, end quote."

"I guess that means he didn't like Suna?"

"No, no I think he actually enjoyed the change in climate. It's about you leaving. He refused to take the job back and so did anyone else Mizukage-sama offered it to." Azusa hesitated for a moment, then added, "Mei-san doesn't know yet."

That the woman wouldn't be happy was left unsaid, but quite obvious regardless. Mei would no doubt blame Chikako and she was already on the woman's shit list for the way she'd left. Fantastic, just fantastic.

"What the hell is wrong with those idiots?" Chikako muttered. She came up with a few more unfriendly names for the Hunter-nin as well, but most of those got drowned out by Kisame's laughter.

"Man, the grumpy asshole actually pulled the stick out of his ass to swear and I wasn't there to hear it in person."

"Yes, please ignore the fact that he's refusing to do his goddamned job," Chikako groused. The whole point of her leaving had been for business to go back to normal and that included Saizo leading the Hunter-nin. Kisame didn't seem the least bit concerned by that though and merely waved her off.

"He isn't refusing to do his job, he's refusing to do yours."

"Oh please, I just helped out for a while and-"

"Took over because they were fucking embarrassing. Yagura turned them into a pathetic shadow of what they used to be and you fixed it. Doesn't matter whether someone gave you a fancy title for it or not."

"That is not- You know what? Forget it," Chikako growled. She never won any of these arguments anyway and this one was particularly pointless. They didn't have time to bicker, so she faced Azusa again. "Was there anything else?"

The girl bowed her head once more and produced two letters. One bore Haku's elegant handwriting, which he'd somehow retained despite having lost his right arm, and the other held Zabuza's blocky characters. They were both to the point, only containing a few short sentences, but they were also encrypted with the highest level clearance code Chikako knew about.

Zabuza's simply said, 'Turtle might be coming back a lot faster than expected, not urgent yet.'

Haku's on the other hand informed her that Gaara had returned to Suna and that Mei as well as quite a few of her people had escorted him there. They would also be staying for a while to help rebuild the village.

Chikako dismissed Azusa and then handed the letters over to Kisame, who frowned at her.

"What the hell am I gonna do with those?"

"Read them? You do know how to read right?"

He snorted, crumpled them up and then threw the ball of paper at her head.

"Idiot, I don't have clearance for this shit."

"When has the fact that you aren't allowed to ever stopped you from doing something? And don't even pretend you couldn't have gotten those codes if you'd wanted to. I'm pretty sure Zabuza outright offered them to you."

"Yeah, so he wouldn't have to deal with Mei himself. Fucking woman is scary when she wants something and Momochi is a wimp or he wouldn't let either of you order him around."

"Scarier than your bartender girlfriend? I think you mentioned something about her juggling a dozen shot glasses full of burning alcohol, that sounded kind of impressive."

"Uhm, guys?" Choji interrupted and Chikako turned around to find three pairs of eyes staring at them, while Kakashi searched the surrounding area for threats.

"Sorry," she muttered. Kisame had a talent for distracting her with nonsensical arguments. It was usually nice to lighten the mood, but it could also waste a lot of time, not to mention that it made both of them look like morons.

Shikamaru immediately began adjusting his plans to include Kisame, but the initial order remained the same, so Ino took possession of a bird while Chikako and Kakashi headed out on their own.

. . .

When she came back that night Chikako was confronted with Ino standing right in front of a sitting Kisame, wildly gesticulating and shouting. The sharkman seemed rather amused by the display and and the excited coil of Ino's chakra suggested she too had fun, even if it looked like she was about to try and scratch the man's eyes out again.

"What are they doing?" Chikako whispered, sitting down next to Shikamaru by the fire. Kakashi wasn't back yet, but it should only be a few more minutes, right on time for the meal Choji was preparing.

"No idea," the Nara told her. "Earlier they were fighting about what precise shade of blue Hoshigaki's skin is, but I think now it's something about flowers."

"Well, as long as they keep to verbal death threats instead of actually trying to murder each other."

Kisame needed a few more people that weren't afraid of him no matter how much he growled and bared his teeth. If Ino fit that mold Chikako certainly wouldn't argue. It was also nice to see the Yamanaka stand up for herself again, what with the way she hadn't defended herself against Shikamaru the past few days.

"I think they are friends now," Choji chimed in.

Shikamaru threw the pair a doubtful look, but it didn't seem that unlikely to Chikako. Kisame had probably just goaded Ino because he was bored, but he also tended to deliver affection in the form of insults and confrontations - be they mental or physical - were one of his favorite pastimes. He might very well have decided that the young Yamanaka was entertaining enough to make friends with.

So while Ino and Kisame bickered, Choji tended to the food and Chikako and Shikamaru lay back to watch the flames of their little camp fire.

In the end none of them got to taste what the Akimichi had cooked though, because Kakashi joined them only moments later.

'Target - located,' he signed, which elicited a whoop from Kisame, who didn't even question why Kakashi was using a Kiri ANBU code. Or maybe he knew the answer, namely that it was the highest security code that was understood by at least one other person in the group, and just didn't care how the Konoha-nin had learned it.

Chikako shook her head, translating for Team 10.

They cleared camp in a matter of seconds, then followed Kakashi in silence. Shikamaru's plans might have lacked specificity when it came to their opponents, but they were very clear about the roles of each member of their own ragtag group.

Kisame went first, letting his chakra flare enough that it would mask the rest of them even without Jiraiya's seal. If she concentrated on it Chikako could still make out more than just his chakra signature, but it took effort, which meant it was highly unlikely their targets would be able to tell, even if they were expecting an ambush.

"Yo, traitor!" Hidan shouted as soon as Kisame showed himself. "Come to get your ass kicked?" He seemed unreasonably excited to see his former associate, almost friendly in fact. His clothes looked exactly as Ino had described. The upper right half of his Akatsuki cloak had been torn away and was crusted with old blood, yet his bare chest was clean and perfectly unmarred. Not only that, Chikako couldn't make out a single scar, scratch or even bruise. Expect for his left ear, which was missing a triangular piece of the helix.

Was there a way to permanently harm him after all? Had he not always been immortal and this had happened before?

"How convenient," Kakuzu said. "You are next on my list."

Kisame grinned at both of them, but Chikako didn't listen any longer.

"It's like Kakuzu is more than one person," she whispered. "He has five distinct chakra signatures, all with a different nature and the cores are spread out in his chest. I've never sensed anything like it."

Kakashi didn't seem fazed by that information and Shikamaru only hesitated for a moment before giving them the signal to proceed with the plan. Since preparing traps hadn't been an option they would try a classic assassination and if that didn't work switch over to a slow approach, giving Shikamaru time to observe.

While Kisame distracted their targets, the Nara prodigy let his shadow spread. It crawled across the ground like a black, two-headed snake, thrumming with Yin chakra. He managed to catch Hidan, but Kakuzu narrowly avoided getting trapped, immediately jumping sideways. Shikamaru wasn't that easily outmaneuvered though.

He threw a knife at the position Kakuzu landed. It was one of Asuma's, made of the same material as her blades, which enabled it to retain chakra and allowed Shikamaru to pin his opponent's shadow long enough for the actual Shadow Bind to reach him.

She hadn't even known it was possible to use Chakra Flow like that, with an actual technique instead of merely raw chakra. Not to mention that Shikamaru had apparently figured out how to do it in only the few days that had passed since Asuma's death. This wasn't the right time to be impressed though.

The instant Kakuzu was immobilized as well Chikako and Kakashi vanished. She reappeared right in front of Hidan, wakizashi already in hand and coated in chakra to cleanly take his head off. It wouldn't kill him, but Orochimaru's notes had suggested that, while the head could talk even when separated, the body was useless on it's own.

She grimaced at the spray of warm blood that hit her as the head rolled sideways and the body folded over.

Kakashi meanwhile appeared two meters to her left, hand wrapped in shrieking electricity as he plunged the Chidori through Kakuzu's heart. The Water core in the man's chest wavered, disrupting the others and thereby Shikamaru's hold on him. Chikako didn't even manage to open her mouth for a warning before he leaned into a kick strong enough to send Kakashi flying.

"What the hell?" Hidan's head shouted from the floor.

Chikako ignored him in favor of using another Body Flicker to get to her sensei. His chakra was strong, but that had to have hurt and that he hadn't been able to dodge the attack despite having uncovered his Sharingan worried her. Kakuzu had moved so fast she'd barely been able to follow the motion.

"Impressive," the man rumbled, pulling off his cloak to reveal tan skin, marred by dozens of thick, black stitches, as if someone had sown him together from parts. On his back were four white masks, each bearing a different set of colored markings. "It's been a while since I had to replace one of my hearts. You must be Kakashi of the Sharingan. Your head will fetch a good price, and Wraith as well, that will save some time."

He bend forward a little, stitches popping along his back and shoulders as the masks began to move. The way his body split open at the seams looked grotesque, but even worse was the chakra that he radiated in waves. It was the nastiest thing Chikako had ever felt and only got worse the more the masks separated from him. Foul and slimy somehow, as if there was actually an oily substance dribbling on her bare skin, trying to smother her one drop at a time.

The black material that held Kakuzu together formed into four distinct shapes. Huge creatures like living darkness, each with a mask for a face. Three of them were bipedal, but the fourth was down on four legs, with wiry, wing-like structures protruding from it's back. They were all swaying slightly and their skin looked like swirling ink, as if it would give if touched even lightly.

The mask with the dark blue markings was split into two pieces, scorched at the edges. The creature wearing it wobbled a little, made a few keening noises and then collapsed in on itself, but instead of vanishing like a summon would have, the black goo it was made out of spread into a puddle that stank so horribly it made Chikako's eyes water a little.

That must have been the Water core she'd sensed fizzle out earlier. It would fit, seeing as the remaining three creatures felt like Wind, Lightning and Fire, which left Earth for Kakuzu himself. Chikako gave Kakashi a look and he returned it with a sharp nod, signaling that he'd come to the same conclusion. Was each core a heart? The nukenin had talked about having to replace one, but it wasn't like you could just stuff spare organs inside your body. There had to be some kind of jutsu involved, maybe several.

If that was the case though, did it mean they'd have to kill him four more times? Maybe it would be enough if the core remaining in his body was taken out, or his head perhaps? No, it couldn't be. He wouldn't have opened the fight putting himself at a disadvantage like that.

"Man, it died right after you let it out," Hidan complained. "Could you suck any more?"

Kakuzu glanced between his partner's motionless body and shouting head, completely unconcerned as his own body stitched itself back together.

"And yet it has still been more useful than you."

Whatever Hidan's answer got swallowed by the howling of wind as the creature on all fours shook itself and unleashed a gale more powerful than anything Chikako had ever encountered. It ripped right through the barrier she threw up in response and tore the second one to shreds as well, picking her and Kakashi up as if they were mere leaves on a breeze.

She grabbed onto her sensei's hand, coating both of them in chakra for at least some protection against the violent currents of air and still they ripped at her skin and clothes. Kakashi pulled her in for the landing, curling up around her to lessen the impact. Chikako was pretty sure he used some kind of Earth jutsu to soften the ground, but they still bounced, smashing into a tree. The bark shattered and the wood groaned a warning just in time for them to roll out of the way before the trunk gave out.

Chikako threw Kakashi a quick look to make sure he hadn't hurt himself and then headed right back into the fight. A few nasty bruises were inevitable with the way they'd been thrown about, but as long as nothing important was broken they were fine.

Some of Kakuzu's wind seemed to have hit the others as well. Kisame was still in his initial position, surrounded by a bubble. He'd probably used the Water Prison to shield himself. Currently the thinnest and tallest of the creatures was facing him. It was hunched over a little, its overly long arms brushing the ground as electricity jumped between its claw like fingers.

Kisame let the water drain away, holding Samehada in front of him. His stance was wide, braced for impact, but if that attack was as powerful as the one that had hit her and Kakashi his blade wouldn't be able to absorb it fast enough. At least some of the lightning would hit and likely fry him because he was wet all over.

Shikamaru crouched several meters further to the left, Ino and Choji to either side. The Akimichi's hair was a wild mess and both sleeves of his uniform had been shredded together with the skin underneath. He must have shielded the other two using one of his clan's body transformation jutsu.

The third creature stood in front of them, mask split along the red marking that decorated it's mouth, head tilted upwards. What would have been the rib cage on a human expanded as if it was drawing in air and then the head fell forward again. As its mouth cracked open even wider black smoke drifted upwards, followed by a stream of fire that was headed right for Team 10.

Chikako cursed, using a Body Flickered to get in front of them. She vaguely registered Kakashi do the same with Kisame and caught a glimpse of his spread arms, palms angled outward as if to draw the Lightning attack through his own body and ground it that way. Then flames blocked her vision and she hastily conjured another barrier, pulling on as much natural chakra as she could handle.

The shield curved over them, snapping shut in an instant and not a moment too late. Fire danced over it's surface, red and gold and scorching. It didn't have the same kind of force behind it as the wind, but it burned away all oxygen in a matter of seconds, leaving them in an enclosed space without breathable air that rapidly became too hot for comfort.

Beads of sweat formed on Chikako's skin, stinging the cuts. Her whole body trembled from the strain of holding the barrier steady as she fought the instinct to hyperventilate. Her lungs wouldn't quite cooperate, but all drawing air through her parched throat did was hurt and distract her.

She could sense Kisame's chakra building up outside, then - after what was likely only a few seconds but felt like an eternity - a wave of cool liquid washed over the shield, dousing the flames.

Chikako heaved a sigh of relief, stumbling backwards and landing on her ass. Her skin was pink all over from the heat, but there were no actual burn marks. She shot Kisame a grateful look, noting that Kakashi looked a little rumpled, but was still in one piece as well.

She'd never complain about giant waves again. Blocking those was comparatively easy, because they came without secondary effects. Sure, getting hit would crush you and if that didn't finish you off it would drag you into a wet grave, but the water itself didn't hurt. Kakuzu's wind on the other hand was made up of winding currents that shredded whatever got caught in them and the sheer heat of the fire was deadly even if the flames themselves never reached their target. She could only imagine what stopping the lightning had taken out of Kakashi.

As Chikako turned back to face their opponent her eyes caught on Hidan, whose head Kakuzu had apparently sown onto his body in all the chaos. She had no idea how the hell that even worked, but the man was grinning widely, standing upright all on his own and holding the knife Shikamaru had thrown earlier in one hand.

"Yo," he shouted, lifting the thing up for everyone to see. "I recognize this. Does Konoha bury it's dead? 'cause that's gonna suck. Kakuzu's gonna be all like 'We have to dig up the body and take it to the bounty station.'" He scratched the back of his head, frowning down at the knife, then faced Shikamaru. "That bastard was no fun to kill either. You're his team right? No wonder you're so weak."

"Says the guy whose head got chopped off," Kakuzu commented dryly, making Hidan's temper flare.

"Shut up you asshole!" He yelled before turning back around. This time his attention was on Choji, who was already red in the face with suppressed rage. "Jashin-sama's gonna be disappointed with this sacrifice. You weaklings aren't worthy, but I guess it's not your fault with such a worthless teacher."

That was the last drop. The Akimichi's temper boiled over and he stormed forward, shaking off the hold Ino and Shikamaru had on his shoulders. Choji ignored their shouts to wait, sprinting right for Hidan, arms enlarging as he went.

The nukenin brandished his scythe, grin getting impossibly wider, but Choji came to a sudden stop just out of range, held in place by Shikamaru's shadow. Hidan didn't skip a beat, jumping for an overhead strike. Chikako bodyflickered into his path, using her wakizashi to block the scythe on it's way down. If the move hadn't been so overly dramatic she wouldn't have made it in time.

She winced at the impact as her muscles screamed in protest and Hidan immediately switched focus from Choji to her. He abruptly angled his weapon sideways in order to rip the blade out of her hands, but she merely let it vanish and sprinted away while she still had his attention. He shouted something profane after her, but was right on her heels, with Kakashi following closely behind both of them.

The maniac wasn't nearly as fast as his partner and swung his scythe in arcs far too wide to be practical. He also jumped around a lot even when there was no reason to. It made dodging his attacks easy, but Chikako could already tell that he had more stamina than her. In addition to that there was also the problem of Kakuzu's creatures. Whenever her or Kakashi tried to get a strike in a ball of fire or spinning air would interfere, forcing them to back off.

If Chikako didn't think one of those damn things would be enough to rip her in half or cook her alive she'd have risked getting hit to separate Hidan's head from his body a second time, but that seemed far too likely to test it.

She cursed, jumping out of the way as the branch beneath her feet got shredded and watching as Kakashi did the same to avoid getting engulfed by flames. Kakuzu was an army all on his own and even though Hidan seemed to be an idiot, the reckless ferocity he attacked with was actually to his advantage, because it couldn't get him killed.

Kakashi had managed to rip his side open with a Chidori earlier and, while he'd been complaining about how much that hurt ever since, it hadn't actually impacted his ability to fight any. They needed to change something and fast. The Sharingan was draining her sensei at a rapid pace. He wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer. Chikako on the other hand wasn't too worried about her chakra yet, but the additional strain using natural energy had put on her muscles was taking it's toll. One false step in this situation could easily end the fight for her.

Kakashi vanished around the trunk of a tree, using the break in line of sight to create a Shadow Clone. Hidan took the bait, chasing after it and giving them a moment to breathe.

"We need to separate them," Chikako said.

Kakashi nodded.

"Will you be okay on your own?"

Another nod. Then Hidan shouted in indignation, having destroyed the Shadow Clone and Kakashi moved in to intercept him so Chikako could get away.

Just in time to see Kakuzu dangling Ino and Choji in the air by their throats. Menwhile Kisame avoided a lightning attack at the last second and used Samehada to smash the creature's mask to pieces. It burst apart in a shower of black goo, distracting Kakuzu for a moment. Shikamaru used the opening to throw an Explosive Tag attached to a kunai at his head, forcing him to let go of the extra weight so he could dodge.

The tag landed in the dirt right between Choji and Ino. Chikako eyes widened in shock and she was pretty sure she almost tore a muscle in her haste to get there in time and place a barrier around the thing. She managed too, only to discover that the tag was harmlessly fluttering in the breeze.

"I fucking hate you," Chikako huffed. Goddamned Nara and is bluffs.

Behind the black mask that hid half of his face, Kakuzu looked almost impressed.

"You are smart, unlike my tag-along. You'd have made a good bounty in a few more years."

Hidan's boisterous - and somewhat manic - laughter was audible from somewhere to the right, but then abruptly cut off after a few seconds.

"What the hell do you mean unlike my tag-along!" He shouted.

Kakuzu shook his head, turning around to berate him for having been tricked by a simple Shadow Clone and Chikako used the moment to let Shikamaru know that they absolutely needed to separate the pair. They might not get along, but Kakuzu had a good handle on what was going on around him and even if Hidan got in his way he didn't even have to hold back.

"I'm pretty sure I can take Hidan one on one," she whispered, "but not while I have to dodge his partner's attacks."

Ino immediately volunteered for the task, but Shikamaru shot that idea down just as fast, telling her that, as the only medic, she needed to stay safe and that it was too great a risk for her to take, because she'd be unconscious for several minutes if her Mind Body Switch missed it's target. He also noted, rather acerbically, that she shouldn't have shown herself in the first place and that he'd be taking care of the matter.

Kisame, finally having bested the Lightning creature, got Kakuzu's attention by sending dozens of Water Bullets his way, allowing Shikamaru and Chikako to get past him. Kakashi saw them approach and summoned the pack to pin Hidan in place. The dogs only managed to hold him for a few seconds before they had to vacate the premises, poofing out of existence just in time to avoid the Wind creature's attack. Hidan barely seemed to register it when air rushed by him, slicing into his skin. He did, however, notice when Shikamaru's shadow connected with his own, forcing him to move against his will.

As soon as the Nara had caught his prey he sprinted away, Chikako right next to him. Kakashi on the other hand joined the fight against Kakuzu. Kisame would have a much easier time now that the Lightning creature was gone and neither Fire nor Wind would be much of a problem for him, but Kakuzu's Earth nature was a different matter. To combat that he'd need Kakashi's Chidori.

"Where the hell do you think you're taking me you fucking brats?" Hidan screamed at the top of his lungs.

They didn't go far, just placing enough distance between themselves and Kakuzu so he couldn't interfere without drawing a creature away from his own fight. Hidan wasn't very patient though and proved to be not quite as helpless as they'd assumed. Chikako noticed the Shadow Binding falter only a heartbeat before it broke completely, barely managing to duck beneath Hidan's scythe. She let herself fall, kicking at his legs and he shouted in joy at his new won freedom.

Shikamaru immediately send his shadow out again, but Hidan treated it like a game, barely even having to concentrate on dodging. He'd already proven that he could brake free and the technique used far too much chakra for Shikamaru to hold it long.

The second Hidan turned away to go after her friend Chikako jumped back to her feet, calling her wakizashi. She easily closed the distance between them, but Hidan was moving around so wildly, that she missed his neck. Instead the steel of her blade bit deep into his shoulder.

He made an angry noise, then advanced on her, Shikamaru completely forgotten.

"I'm gonna kill you real slow, no matter what that bastard Kakuzu says."

Chikako didn't answer, for one because she needed to concentrate to summon Fox Fire and for another because Hidan seemed to thrive on attention. He didn't look too impressed when blue flames sprang to life all around them and to her horror that didn't change either when he rushed in and she commanded the fire to attack him.

She'd felt it often enough in training, an unnatural pain that remained constant no matter how much the victim squirmed. She'd been so sure it would catch him off guard because of how different it was from regular physical pain, but he barely even blinked.

His three bladed scythe ripped into the ground mere fractions of a second after Chikako moved out of the way. She spun around his side, then pulled her arm back for a strike of her own. Natural chakra flowed through the seal she'd formed on her hand and she released it into Hidan on impact, breaking several ribs and shredding at least part of his lung. Then his chakra clashed with hers, forcing a reverse of direction and she got sprayed with even more of his blood.

Hidan grinned at her, teeth gleaming crimson. She only realized why when she stepped out of his reach. He'd used the moment she'd reflexively closed her eyes against the blood to thrust a spear forward. The weapon got thinner in segments, making it look like it could be pushed together into a much smaller metal rod. He must have kept it hidden in his cloak somewhere.

"Fucking finally!" He crowed. Chikako didn't understand how he could possibly be so delighted by the tiny wound he'd inflicted. There wasn't even any poison on the spear.

Then the symbol of Jashin appeared beneath his feet. He pulled the weapon back, licking some of the blood from the tip. His pale skin turned midnight black, except for a few white markings that vaguely resembled the bones over which they were located, both overlayed with the crimson of his wounds. Chikako had thought his lavender eyes curious before, but with the way he was now they were downright eerie. He looked like a nightmare come to life, or maybe something that had crawled out of the underworld and refused to go back.

"You're the one that killed the puppet freak yeah?" He asked, not waiting for an answer. "You'll make a good sacrifice and then Kakuzu will leave me alone about that stupid ring."

"I don't think so," Shikamaru told him. He'd used the man's distraction to spread his shadow wide and now thin, black spikes shot out of the ground to fix Hidan in place. They pierced both of his legs in several places, shot through his abdomen and then suddenly stopped halfway up his body.

Chikako gasped as her legs gave out underneath her and she collided with the ground, barely managing to roll. Not that it helped much, the impact was hardly what caused most of the pain. Shikamaru had done a really good job immobilizing Hidan. She knew, because the exact same wounds weeped red liquid on her own body, preventing her from getting up again.

It was surreal. Her clothing wasn't even damaged, yet she could not only feel the crack in her femur where the shadow had pierced Hidan's right thigh, but every single wound the spikes had caused.

"Shit," Shikamaru hissed.

Shit indeed. That fucking lunatic's jutsu was mimicking the damage he took and transferring it to her, only she wasn't goddamned immortal. At this distance and with Shikamaru holding him in place she could easily rush forward and decapitate Hidan once again, but as long as his jutsu held she'd essentially be killing herself.

She should have known a member of Akatsuki wouldn't be that easy to take down. Immortality wasn't much of an asset on it's own, not with people like Kakuzu and Itachi around, and Hidan clearly wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, so of course he'd have another ability. Something like this would easily allow him to go head to head with a jinchuriki. If all he needed was a little of their blood to bypass any defense they might have, that would make him invaluable to an organization committed to getting their hands on the bijuu.

She should probably be thankful that the wounds he'd already sustained weren't mirrored as well, but her thoughts were running in frantic circles, desperately trying to figure out what kind of injury would be enough to incapacitate him without killing her.

Chikako winced as another lance of pain shot through her shoulder.

"Fucking pay attention," Hidan growled, wiggling his spear around in his own shoulder wound. "It's an honor to get chosen!"

"Sure," she mumbled, not having the slightest clue whether he'd said anything to her or not. "Great Jashin, god of death and destruction. Only true pain can free us of our fear of death and then to be slain is the greatest gift, yadda, yadda, yadda."

Hidan blinked at her, confounded for a moment, but then the anger left his expression to be replaced by an excited gleam in his eyes.

"You know of Jashin-sama," he said happily. "That makes you an even better sacrifice and I can take my time while that greedy bastard is busy killing your friends."

He leaned forward while talking, pressing one of the spikes even deeper into his abdomen, causing her to spit blood as she tried to seal the wounds with chakra.

"I cleaned up the mess you left in River by the way," Chikako forced out, hoping to give both herself and Shikamaru some time to think. Hidan seemed to like talking, especially if it had something to do with his religion.

"You mean those weak little fucks in the caves? Don't worry, Jashin-sama doesn't mind."

"They begged me to kill them you know? Even blessed me. Shall I show you why?"

Chikako didn't wait for an answer before she conjured the Fox Fire again. She could only manage a single wisp of blue flame. It sunk into her chest without resistance though and this time he screamed.

"Fucking thing works both ways," she gritted out, not having the slightest idea whether that helped Shikamaru in any way. "Pretty sure it mirrors both the wound and the pain." At least that was the only way she could explain why the Fox Fire seemed to hurt him now when it hadn't before. Or, maybe the jutsu made him more sensitive to pain. What the hell did she know?

Hidan suddenly laughed, face contorted into a grimace.

"Fuck yeah!" He shouted. She didn't understand how anyone could enjoy that kind of pain. In fact she wasn't even sure he did. Earlier he'd complained about how much the wound in his side hurt, but now he seemed more than happy.

He stared right at her, but whatever else he'd been about to say got stuck in his throat as his head tilted backwards and his body went slack. Chikako stared at the two pieces, her own hands reaching for her neck immediately to check she was still whole.

"What the fuck?" She rasped, letting go of the flames. Shikamru's shadow had shot into the air like dozens of tiny snakes, tearing out the stitches that held Hidan together. She'd felt the sting of each one, but her head was still firmly attached, while his lay on the ground, looking rather pissed off.

"He doesn't die, but he doesn't heal exceptionally fast either. Since his neck had already been cut and only been held in place by the stitches, the damage didn't transfer to you," Shikamaru explained. His voice wavered a little and Chikako refrained from asking how sure exactly he'd been about that.


	71. XV - Nara are no Cowards

**A/N:**

Thanks for the reviews everyone. I won't have much time for a while, so I'm not sure how long the next few chapters will take. I'll try to keep updates semi-regular, but I can't make any guarantees.

 _Kragh50_

Man, I want to comment on that, but you know ... spoilers and all that. Glad you liked it though.

 _respectjounin_

Well, considering that the story isn't finished yet I think it's quite reasonable to want more chapters. So no, it's not selfish. Hope you continue to enjoy the rest.

. . .

 **XV - Nara are no Cowards**

Shikamaru kneeled down, cutting off a piece of Hidan's cloak with a kunai and stuffing it into the man's mouth, effectively shutting him up. Even after having his head separated from his body for the second time that night, he'd still continued to threaten them, screaming that he would bite both of them to death. He'd also been shouting something about Jashin's wrath that gave Chikako a headache.

Once Hidan had been silenced Shikamaru's shadow let go of the body and he dragged it several meters away from her. The circle representing Jashin's symbol vanished only moments later and so did Hidan's odd coloring, black and white bleeding away like ink in the rain.

Shikamaru waited until the nukenin's skin had completely reverted back to normal, then made a shallow cut and looked at her.

"Did you feel that?"

Chikako shook her head, turning her arm this way and that to inspect the spot the wound should have transferred to. There was blood there, but it wasn't fresh and she couldn't make out a cut either.

"Thought so," Shikamaru muttered to himself. "He needs to have consumed his target's blood and likely remain inside of the circle as well for his jutsu to work."

"Uh, can we test that again please?" She asked, as he started slapping Explosive Tags all over Hidan's body. Shikamaru turned around to give her a look, but obliged with two more cuts, neither of which was transferred.

"Okay, carry on."

"Thanks," he said dryly, pulling the ring from Hidan's left index finger.

Chikako huffed. Not wanting to get blown up by accident was perfectly reasonable. Stupid Nara.

When Shikamaru was done, he grabbed the head by the hair, kneeled down beside her, so she could lean on him and then steadied her by putting one arm around her as he helped her into an upright position.

"What-" she winced as the wound in her abdomen protested "-now?" Chikako's legs didn't enjoy standing all that much either, but using chakra to dampen pain in bones and muscles was easier than doing the same with more complex tissue. She just had to be careful not to put too much weight on her femur by accident.

"It'll take a while for him to die, if he does at all. Hokage-sama's orders were to capture the targets alive, but I'm assuming she'll be fine with just the head."

"Remember when I said I hate you?" Chikako asked, leaning on him a little more as the muscles in her right leg threatened to give out. She still thought capture was stupid, but in this case it might actually be easier than finding a way to kill Hidan.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to reiterated the point." She wasn't really mad at him, just frustrated that she couldn't walk on her own. Even if she completely shut down the pain, her body just wouldn't cooperate on a mechanical level.

Shikamaru chuckled quietly, shifting his weight a little. It sounded strained though and the skin around his eyes was too tight. Chikako remembered feeling no better after killing Haido and his people than she had before she'd avenged Sai's death. So obviously she hadn't expected Shikamaru to be happy, but he seemed almost angrier and sadder now than he had been to begin with.

Maybe he was just annoyed with how much trouble this whole thing had turned out to be. She was pretty sure he was lifting half of her weight at this point, which was just embarrassing. Not quite as embarrassing as almost getting herself killed because she'd foolishly underestimated an enemy, but still.

They made it several more meters away from Hidan's body before the Explosive Tags blew up, the resulting ball of fire considerably bigger than had reasonably been required to turn a human body into bits of charred flesh. Shikamaru glanced back over his shoulder to watch the smoke for a moment, then adjusted the hold he had on Hidan's head and moved on.

"We should hurry back, the others might need our help."

"Yours maybe, I'm more of a hindrance right now. Until my legs heal there's no way I can keep up with Kakuzu's speed and he's proven twice over that my barriers are hardly a match for his attacks. I vote we wait here for our backup to arrive."

"What backup?"

Chikako shrugged.

"Naruto, Sakura and two others. Naruto is doing some weird nonsense right now that needs a ridiculous amount of chakra. The stuff is moving all over the place so I can't really tell you what the hell is going on over there, but I think he's winning."

Shikamaru sighed, but kept moving and Chikako followed his lead, because, well she didn't really have a choice. Fighting him on the matter just so she could sit around for a few hours with nothing to do while she waited for her wounds to close up seemed silly.

Instead she limped along watching the blood trickle down her legs, crimson beads on dark fabric. They were barely visible until they dripped onto the forest floor, but then the contrast with the rich green moss was striking. Sai would have appreciated the image - right after he'd finished telling her off for not being careful enough.

Chikako admired the colors for a while, which was also how she noticed Shikamaru's limp. It was just a tiny delay whenever he pulled his left foot forward, now that she'd seen it though it seemed jarring, entirely at odds with the smooth, efficient way in which he usually moved.

"Are you okay?" He must have already been hurt before he'd used his Shadow Bind to force Hidan away form Kakuzu. She should have noticed earlier.

Shikamaru slowed down, pulling back a little so he could stare at her without having to contort himself.

"Did you seriously just ask me that?"

"Who the hell else would I be talking to?" She bristled. He sounded so incredulous it made her feel uncomfortable, as if she'd asked something exceptionally stupid.

Shikamaru sighed, turning his gaze forward again.

"It's nothing. You're the one that got skewered."

"I'll heal."

"So will I."

Chikako frowned. She believed him of course, but unlike Shikamaru she was used to enduring pain, had a way to suppress most of it and on top of that healed much faster. She could afford to be stubborn and push her body further than would otherwise be reasonable, but he might make his injury worse and for no good reason either. They'd already established that she wouldn't be much help at the moment and likely wasn't needed regardless.

"Let's just sit down and wait. You don't have to-"

"Shut up."

She did, but only because Sakura and a shinobi she'd never seen before came into view, lead by none other than Pakkun. The man looked a few years older than her, early twenties probably. He had pale skin, brown hair and a completely forgettable face. He also wore the standard chunin uniform just like Shikamaru, but unlike the Nara's his chakra was completely calm, unnaturally so.

"There you are," Pakkun complained once he reached them, as if he'd had any trouble following the scent of blood. He looked Chikako over first, lingering on each wound and then roving over the parts that were just covered in crimson, nose wiggling as he sniffed the air. She had no idea whether he could tell which was Hidan's blood and which hers, but he didn't ask whether either of them needed help and only threw Shikamaru a cursory glance before nodding once and poofing away in a cloud of chakra smoke.

"You're a little late," Shikamaru informed Sakura, who looked at him in astonishment.

"You took out an Akatsuki member all on your own?" She seemed rather impressed, had probably seen Kakuzu in action and assumed Hidan was just as strong. Not that the man hadn't turned out to be quite dangerous in his own right, but his main advantage lay in his opponent not knowing what he could do. Kakuzu was always a force to be reckoned with, being aware that he could unleash immensely powerful elemental attacks didn't change that, whereas his partner was an idiot and could likely easily be outmaneuvered by any mid- or long-range fighter with at least one technique to trap or otherwise disable an opponent.

Then again, if Chikako had known in advance that Kakuzu's multiple chakra cores meant he had five hearts in his chest and that they all needed to be destroyed she might have been able to kill him in one blow. Her chakra fueled palm strike didn't have the Chidori's capability to pierce just about anything, but she easily could have turned the man's torso into bloody mush while he'd been unaware of her presence. At least in theory. After all she'd also thought she could take Hidan one on one.

Shikamaru's gaze wandered to the head in his left hand, watching Hidan's attempts to get rid of his gag for a moment, then to Chikako and back to Sakura again.

"Something like that," he told her, as if he hadn't just saved Chikako's life by figuring out how the nukenin's insane technique worked in less than five minutes.

Sakura balked when she noticed that the head was still moving, prompting Chikako to snicker quietly. Something she immediately regretted as her abdomen protested vigorously. The other girl's eyes immediately found the cause of her pain. Sakura didn't pull back further though, instead her face changed into a professional mask and her whole posture straightened a little.

"That needs immediate treatment. Can you tell me approximately how much blood you've lost?" She took three quick steps forward, hands already coated in mint green chakra. Chikako narrowed her eyes at her.

"Back off. You'll do more harm than good."

"Excuse me? I'm perfectly capable of-"

"Yes, yes," Chikako said annoyed, making shooing motions. "I wasn't questioning your skill as a medic, merely stating a fact. Now leave me alone."

Sakura wasn't having it. She reached out despite Chikako's refusal to be treated, but the bland guy was suddenly there, hand clamped around the girl's wrist, pressing down hard enough to make her wince.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sakura snapped. "I need to close those wounds as soon as possible or she'll bleed out!"

"Following orders Haruno-san. We are to provide assistance. That means adhering to the instructions of those we are supposed to support." He sounded pleasant enough, but there wasn't a hint of apology in his tone, which only ticked the medic off more.

"Letting someone die out of sheer obstinacy is not assistance," she hissed at him, pulling her arm back until he let go.

"Our orders were explicit and leave no room for interpretation Haruno-san. If you continue to ignore them I will be forced to detain you." He shifted his stance slightly, ready to turn his words into actions, but his expression remained neutral and his tone had been completely matter of fact. Not even his chakra hat changed in anticipation of a fight, as if he'd been in this exact situation so often that it had simply become routine.

Or as if he'd gotten the humanity trained out of him.

"You're ROOT aren't you?" Chikako asked. She'd expected the next one she came across to attack her on sight. Injured as she was this certainly wasn't a bad opportunity. Then again, maybe he was playing things smart and his insistence on following orders was in the hopes that she'd actually bleed out.

His body tensed almost imperceptibly at her words and this time his chakra did spike, even if it was just the tiniest bit. She didn't need more confirmation than that.

Chikako smiled at him, already gathering chakra to conjure a barrier and call Sune for help if necessary.

"I know I look like a mess right now, but let me make one thing clear before we head back. Not only can I kill you, if you do anything I don't like I won't even bother asking questions first."

He didn't even hesitate before, to her complete surprise, nodding his acceptance.

"Understood."

Shikamaru looked between them with a calculating expression on his face, but it was Sakura that spoke first.

"You cannot be serious! The guy they send with us last time was-" She stopped abruptly, balling both of her hands into tight fists. Her mouth fell shut with an audible click and she scowled at both the bland guy and Chikako.

The person Sakura was referring to had be the ROOT agent that had been assigned to the team when they'd gone after Sasori's spy. Jiraiya had said they were assuming he'd been sent to kill Sasuke, but Chikako wasn't sure she believed that. With the exception of Kakashi, who wasn't part of ROOT anymore, none of the operatives she'd come across had seemed to be more than average shinobi. As far as she could tell the whole point was for them to blend in. Who better to stab you in the back than the guy you barely even noticed existed?

Obviously that didn't mean she was right or that there weren't any more exceptions, but the Sharingan was considered one of the most powerful kekkei genkai in existence and on top of that Sasuke had been training under one of the Sannin for more than two and a half years at that point. Whoever that ROOT operative had been, he hadn't put up much of a fight, so unless Danzo had completely underestimated Sasuke, killing the Uchiha hadn't been the point of the mission.

"Well it doesn't matter," Sakura huffed. "The point is, there will be absolutely no killing each other!"

Chikako rolled her eyes, but remained silent in an effort to hurry things along. She didn't particularly feel like standing around arguing for longer than strictly necessary. Sakura had no more say in what would happen than the Hokage did. ROOT meant blind obedience and Chikako was reasonably certain that if Danzo ordered his people to kill themselves, they'd do so without even blinking twice. It was hardly unreasonable to assume that that included assassinations after which they couldn't escape.

However, the bland guy too kept his mouth shut, merely watching Sakura, who in turn deflated at the lack of resistance to her demand. Shikamaru took that as his cue to start walking. He even somehow managed to keep himself between Chikako and the other two the whole way back without making it obvious.

. . .

"If this does turn into a fight after all, please don't jump in front of me," Chikako muttered once they'd nearly reached the others and Sakura, followed by the bland guy had moved ahead to report back to their team leader. "I know I got too cocky with Hidan and I really owe you for saving my ass back there, but that doesn't suddenly turn me into a helpless civilian."

"Saving you?" He asked, gaze firmly fixed on the ground. "I nearly got you killed."

Chikako frowned at him. "Don't be ridiculous. You were trying to stop him, successfully might I add, and you couldn't possibly have known what that jutsu does. I was the one that carelessly assumed he'd already played all of his cards."

"You don't get it. I'm the strategist. I can't hope to match Ino's skill at medical jutsu or interrogation. The same goes for Choji's strength or resilience as well as yours and Kakashi-san's ability to track down and eliminate targets.

"My intellect is the one thing I have going for me and I get around every other shortcoming by being at least a dozen steps ahead. So what the hell good am I if I can't do that?"

He'd gotten louder towards the end, probably loud enough for at least Kakashi to hear, but he seemed too upset to care. Not just upset, angry. It made him look dangerous. It was also the reason Chikako would have finger shaped bruises on her rib cage for a while.

She hit him in the chest, eliciting a wheeze. The motion was awkward from her current position, but it made him loosened his grip somewhat.

"Are you fucking stupid? You had practically no information to work with and a team whose composition is frankly ludicrous, even if you disregard any interpersonal problems. Yet you came up with directions that allowed us to work together efficiently, without limiting our individual abilities in the process. And guess what? Not only is everyone still alive, we even managed to adhere to that stupid capture directive. What the hell more do you want Nara?

"There are no perfect strategies and even if there were, have you never heard the saying 'No plan survives contact with the enemy'? You did your best with the information you had and so did everyone else. If that isn't good enough for your ego just learn from what happened today and be better next time."

Chikako would have liked to just walk away and leave him standing there to mull things over, but since she couldn't exactly do that she raised her left arm instead, pointing ahead. "Now get me over there you lazy bastard I want to know who the other new guy is."

He pulled her forward as ordered, but his voice was hard when he said, "It will be flawless next time."

Chikako shook her head, hoping he wouldn't hold himself to that. People like Shikamaru had to walk a tight rope every time they made plans. If he put too much value on the lives he commanded he wouldn't be willing to take risks, even necessary ones. If he thought of it as a game though, he might start sacrificing people like nothing more than shogi pieces.

She touched the one that hung around her neck. A pawn wasn't worth that much. Just one of many, easily replaced. Her gaze wandered over to the bland guy. Did he care that he was nothing more to Danzo? Not all members of ROOT had been raised in the organization like Sai. Indoctrinated children she could understand, but why had the others chosen to follow the councilman? Why had Kakashi?

Maybe they just thought Danzo was the lesser of two evils? Then Hiruzen Sarutobi and now Tsunade? Chikako didn't know much about the Godaime, but what she'd seen of the woman's decisions so far hadn't seemed all that reasonable to her.

Chikako sighed, turning away from the bland guy. Her gaze landed on Naruto next, who was sitting on the ground, Ino behind him. The girl had both palms on his back, channeling medical chakra through his body, while Choji held him upright. Chikako was willing to bet that that crazy Wind jutsu he'd used earlier had hurt him as well. It had certainly seemed unstable enough for that. His chakra was all over the place too and he looked like he could barely stay awake.

Further to the left Kakashi and the other guy stood over Kakuzu's prone form. Except for the nukenin's Earth core she couldn't sense any more of his chakra signatures and that one was rather weak as well. He was covered in blood from head to toe and had trouble breathing, but despite all that it didn't seem like he was about to bite the dust any time soon.

What a monster. The area was completely destroyed, burned stumps, ripped up trees, waterlogged ground, scarred earth. Hell there was still a hole in his chest where the Chidori had hit him, yet he was still alive.

"This is the first time I've seen you lose your cool sempai," presumably-Yamato joked. Kakashi glanced at him, Sharingan eye closed. His hitai-ate was missing, his mask was cut up on one side and he looked as if someone had dragged him through the dirt a time or two, but Chikako couldn't make out any serious injuries.

"Laugh it up Tenzo," he groused, putting special emphasis on the name.

"It's Yamato now," the other guy shot back immediately, sounding rather annoyed.

He was probably ANBU then, no surprise there. Apparently also the same guy that had been sent in Kakashi's stead to capture Sasori's spy. The one with a mysterious ability to keep Naruto in check when he lost control of the Kyubi. Interesting.

His chakra felt weird to her. She knew the basic five chakra natures as well as Yin and Yang transformations. She'd also sensed Haku's Ice, Mei's Lava and knew that Deidara's bombs used some form of combined nature. Yamato though had one she'd never encountered before.

Shikamaru walked the rest of the way over to the two men, then held out Hidan's head. Yamato grimaced at the bloody stump of his neck, then created a wooden container without even forming a handsign first, as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

Chikako gaped at him.

What the hell? Everyone knew that the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had been able to use Wood Release. It was described in just about every book that so much as mentioned Konoha, but Chikako had never heard so much as a rumor of anyone else with the ability.

And what was up with the weird symbols that decorated the wood's surface? They were intricate, but too regular to be seals - more like patterns. Had he seriously just spent the extra chakra and concentration for aesthetic purposes?

"Did she hit her head?" Kakashi asked, looking Chikako over with a raised eyebrow. He went about it the exact same way Pakkun had, lingering on every wound. All that was missing was the sniffing.

She glared at him. The asshole knew exactly why she was starring at a piece of wood as if it was an enigma. Because it fucking was!

"Congratulations," she snapped, "you've rediscovered the ability to speak. I'm very proud of you."

Yamato made a noise, probably unhappy with how rude that had sounded. Kakashi only smiled in answer, but the expression froze on his face at her next question.

"You mind if I tag along?"

"To Konoha?"

She shrugged.

"I figure it's time for a visit." It wasn't, but according to the bond Kit was there, or at least in the general area, which meant Jiraiya would be as well and she needed to speak to the Sannin. It was past time he actually helped her with her seal. She needed that thing to work properly, rather sooner than later. Both Hidan and Kakuzu had made it sound as if getting the rings back was quickly becoming a top priority and with two more missing the task certainly wouldn't get any less important.

She was also worried about Itachi. Yata still hadn't returned to deliver word from him, but Jiraiya probably had a way to get in contact.

"Of course," Kakashi told her, even though he seemed pretty conflicted on the matter. He hadn't wanted her to leave in the first place and he'd asked her to come back before, but he knew as well as she did that things were out of his hands once she stepped foot inside of the village.

Chikako nodded her thanks, then turned to Kisame, who stood a little to the side, but still within earshot.

"Do I look like your fucking sidekick kiddo?" He asked before she could even get a word out. "I'm gonna be fine on my own, wanted to do the next job alone anyway. Just make sure you meet me for the one after that."

She narrowed her eyes at him. The next thing on the list was an underground fighting ring. They were supposed to infiltrate, make friends with a woman who owned several of the top fighters and get her to reveal the location of an event that would take place in several months time. Jiraiya's list explicitly stated that the woman could under no circumstances be harmed and that it was imperative nobody realized that the information had gotten out.

"Take Jiro."

"Nope," he grinned, popping the p.

"You sure? Because you're not going alone and your other option is that I summon Sune."

"Goddamned bossy little-" Kisame muttered, trailing off into indistinguishable noises of discontent. He nodded though, clearly unwilling to deal with the female kitsune, who would still be pissed because of the clusterfuck that had been Iwa.

"Where is Jiro anyway?"

"Still stuffing his face in that inn. Little bugger said something about needing to finish up for science and not to wait for him. I'll pick him and the boy up before I head out, that should give you at least three months all in all, maybe longer."

"Thanks," Chikako said. "Let me know if you need help after all."

Kisame gave her a long look, silently admonishing her to be careful in Konoha. He was obviously more worried about leaving her to fend for herself than he was about the mission, but he also trusted Chikako and believed that she could protect herself. That was really all she could ask for.

She smiled at him, signing, _'take - care'_

He returned the gesture with one of his shark grins, then snapped his teeth at a very tense Yamato and vanished.

"So," Chikako said cheerfully, turning to face her sensei. "What are the odds I'll be welcomed by a team of ROOT assassins do you think?"

The bland guys chakra jumped just as it had before, but this time so did Yamato's, which fuck, she hadn't expected that. Chikako could take a chunin, even injured as she was, but a jonin capable of wielding the Shodaime's Wood Release? That didn't even remotely seem like a good bet, certainly not now.

She could manage a Body Flicker or three if she really had to, maybe escape into the forest and catch up with Kisame, but two was bad odds. If she had been able to move properly she wouldn't have worried too much, right then Shikamaru was all that kept her standing upright though. If they attacked after all she'd have to get him out of the way fast and-

Kakashi gripped her shoulder, pressing down hard enough to hurt. It wasn't comparable to anything else she'd felt that day, but the sting still drew her attention.

"Pup, meet my friend Tenzo." His voice was even, meant to calm. He also tapped the word _'safe'_ on her shoulder several times, only slowly loosening his grip. Yamato looked ... confused almost, but still reflexively corrected his name. Chikako couldn't remember if she'd ever actually heard Kakashi call someone a friend. No one still alive surely and not to their face.

Did that mean Yamato wasn't with ROOT? Or maybe he'd left too? He'd definitely at least heard about it.

Didn't matter, she hadn't even suspected him. Her mistake. He stood just a meter away. If he'd wanted her dead he could have killed her while she'd been busy inspecting his wooden creation. Not ideal wile Kisame had still been present and with Kakashi right next to him, so he or the bland guy might try later, but she should have been on guard.

"And the other one? Is he your friend too?" Chikako asked sharply, vindictively pleased to see her sensei's eye widen slightly in surprise. At least she wasn't the only one who'd missed something. Sending a potential assassin after her to assist wasn't exactly helpful.

"Chikako-chan!" Naruto suddenly shouted, eliciting a startled yelp from Ino as he jumped to his feet. Whatever the girl had done, it was apparently enough to cure his fatigue, and in less than fifteen minutes no less.

The blond bounced forward like the bundle of barely contained energy that he was and if Chikako hadn't hastily abandoned Shikamaru to latch onto one of Kakashi's arms she would have ended up on her ass. Instead Naruto's overenthusiastic embrace took only the Nara down. Both of them landed in a tangle of limbs on the ground.

"I'm never helping you again," Shikamaru groaned, but Naruto didn't even seem to have registered the collision. He just freed himself, rolled into a sitting position and beamed up at her.

"We found Sasuke, but he wasn't alone and he refused to come back with us, but he said to tell you that he hasn't forgotten. He wouldn't fight me either and he was really rude to the snake bastard." Naruto rushed out, not stopping once to take a breath. Then he added a very excited, "What didn't he forget Chikako-chan?"

"No idea," she lied, voice flat.

"What? You have to tell me! We're teammates!"

"No we're not and what kind of argument is that anyway?" Excepting Suna, they hadn't been a team in years and he hadn't been that friendly the last time they'd seen each other either.

"Of course we are, but you should have told me that you were working with the old pervert all along."

Ah, that explained it then. Choji must have told him or maybe Ino. Chikako was about to disabuse the blond of his fanciful notions, Kakashi stopped her though, tapping out _'no'_ against the back of her hand. She frowned at him, but acquiesced. Correcting Naruto would be more honest, but if she really intended to go to Konoha it was probably for the best if she didn't.

So instead of answering, Chikako leaned down to offer Shikamaru - who still hadn't moved - a hand. He took it, but got up on his own anyway. Then, despite his earlier declaration, pulled her arm over his shoulder to help her walk.

. . .

Getting back to Konoha took several hours since the group opted to move at civilian pace instead of running. She wasn't the only one that had been injured and there was no reason to rush now that the nukenin had been taken care of.

Yamato had fashioned a wooden muzzle for Hidan, because he'd finally managed to chew through the piece of his cloak that had acted as a gag and started cursing all of them at an earsplitting volume. Before they'd left he jonin had also encased Kakuzu's body in wood. The construct looked weirdly fancy, decorated with little swirls and the same seemingly meaningless ornaments as the other container. It was carried by four of Naruto's Shadow Clones, all of whom frequently complained about it's weight, yet still ran ahead whenever they got the chance.

Meanwhile the original filled Chikako in on his 'super awesome new jutsu,' which was admittedly an accurate description, or would be once he'd actually mastered the thing and it didn't just fizzle out after a few seconds. Since she'd last seen him he'd somehow managed what the Yondaime never could, combining the Rasengan with Wind natured chakra and even adding an additional shape transformation to make it look like a Fuma Shuriken. He also regaled her with the story of how he'd used it to defeat Kakuzu all on his own, conveniently forgetting to mention that Kakashi and Kisame had already taken care of the four extra hearts at that point.

"Fascinating," Chikako said sweetly, "but why is it called Rasenshuriken if you can't actually throw the thing?"

"I'm still working on that!" Naruto shouted, cheeks coloring in embarrassment.

She had great fun needling him and they argued back and forth for a while. Occasionally even the clones would chime in, clearly under the mistaken impression that volume directly correlated to the correctness of a statement. Shikamaru tolerated their aimless bickering with surprising patience, most likely because it kept anyone else at a distance, but by the time Konoha's gates came into view he had enough.

"Please stop talking to him," the Nara muttered. "You're giving me a migraine."

"Don't worry," Chikako cooed, patting him on the head like one might a dog, which earned her a glare. "I'll be taking my leave now. See you in the Hokage's office."

No matter what he thought, she really owed him, for figuring out Hidan's jutsu, for helping her all the way back to the village and just for being a good friend.

"You can't skip past the guards!" Yamato snapped immediately. She grinned at him, then vanished from sight with a friendly wave. Shikamaru's assistance had let her rest enough to recover somewhat. The wounds in her legs and abdomen would need more time to heal completely, as would her broken femur, but she was well enough for a friendly infiltration attempt at civilian pace. Chikako certainly wouldn't get a better chance to try without serious risk. Also Kotetsu and Izumo were on guard duty and they'd go tattling to Ibiki if they saw her.

Yamato was livid, sprinting past her position without even noticing. He hadn't liked her from the get-go, because of who she was, because of Kisame and most of all because she'd been deliberately rude to Kakashi to rile him up further. Not that her sensei had helped the matter any, by insisting on calling him Tenzo.

Chikako shook her head. She'd used a Body Flicker and then immediately transitioned into Camouflage, because there was no way she would run all the way through the village. She'd just walk ahead of the group, nice and slow.

Kakashi laughed quietly. There was no way he could sense her, but he knew her well enough to guess what she'd done. At least now Chikako understood why Yamato was so impressed by him. Not that Kakashi wasn't impressive when he wasn't lazing about with a porn book, but if the guy fell for simple tricks like this her sensei must seem like a god to him.

Chikako walked right past the checkpoint, occasionally dodging the civilians and shinobi that couldn't see her. She noted some additional security in the form of seals all over the walls, but didn't bother activating her chakra sight to inspect them in detail. If they were Jiraiya's she could probably at least guess their purpose with reasonable accuracy. That had time until later though, all she needed to know now was that they had no impact on her stealth, which they didn't.

Once she'd made it past the gate she stuck to the shadows as well as roads she knew were rarely traveled by shinobi. Holding Camouflage all the way to the Hokage Tower simply wasn't an option considering how much chakra it cost and she was familiar enough with Konoha's streets to stay out of sight even without the added bonus of invisibility.

The Roof Paths seemed busier the closer she got, more so than usual, but Chikako couldn't tell whether that was due to Yamato warning the Hokage about an intruder or simply coincidence. The former seemed kind of silly, but during the past few hours she'd learned enough about him to have realized that he was a total stickler for rules. Not surprising if he'd spend any significant amount of time in ROOT. After all when she'd first met Sai he'd been of the opinion that no rules should ever be broken for any reason whatsoever.

. . .

Chikako hadn't been too far ahead of the others in the beginning, but they weren't in a hurry and by the time she got out of sensing range they still hadn't cleared the gate.

She yawned, ducking behind a corner to avoid getting caught by Cat and then reactivated Camouflage for the last stretch. By now it was midmorning and enough people walked in and out of the Hokage Tower that she didn't have to wait long for the opportunity to slip past while the door fell shut behind a group of shinobi.

Chikako couldn't sense unusually many jonin, but there were a few more Hyuga than seemed strictly necessary. While she'd still lived here they'd tended to stay in their own compound, only coming in when required.

Those were probably for her then, casually spread throughout the tower.

To avoid their notice Chikako made sure to stay close to groups and kept at least one object between herself and them at all times. They activated their Byakugan in intervals, in the same timed manner as she'd noticed Neji do. Chikako could only guess how big exactly their blind spots were, but to find her they'd have to do the same thing as she'd done to get around Jiraiya's seal, with the added difficulty of not being nearly as good at sensing people.

In the end it took almost twice as long as she'd expected, but Chikako managed to stay out of sight. The Hokage clearly thought it more important not to draw attention to a potential problem, than to contain it. Or maybe she just wasn't taking this seriously, which fair enough.

If the Hyuga guards had been stationed openly at the entrance and stairs Chikako would have never been able to move undetected inside the building. Now though she found herself on the top floor, right outside of the Godaime's office. Two masked ANBU stood to either side of the door and she could sense Yamato, Tsunade and two other people inside of the office. At least one of which was likely another ANBU.

Chikako didn't have to wait long before the door opened and a woman in a dark blue kimono stepped out. She was carrying a comically large stack of papers and one of the ANBU guards held the door open for her, inclining his head in silent greeting.

Chikako slipped past just as she'd done at the entrance, only this time she left barrier seals behind on the door frame. Then she walked over to the window, so that Tsunade was between her and the two other chakra signatures in the room. She placed seals there too, before turning around to face the woman.

Her desk was an absolute mess, strewn with papers and writing implements. Even more were scattered around the floor, hiding at least two empty sake bottles.

"Drinking on the job?" Chikako asked as she let Camouflage fall and activated the barrier seals.

Yamato reacted almost without delay, sending wooden beams that seemed to grow out of his arm her way. They wound around each other and spread out at the end to form a cage. Chikako let them trap her, then slammed her palm into the wood, pushing enough natural chakra through it to make the whole thing burst into a shower of splinters.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, a hidden panel had slid open to reveal the third person, another masked ANBU, just as she'd guessed. He was slower than Yamato and because he had to maneuver around the Hokage as well Chikako had more than enough time to make her wakizashi appear and hold it to his throat, not even giving him a chance to use his own blade.

Yamato stilled, aborting another attack to glare at her. Apparently he wasn't willing to risk his comrade's life. He'd thrown her suspicious glances the whole way back, so this was an easy bluff for her. Not that Tsunade felt particularly threatened, the woman still hadn't lifted a finger by the time the door opened.

One of the two ANBU that had stood in front of the office slammed right into Chikako's barrier, nearly knocking himself unconscious in his haste to reach the Godaime. The other managed to stop his momentum in time, but couldn't come up with an attack destructive enough to break through the barrier - or maybe he was afraid to bring the roof down on them. Either way, they both stood outside, helplessly watching.

Chikako didn't recognize any of the three, either by chakra or mask. For the supposed elite of the village they seemed rather incompetent as well. The guy still banging on her barrier could have easily used one of those attacks to put a hole through the wall if he'd really wanted to enter.

"Why the hell are you guarded by rookies?" Chikako asked, leaning around the one with her blade at his throat to get a better look at the Hokage.

The woman appeared to be somewhat annoyed, but also amused as she reclined in her seat, disregarding that some more of her paperwork slid off the table.

"Put that away or I'll have you arrested," she ordered cheerfully, as she waved her guards off.

Chikako let the wakizashi vanish again and plopped down in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk, ignoring both Yamato and the ANBU.

"Have fun with that, but fair warning, it didn't work out so great the last two times Iwa tried."

"Don't get smart with me brat," the Godaime snapped. She brought a fist down on her desk causing paper to fly everywhere as the wood cracked beneath the force of her punch.

"Tsunade-sama!" The woman from earlier shouted. What was her name again? She'd arrived in the village with Tsunade, Shizu-something. The bland guy and Sakura were right on her heels, followed by Naruto, his clones, Ino, Choji and finally Kakashi and Shikamaru.

"Whoa, did you piss off granny?" One of the clones asked when he saw the piles of paper and wooden splinters that covered the office. His life was ended a moment later by way of paperweight to the head, which caused his brethren to lose their balance as the big wooden structure holding Kakuzu's body tipped sideways. It crushed a second clone on it's way down. Tsunade eyed the other two like a hungry lioness might regard her prey and they quickly vanished into puffs off smoke as well.

"That's a neat trick," Chikako commented. The Hokage threw her the same look and if she hadn't been too exhausted she would have used Camouflage to play along, but what remained of the wound in her abdomen had torn open again, so Chikako was more than content to just bleed a little on the woman's chair instead.

They held each other's gazes for a few seconds, then Tsunade sighed and pushed herself out of her seat.

"I assume you don't want me to heal that?"

"Nah, I'm fine." It wasn't that bad anymore, still raw since she'd focused her chakra on her legs so she could move around on her own again, but applying medical chakra would probably hurt more than help.

"Good, then in compensation for this mess you can write a report on how you managed to sneak into my office undetected despite those wounds," the Hokage commanded dryly, waving all of them out of the room and across the hall to another door. "Right after the debriefing."

. . .

The debriefing didn't start out too bad, despite Tsunade's ominous tone. First the rookie ANBU were sent away, presumably to be yelled at by someone else. Next Shikamaru explained why Team 10 had left even though they'd been given a direct order not to. Then Kakashi was asked why he hadn't even bothered requesting permission, which got a shrug in response and the rather flimsy excuse that he'd assumed, since he'd been assigned to the general mission anyway, it would be fine.

After that Jiraya was called in so the Hokage could shout at him too, seeing as he'd played a significant role in enabling the blatant insubordination. Things quietened down a little once it was time to summarize the actual operation, namely tracking down, confronting and capturing the targets. Tsunade did order a mandatory check in at the hospital for everyone, with special emphasis on Kakashi's name, but except for a verbal thrashing nobody actually got punished. In fact she commended Shikamaru for narrowing down Kakuzu's and Hidan's movements with so little information to go on and for bringing everyone back in one piece. Not that he seemed very receptive to the praise.

Things quickly took a turn for the worse after that though. Everyone except for Chikako got dismissed, almost forcefully in the case of Naruto, Shikamaru and Kakashi. Then an ANBU wearing a raccoon mask entered the room, positioning himself at the door. Chikako had never bothered to learn his real name, but she knew that he was a Hyuga because he'd been one of the people that had watched her as a child and she'd seen him a few times without the mask while she'd trained with Hinata. He'd always kept his distance though, so the only other thing she knew about him was that he wasn't a rookie.

Chikako wasn't at all surprised when Tsunade started asking her why exactly she and Kisame where working for Jiraiya. She had no idea what, if anything, the spymaster had told the Godaime and she didn't particularly care either. As interrogations went this one was pretty friendly, so she didn't bother playing games. Instead Chikako's answers were short and to the point or outright refusals to speak at all.

Since she needed Jiraiya's help she couldn't piss him off by giving anything away that he hadn't already divulged. Getting Tsunade's permission to stay in the village for a while would be nice, but she didn't necessarily need it. So Chikako kept everything that didn't directly pertain to catching Hidan and Kakuzu to herself, including why Kisame and her had been in the north of Fire in the first place.

Tsunade threatened her half a dozen times with an actual interrogation, imprisonment and a number of other unpleasant possibilities, but each of those threats only made it clearer that she didn't want to go through with any of them. Chikako used the same tactic when she didn't want to or couldn't hurt someone - bluff and hope it works out. Of course she also knew that the second her bluff was called she had to go through with the threat or give up, but apparently nobody had informed Tsunade of that fact. Or maybe the woman just though she was too stupid to see through the act.

Either way Chikako got bored pretty fast. She also felt quite uncomfortable in her blood soaked clothing. The stuff had dried quite some time before they'd reached the village, but now her skin was itching and all she wanted was a bath.

"Can we skip this farce? If you'd actually planned on doing any of those things you would have by now. I didn't break the last time I got tortured and compared to that, this is just silly. Either you get a Yamanaka in here to try and force the information out of me or you let me go, but if it's the former make sure it's one you're willing to loose, because I have no idea how my chakra interacts with their Mind Switch."

Tsunade didn't look particularly happy with the demand, but she finally admitted defeat.

Chikako got permission to remain in Konoha for as long as she wanted to, only under the condition that she'd be acting as a regular member of the military during her stay though, which meant respecting chain of command and accepting missions if her assistance was requested. To that end she was temporarily awarded chunin rank, without the clearance of course. Not exactly what she'd wanted, but still easier than sneaking around for however long it would take to get something useful out of Jiraiya.

Afterwards she was sent to the quartermaster to get a chunin flak jacket and two sets of the regular uniform, no new hitai-ate though. Not that she needed one or would have agreed to wear it. To her surprise she was also afforded S-rank mission payment for her role in bringing Hidan and Kakuzu in, which more than covered the price she'd payed for the Bingo Books.

Once she had picked up her new clothes Chikako made sure to lose her tail. The Hyuga ANBU had started following her as soon as she'd left Hokage Tower, but seeing as she hadn't agreed to be under surveillance she had no intention of making things easy for him.

His Byakugan might allow him to see through her Camouflage as well as any obstacles in his path, but it had an even harder time distinguish signatures than her chakra sight. It took her no time at all to lose him in Konoha's busy Market District. She had more than enough practice hiding from Kakashi and his dogs, so weaving in and out of crowds didn't even require concentration. All Chikako had to do was stay out of sight and change the way she moved whenever she passed a group.

To be on the safe side she did this until she almost couldn't sense the Hyuga's chakra anymore and then mentally tracked his position, until he started moving in a search pattern. Only then did she double back to the Uchiha Compound.

The place looked as empty as she remembered it being for the past few years. A silent monument to the massacre. The bodies had been removed and the blood cleaned up, but other than that it seemed Sasuke had changed nothing, not even his family's house.

He'd allowed her to stay with him right after Konoha had been invaded by Orochimaru and Suna, so she figured he wouldn't mind too much if she did again, especially because he wasn't there to be annoyed by her presence.

Everything in the house was covered by a layer of dust, but otherwise it was tidy. Chikako was somewhat surprised though when she found out that both the electricity and water bills had apparently been paid despite Sasuke's absence.

Of course he was still officially the heir of the clan and all the money each of the slaughtered families had put aside, so it wasn't really surprising that it hadn't run out yet. The respective providers didn't have reason to cancel the contracts as long as they got paid. It was still a little bizarre to realize that the abandoned, time worn Uchiha compound was more luxurious than Chikako's flat had ever been.

Not that she was complaining. A hot shower here certainly beat taking a bath in the hospital or river. She didn't hurry either, enjoying the warm water considerably longer that was necessary to get cleaned up.

Eventually though she had to admit that it was time to put on her new uniform. It felt weird, especially because she had every intention of leaving as soon as she figured out how to make her seal work, or once Jiraiya headed out, whichever came first.

Kit waited for her in the living room. He was in his fox form and, for whatever reason, curled up on the table. He lazily flicked an ear in her direction as she passed him on her way out, but didn't move otherwise, which she took to mean there was nothing to report. He had, however, brought a note in Jiraiya's code with him that said to be at Yakiniku Q for lunch the following day.

Chikako supposed that was better than having to harass the man until he deigned to talk to her, but it still left her with nothing to do for the rest of the day. She had no intention of going anywhere Raccoon could easily find her, but that also meant she had to leave the Uchiha Compound for a few hours. The connection was too obvious and there weren't even any other people to hide her presence.

. . .

Chikako took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh forest air. She sat in front of a gray stone, perfectly rectangular and flat. It was empty except for her name, engraved in black characters that looked like actual brush strokes had created them instead of a chisel or maybe a jutsu. It was right on the edge of a small clearing, surrounded by ancient trees on all sides and bathed in the warm light of the late afternoon sun.

She'd actually just meant to wander the outskirts of the Nara Forest for a while, seeing as outsiders weren't allowed to enter without permission, but then one of the deer had found her. A huge creature, a good head taller than her even without it's impressive set of antlers. She'd fully expected to be chased away.

Instead it had led her here, to a gravestone bearing her name.

Chikako had no idea how intelligent the Nara deer were. Maybe they could understand human language just like Kakashi's summons or the Inuzuka dogs. This one certainly didn't seem like a regular wild animal. Not only had it acted as a guide it had also lain down next to her once they'd reached their destination and was still keeping her company.

She wasn't sure how long exactly she'd been in the forest, two hours maybe. Several other deer had shown themselves since she'd first arrived at the grave, but none had come within five meters of her and they'd all left again after only a minute or two.

The chakra signature that approached this time though wasn't a deer. It felt like Shikamaru, only not quite - calmer, more settled and with a hard edge her friend was only now developing.

"Apologies Nara-san," she said once he was close enough. "I didn't mean to intrude."

Shikaku chuckled lightly, taking a seat on the other side of the deer, so the three of them formed a half circle in front of the headstone.

"It's not trespassing if you've been invited in, but I think it's past time you go see Ibiki."

"I know it's just ..." She sighed, letting her shoulders slump forward. "It's been so long and I have no idea what to say to him."

"So you're hiding here instead?"

"Kind of?"

"I don't like cowards Chikako and I will not allow the members of this clan to put their lives on the line for someone who runs away from her responsibilities."

She turned to him, confused and taken completely by surprise.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Ah," Shikaku hummed, suddenly sounding bemused. "I see my son has neglected to tell you what that necklace means." He waited for a moment, but when all she did was stare at him he leaned back on his arms, head tilted towards the sky.

"It's part of a very old shogi set, handcrafted from deer antlers. One of Rikumaru's ancestors most likely." He glanced at the deer a fondly. "The founder of our clan made it as a wedding gift for his wife, because he was a poor man and all he had to offer her were his time and devotion. She didn't ask anything more of him and they were happy for a while, but after almost a decade without a single pregnancy she fell into a deep depression.

"Back then there were no hospitals, Medical-nin or even civilian healers, only the occasional wise woman with knowledge of herbs. He sought out many, but none could help and with each visit his wife hoped for a child, yet when none came her depression only got worse.

"One day he came back home to find his wife with a little boy. She told him she'd come across the child in the woods, all alone and half-starved. She also claimed that a deer had shown her the way. He didn't believe her at first, fearing that she might have taken the boy from his family, but no one seemed to be missing a child and the boy never once asked for his parents.

"In the end he fashioned a necklace just like the one you're wearing and gifted it to the boy, claiming him as his own flesh and blood. Since then the Nara have cared for the deer instead of hunting them. We started collecting medical knowledge as well and to this day anyone carrying a piece of that shogi set is considered a member of the clan." Shikaku was silent for a moment, then added, "at least that's how my mother told the story to me. I've never seen a written record of it and for as long as I've lived those shogi pieces have only ever been handed over to the heads of the Yamanaka and Akimichi clans as a gesture of trust. Almost half are missing though, so who knows?"

He gave Chikako a stern look, then made a shooing motion with one hand.

"Go on. You can come back any time you want, but don't let me catch you running away again. Nara are no cowards."


	72. XVI - Lessons

**A/N:**

Thanks for the reviews people. This one is only a little late (but it's extra long, which I'm hereby declaring a fair trade-off). Not sure how much time the next one will take. I'll try to keep the wait short, but you know how life works ...

 _Kragh50_

I might one day, if I ever get the time, write some parts of this story from different perspectives, seeing as this request has come up before. At the earliest after I'm done telling it from Chikako's point of view though.

 _Elise142_

Please tell me how your time machine works. The comments section seems to be convinced that you somehow managed to comment on chapter 72 instead of chapter 71, which seems rather unlikely, seeing as this is chapter 72. I'm very jealous and in dire need of more time.

. . .

 **XVI - Lessons**

Chikako left the Nara Forest in a daze, barely paying attention to anything as she made her way to Ibiki's new flat.

She'd wondered several times if the pawn had any deeper meaning or if it was just a reminder that she wasn't alone. Her guesses hadn't even come close to the truth though. Apparently Shikamaru had gifted her the protection of a clan and never even said a word. Three clans in fact, because the alliance between Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi was almost as old as the families themselves and if Shikaku was willing to acknowledge the gesture, chances were they would as well.

Knowing that, the necklace felt much heavier, almost like a band around her throat that was a little too tight. Just like the Kiri hitai-ate she never wore and the owl tattoo decorating her wrist. She should give it back, should have left it with Shikaku the second he'd told her that story. And-

-she was being followed, again. Not Raccoon though.

"What do you want?"

It was late by now, only an hour or two until midnight. Konoha never really got dark though and the moon was nearly full. The different light sources created interesting shadows, perfect to hide in. Clearly whoever was following her didn't know she was a sensor. Not only that, they were trying to wait her out. Stupid, as if she'd just shrug and move on.

Chikako stood still for a few seconds, as much out of courtesy as annoyance. She was close enough to Ibiki's new flat that she caught traces of his chakra signature from time to time and he seemed to be in a foul mood.

Nobody had stepped out of the shadows by the time her patience ran out, which was admittedly rather quickly, so Chikako pulled her chakra around herself for Camouflage. Normally she would have used a Body Flicker to get behind her target but that would only slow down her healing, as the one she'd used earlier had proven - tearing muscle hurt.

Instead she walked, slowly, silently stalking her prey. She rather enjoyed the way his body language changed once he realized he was no longer the hunter in this equation, had never been the hunter in the first place. His muscles tensed even as he seemed to fight the instinctive reaction. He pulled his shoulders upwards slightly, ducked his head a little, his left arm moved in front of his stomach while he tightly held a kunai in his right hand, raised defensively.

Chikako was fascinated by the display. His body clearly said he was nervous, maybe even afraid, his chakra, however, had barely changed at all. It took her a moment to recognize him as the bland guy. She should have probably made more of an effort on her way back to Konoha to memorize his chakra signature. It was just so boring, no distinctive features at all.

Chikako shook her head at herself, let her wakizashi appear and then slowly stepped up behind him. He was taller, but not by so much that she couldn't put her chin on his shoulder as she embraced him with one arm and used the other to hold the blade to his throat.

He froze up immediately, stiff as a board.

"Have you not yet realized he's making you weak?" She whispered. Human contact, as Sai had proven on many occasions, was not something ROOT operatives were accustomed to, not unless it was violent at least. They were trained to suppress emotions until they couldn't even recognize them in themselves, but as far as she was aware there was no protocol on how to deal with hugs. "Do you remember what I said about you doing anything I don't like?"

As she spoke Chikako let a little bit of killing intent leak, subtly increasing the amount. He shivered, gripped his kunai so tightly that his knuckles turned white, then swallowed and let go of the weapon. It hit the ground with a clatter and, even though he must have expected the noise, it still made him flinch. So much for not feeling anything.

In some regards it was much harder to manipulate someone who had no real concept of feelings, but in others it was far easier. Some emotions were rooted so deeply in the human psyche that they didn't need to be learned and could therefore never be forgotten. Disgust for one was instinctive, served as a mechanism to avoid rotten food and similar health hazards. It was something many animals shared, as was fear.

Fight or flight was the usual consequence, sometimes an attempt to appease the aggressor if there was one that could be reasoned with. In some cases though, for example when the conscious mind couldn't comprehend the way the body reacted, a person might just freeze in place, unable to take any action at all.

It would be so easy to kill him.

It would also be pointless. Chikako had always liked the ideal of the perfect assassin, the one that didn't even exist in stories because no one ever lived to tell the tale. She'd become Wraith instead, had determined that not existing might protect her, but if she wanted to protect others she couldn't be nobody, couldn't be nothing. Better to sow the seeds of terror, let them grow in the minds of her foes so that they might think twice about harming her or those she cared about.

Most people Chikako considered friends weren't the kind that could easily vanish, especially not without a full investigation into the matter, but they weren't entirely out of Danzo's reach either. Even worse, she didn't know where his lines were, if he even had any. How powerful was he really? Did the Hokage live because he needed her or because he couldn't kill her?

"What's your name?" Another whisper, barely louder than the humming street lights. He wasn't yet hyperventilating, his breathing had noticeably quickened though. She wasn't sure he'd realized yet that he was terrified.

"Sai."

She almost cut his throat right then. Her fingers itched with the need to do so, just one little twitch. Chikako didn't think he noticed the two extra heartbeats it took her to answer, not with how fast his own pulse was.

"Pick something else."

It took him almost ten minutes, but she waited patiently. Danzo had no doubt chosen that name on purpose, to what end she couldn't say. Did he think he could replace Sai like a broken toy? Maybe it was a test to see if she got angry? Did he expect her to track him down in a fit? Kill the messenger? Curl up and cry?

The best reaction would have been none. In fact she shouldn't even have asked for a name. Too late for that now.

"Ren," he eventually said. Not his real name probably, if he even remembered that. Maybe a code name he'd been assigned before.

"Why did you follow me?"

He opened his mouth, then the seal on the back of his tongue flared to life and he shut it again, teeth clicking. He swallowed hard, once, twice. Chikako sighed, let her blade vanish and stepped back.

"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. Run back to your master and tell him you failed."

He flinched again and she watched him slink off. He'd probably be punished in some way. Beatings didn't seem likely, not with the kind of training he'd have gone through. He shouldn't have any personal attachments either. Maybe Danzo's disapproval would be enough. If not perhaps isolation and lack of food did the trick. Whatever it was, he didn't seem very keen on following her order.

Chikako debated for a moment whether to call him back, offer him compassion. She didn't blame him any more than she'd blamed Sai, but she didn't trust him either. Trying to help him was too much of a risk for no gain at all. Kakashi was socially inept and Sai hadn't been a good actor either, but who was to say that Ren wasn't trying to play her? Pretend to be a kicked puppy in the hopes she'd let him get closer, lower her guard. She wasn't invincible, as Hidan had so easily proven. No point at all tempting her luck for a stranger.

If even Sakura knew about ROOT, then so did Tsunade. There had to be a reason she hadn't taken care of the councilman yet. No matter what Chikako might think of the Godaime, she couldn't believe the woman would allow that old warmonger to do as he pleased if she had another choice.

Danzo wasn't just one man. He'd created an idea, given the word shinobi a meaning besides the one Konoha publicly peddled. It wouldn't be so bad if the sides were clear, then everyone could just pick one and be done with it. In reality though, the distinction was hazy at best.

How different was ANBU from ROOT? Who really cared about genin, chunin or jonin in a war? When there was a need for soldiers the ill-prepared and weak weren't spared, they ended up as cannon fodder or collateral. In the end all shinobi were trained killers, what was the point of pretending otherwise?

. . .

Shikaku had been right when he'd called her a coward. Apparently She could face bijuu and nukenin, but knocking on a door was too much to ask. Ibiki was, well, she wouldn't call it pacing - it wasn't calmly moving around either though.

She was stalling again. How pathetic.

She'd been standing in the hallway for at least fifteen minutes now, likely longer. At first she'd thought he knew, but the anger she'd felt earlier had gradually ticked over into concern. It should probably give her a little more confidence, after all there was a chance that he didn't want to rip her head off, but in reality it only made her feel worse.

So she stood there, fist raised and stared at the door like an idiot. If Kit had come with her he'd probably just have given her a good shove by now. Instead it felt as if a ball of lead had taken permanent residence in her stomach. It rolled around a little every time she decided that she'd count down from three and then she'd knock, just take a deep breath and get it over with.

Once she did though, there'd be no going back. No way to not know what Ibiki thought. She didn't expect to be greeted with open arms. He'd tolerated it when his brother had defected, but he'd stayed away ever since.

Granted, unlike her, Idate had stolen from the village, but at this point he could barely be considered a shinobi anymore. He didn't have the potential to threaten Konoha in a meaningful way, whereas Chikako had earned a reputation for being a bounty hunter and assassin. Sometimes it even involved such pleasant adjectives as insane, sadistic or unhinged. Her name was entangled with the likes of Kisame Hoshigaki and Zabuza Momochi, now came with a real S-rank bounty as well thanks to Iwa. If anyone recognized her on sight it usually was, because where Wraith appeared, death tended to followed and they wanted to avoid standing in it's path. More than that, Ibiki knew about her past, knew about Orochimaru and Itachi and that she'd had blood on her hands years before she'd passed the Academy's exam. Depending on how much Kakashi had shared he might know about her involvement with Kiri's Hunter-nin as well and that could easily be considered treason, even if he somehow didn't care about anything else she'd done.

There was a sudden draft, warm air brushing her skin as the door was ripped open and Chikako found herself face to chest with the head of T&I. Light spilled into the hall, squeezing past his frame on all sides and casting his form in soft shadows.

He looked exactly like she remembered, long black coat, gray Intelligence Division uniform and a neutral expression on the verge of slipping into a scowl. Ibiki stopped dead in his tracks the second he saw her, frozen.

"You're late!" He barked, recovering far more quickly than her. The tone was the one he usually reserved for when Izumo and Kotetsu had pissed him off and he was about to assign them the most menial task he could think of as punishment. It had been directed at her a few times as well, mostly during the time she'd first started her training and he'd discovered that she sometimes took the saying, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger,' quite literally.

Chikako blinked at him, eyes wide as saucers. It took a few heartbeats until her brain kicked into gear once more, latching onto the first thought that was drifting by and a very eloquent, "What?" escaped her.

How could she possibly be late? It wasn't as if they'd had an appointment.

Ibiki didn't bother with an answer, just turned on his heel and marched back inside. He left the door open though, which she interpreted as an invitation to follow. His flat, just like hers, had been destroyed during the invasion, but the house it had been in had been rebuilt since. The new layout wasn't the same, but the interior didn't look too different. For all that he insisted on security and the constant changing of routines and codes that required, he did take comfort in familiar things.

There was clattering from the room she suspected to be the kitchen and when she entered it Chikako found Ibiki standing in front of the stove. He'd just placed a kettle on one of the hot plates and currently seemed to be reheating a pan full of rice, vegetables, mushrooms and fish. There were plates on the table as well, each containing a lone slice of lemon.

She'd seen him cook often enough, but this was just ... odd. It didn't fit at all with her mental image of what should be happening.

Neither of them said anything for a while. Ibiki didn't even turn around to look at her, not until the water boiled. Then he ordered her to make tea while he shoveled the food back onto their plates.

The whole situation was so mundane, yet seemed utterly surreal. She expected something to explode at any minute, Ibiki in particular. Despite that she still almost jumped out of her skin when he asked how her day had been. Chikako was pretty sure she didn't actually move, even managed not to choke on her food. She was equally sure that he knew anyway and had purposely waited until she'd taken a bite.

"So ..." she swallowed, drawing the word out as she glanced up at him. "We're ignoring the fact that I've spent the better part of three years outside of the village?"

"That depends. Would rather I ground you for life?"

That time she did inhale her rice and reflexively clutched at her throat as she coughed the little grains up again. Ibiki didn't lift a finger to help, but she did see the corner of his mouth curl up into the ghost of a smile. No, smirk, it was definitely a smirk. Fucking sadist.

She should have stopped eating. Really, she knew better than this. The food was good though and she was hungry.

"You can't do that," Chikako protested around another bite.

"And who's going to stop me? The Hokage?"

"What? No, you ... can't. You just don't-" she blinked, vision going blurry. It confused her for a moment, right up until a drop landed on her hand. She was crying. Of course she fucking was. The great Wraith, leader of Chigiri's Hunter-nin, notorious assassin and she was bawling like a baby. And over what? Not being shouted at?

She'd been prepared for anger and rejection. The mask had been in place, Wraith right beneath the surface, ready to take over and shield her form whatever he might have seen fit to throw at her. She'd been on edge ever since stepping foot past Konoha's gate, but this greeting was just so ... anti-climactic. As if she'd never left. As if this was just a regular night. As if he hadn't waited for her so long that the food had gone cold. As if it was normal for him to pace. As if she always stood in the hallway, too afraid to knock.

How was your day?

She supposed it was fine. Nobody had tried to kill her so far, probably. Apparently there were more people around she could rely on than she'd thought. The Hokage hadn't tried to throw her into a cell and being given the rank of chunin, while a petty insult, was technically a promotion, at least as far as Konoha was concerned.

From that angle maybe her day actually hadn't been so bad. And crying in front of Ibiki was okay. Here, in his flat, she didn't have to be Wraith. She could just be Chikako for a little while. He'd raised her after all, even if she'd never called him dad to his face.

Still, the thought of getting grounded was just too weird. It turned the next sob into a giggle instead and soon enough she barely managed not to fall from her chair, wheezing with laughter even as her eyes wouldn't stop leaking. She probably looked like an insane person. Ibiki hadn't thrown her out though and that was all that mattered.

. . .

They didn't talk much. He explicitly ordered her not to say anything she didn't want repeated to the Hokage. So what she did tell him was full of holes, disjointed stories about two children running away. There was more crying when she came to the part in which Sai's tale ended, but it felt nice to tell someone to whom her friend was more than a name. Ibiki hadn't known him, no really, but he'd seen him around, had an actual image in his mind when she talked about her friend.

They had an argument too, about where she'd sleep. Ibiki freely admitted that he couldn't guarantee her safety, they'd agreed on that much. The problem was that he wanted her to stay with Kakashi, or Hinata, or take Shibi Aburame up on his offer of shelter.

She'd rejected each and every suggestion he'd made. If Danzo wanted to send someone after her, she'd be waiting in the Uchiha compound, where the chance of noble sacrifices and collateral deaths was minimal. This was her fight and hers alone.

Of course that wasn't what she told Ibiki. She reasoned that anyone able to sneak up on her could get past whatever security Kakashi or the clans could provide. She told him that sensing intruders was simpler the fewer people were around. She argued that staying with one of the clans might make it easier for an assassin to approach her, after all he couldn't possibly think that none of their members were ROOT.

Chikako said any number of things that were both true and mostly irrelevant. What really counted was that she didn't even want to give anyone the chance to jump in front of her like Sai had. If she fucked up and got herself killed that was fine by her, but if her mistake got someone else killed? Someone she cared about? He couldn't ask that of her.

Ibiki knew the real reason. She could see it when he finally gave up trying to convince her, unhappy and defeated, but also understanding. He let her go in the end, to fend for herself, even if it was with a white-knuckled grip on the door handle. She didn't get away scot-free though. He made her sit through a whole lecture on how not to get herself killed. It gave her an idea of how Zabuza must have felt whenever she'd told him to be careful or that he couldn't do something without a guard.

. . .

Chikako was careful on the way back to the Uchiha compound, making sure nobody saw or followed her. It was unusual that her babysitter had given up this easily. She even looked around with her chakra sight several times to make sure she was alone.

It seemed ridiculously paranoid, more so when she reached the compound only to find Raccoon waiting in front of the main gate. Polite she supposed, or maybe he'd used his Byakugan to check and realized that nobody was home.

Chikako didn't feel like dealing with him. She hadn't gotten any sleep last night and if he wanted something it clearly wasn't urgent or he would have at least approached Kit. The kitsune could hide his chakra almost as well as her, but to a Hyuga's eyes it would be obvious that he wasn't a mere fox.

She circled around the compound and jumped the wall to get in. Then spent two hours carving seals around the foundation of Sasuke's house, while Kit patrolled the streets like a watchdog.

He came back occasionally, to bring her small objects and pick them back up again, once she'd carved seals into those as well. Mostly stones, flower pots and the like. They'd serve as a sort of fence, or maybe spiderweb was more accurate. They were all chained together with chakra strings and if anything tripped them she'd know.

The seals she used for that were the remnants of a failed attempt at turning one of her barriers into a cage in an effort to preserve chakra, but that made the whole thing too unstable. It pretty much fell apart as soon as someone touched it, which made it rather useless for containment purposes. For this, however, it was perfect and because it was anchored to physical seals the net would rebuild itself after it had been damaged.

She'd have to work on the whole thing some more, come up with a way to span strings around bigger areas and underground more effectively. She'd also need a way to exclude certain chakra signatures. Ideally she'd want to make all of that easily portable without the need for the many anchors and maybe then she'd have a counter against Jiraiya's seal that was useful for more than stationary security.

For now it was just a rudimentary alarm system. Together with Kit, the barriers around the house and her sense of chakra it should give her ample warning though.

She hated Jiraiya's goddamned seal. This was way too much work just to get a few hours of sleep. Not only that, with how long the whole setup took she wouldn't even be able to use it while traveling, at least not if she wanted to cover more ground than a civilian. This definitely would have to be number two on her list of things to work on, right after her natural energy seal.

Chikako was ridiculously tired by the time she'd finally finished. Raccoon had no doubt noticed her presence as well, but so far he'd left her alone. She mentally gave him a few points for that as she stumbled her way into the house.

The barriers shimmered into place as soon as she stepped over the threshold, glimmering softly before fading from view again as the natural chakra equalized. The way she'd layered the shields they'd cut off the air flow and since they drew mostly on natural energy they wouldn't even vanish if she ended up unconscious, but the area they covered - the whole house - contained more than enough oxygen for a few hours of sleep, so Chikako wasn't particularly worried about that possibility.

. . .

Surprisingly enough, her sleep remained completely undisturbed. No assassins, no nosy ANBU, not even a nightmare. According to Kit the only remotely interesting thing that had happened was a change of the guard. That day's ANBU babysitter was another Hyuga, a woman this time, wearing a bat mask. She was younger than Raccoon, but Chikako was pretty sure she'd already been ANBU three years ago.

Bat too was polite and stayed out of the compound. She even lengthened the intervals between Byakugan sweeps to nearly fifteen minutes, which gave Chikako more than enough time to slip away unnoticed.

Kit, who was apparently exceptionally bored, followed her to a training ground. Chikako had no idea what the current schedules were, so she just picked the first empty one she came across. It was nothing more than a rectangular field of dirt, interspersed with a few boulders. One side was bordered by trees, one by a patch of grass and the other two by a rickety wooden fence that separated it from the road.

Chikako picked up four of the smaller stones, then scratched barrier seals into them and placed one at each corner of the dirt field. When that was done she walked back to the center and used her foot to draw a square around one of the bigger boulders. It wasn't perfect, but the dimensions were roughly two by two meters.

She sat down on the stone, activated the barriers and even managed to close her eyes for a full two seconds before Kit proclaimed his eternal boredom and her duty as his human to entertain him.

"I am, you impatient little shit," she said chuckling. "Here are the rules. One, if I completely leave this square you win. Two, if you can't get me out of the square before I have to meet with Jiraiya or if you leave the training ground I win."

Chikako glanced at him, saw the evil gleam in his ancient, amber eyes and hastily added, "Three, neither of us is allowed to involve anyone else in the game."

His ears drooped and she congratulated herself on having averted a minor catastrophe. Good thing she'd thought of that before he'd, say kidnapped someone and threatened to kill them unless she left the square. The barriers she'd put up were only meant to protect passerby from any stray attacks. It would be no problem at all for Kit to get over, under or if he really wanted to even through them.

A moment passed in silence, but she couldn't come up with anything else that immediately needed to be excluded by a fourth rule, so Chikako made herself comfortable and told Kit to start whenever he was ready.

 _Sune first, she gets to play too_ , he insisted.

"Fine, but the same rules apply to her."

Chikako summoned the female kitsune, who appeared in her human form, already half-way through a rant about horrible working conditions. Evidently she was still angry. Luckily her brother didn't feel like waiting around for her to finish her tirade though and interrupted quickly. He explained the rules of the game in a rather condensed version that was missing about half of the words, but still somehow managed to accurately convey what was and wasn't allowed. Sune agreed almost before he was done and then things were flying in Chikako's direction at improbable speeds.

Kit had shifted into his human form as well and was using Lightning chakra to make his own movements faster. It allowed him to throw stones at her with the kind of force and precision that made her worry about her barriers. Since he too could use chakra sight it took him no time at all to capitalize on the weak spots. He lobbed a stone, waited for it to impact and then aimed the next one wherever the shield was currently weakest.

Sune didn't have the same ability, but that didn't stop her from throwing stones as well. Hers weren't as fast, but the frequency was much higher, ensuring that the barrier couldn't fully recover between impacts. At that rate it would take them several minutes to get through, but it would inevitably happen. Not bad as far as warm-ups went.

. . .

Several hours later Chikako had used up a little more than three quarters of her chakra reserves. Besides a number of bleeding gashes on both arms, all courtesy of Kit, she'd remained unharmed though. He'd timed the attacks well, moving in perfect synchronicity with his sister. Sune herself wasn't fast enough to touch Chikako, but what the female kitsune could do was use genjutsu. Since Chikako's natural resistance to illusions didn't work against demon chakra she'd actually had to pay attention and periodically disrupt her own chakra, and thereby her shields, to ensure she didn't end up trapped. Sune had never managed to trick her for more than a few seconds at a time, but whenever she did Kit had immediately capitalized on the opening.

 _Probably should have banned telepathy as well_ , Chikako thought wryly. They already had the numbers advantage and that they could communicate without a single outward sign made it that much better. Their teamwork was impressive as well. If Chikako hadn't known better she would have assumed everything they did was part of a carefully planned performance.

A stone whistled by her ear and she only barely managed to slap a second out of the air before it hit her in the head. The sneaky little bastards constantly shifted their attack patterns, but they seemed to like the stones and slipped them in whenever there was a lull in the action.

They'd been showing of too much though. Kit's lightning had turned a good third of the training ground into a combination of burned earth and clumps of fulgurite, which also made for excellent throwing weapons. He could probably continue playing for another hour or two, but Sune had tried to keep up with his showy displays. Her chakra reserves were almost completely empty, so when Chikako forced her to use the last of her energy to avoid a volley of kunai, she poofed into a cloud of chakra smoke mid-jump.

"And you're out," Chikako sang, immensely enjoying Kit's disgruntled expression. That wasn't the way she'd initially meant the no-leaving-the-training-ground rule, but she'd absolutely take the win, if for no other reason than to avoid gloating fox demons.

He huffed, walked over to the edge of the dirt field, put his palm flat against the barrier and shoved enough Lightning chakra through it to make the whole thing shatter like glass. The childish behavior made her giggle. Little show-off.

"An impressive display of youth," Gai commented as Kit stalked past him. He'd shown up not long after the game had started, but had remained a quiet observer until now. He wasn't the only one either. Lee had joined his mentor less than half an hour later, followed by Bat and Raccoon.

What really annoyed Chikako though were the Academy kids. Two of them had walked by around lunch, likely on their way to get some food. She wouldn't have minded so much, but then after classes had been over they'd come back, apparently bringing all of their peers along.

"Do you think she can teach us?" A boy asked excitedly. He got shoved a moment later by a girl with huge glasses that had know-it-all written all over her.

"No you dummy. Only jonin get to teach their own teams. Don't you see the flak jacked? She's obviously a chunin."

The boy muttered something in response, but Chikako didn't pay enough attention to catch the words. Kind of silly that the kid could tell her supposed rank from her clothing, but hadn't realized that she wasn't wearing a hitai-ate. At the very least they should have checked with Gai to make sure being so close to the fighting was okay. It wasn't as if any of them had known they were protected behind her barriers.

Chikako had half a mind to scare them off with a little bit of killing intent, or just the Hell Viewing Technique. Maybe that would teach them to be more cautious. She didn't want to pick a fight with Gai though. He probably wouldn't appreciate either option very much.

In the end she settled for ignoring the kids entirely and instead made her way over to the jonin.

"I apologize if I've cut into your training time."

"No need. I have come to thank you for the help you provided to Konoha. As you know Asuma was a dear friend."

Chikako cocked her head, studying his face. Either Gai was a really good liar or he was actually happy to see her. Maybe Zabuza had a point after all when he called Leaf shinobi goody two-shoes. She still maintained that Konoha was rotten at the core and had as many sharp edges as any other village, but it's ninja also collectively seemed to hand out second and third chances like candy - unless your name was Naruto Uzumaki, but that was a whole other can of worms.

"Go thank Kakashi and Shikamaru then. I wouldn't have gone anywhere near Kakuzu or Hidan for Asuma."

"What you might have done means nothing. What counts is that you put your life on the line to help your friends. You were there when it counted and that is the true meaning of youth."

She narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't say anything. If he wanted to pretend that her reasons had been anything other than selfish he was welcome to his opinion. It wasn't as if convincing him otherwise would help her in any way.

Lee beamed, giving her a thumbs-up, not in the least bit deterred by her expression or the fact that all she did was nod at him and walk away. He didn't follow her and neither did his sensei or any of the kids, but the same couldn't be said of her two ANBU babysitters.

Since she still had a little over an hour before Jiraiya would be expecting her, Chikako took her time getting rid of them. She even paid a short visit to T&I so Ibiki wouldn't worry and almost gave Izumo and Kotetsu a heart attack in the process.

Apparently nobody had told them anything about anything, but of course they'd always known she'd be back. They made such a production of pretending not to be surprised that she almost didn't realize that that too was only acting. It left her rather bewildered and with no idea what they had or hadn't known, only that it was more than nothing.

. . .

"Right on time," Jiraiya called as she entered Yakiniku Q. It seemed he'd ordered for the both of them. The restaurant was full to bursting, but the Sannin occupied a table big enough to seat eight people. One half was covered in plates and bowls laden with food, the other with stacks of paper, several of his books, various ink bottles, brushes and pens. At first glance it looked as if he was working on another novel.

"Aren't you afraid Kakashi is going to barge in and try to steal these?"

"Nonsense, he knows better than to disturb a master at work."

"I you say so." Chikako shrugged, sitting down opposite him. She pulled a few sheets of paper out of the stack at random. They contained simple notes and crude drawings, both clearly related to his porn books. There was chakra in the paper though, so she switched to her chakra sight to reveal the writing hidden beneath.

Jiraiya made choked noise, causing Chikako to smirk to herself.

"I told you it's not safe to hide information like this. Although, I have to admit, I have no idea what I'm looking at. Are those seals?"

They didn't look like anything she'd seen in the notes he'd given her. There was no common theme to their appearance either, except for the fact that they were all very simple shapes that required at most a handful of brushstrokes.

Chikako blinked her chakra sight away again, raising her head when the Sannin failed to answer. He was giving her that look again, the one that said she was doing something very simple wrong and he couldn't understand how that was even possible.

"How can you not recognize these? They represent the basic building blocks of sealing. The lowest common denominator if you will. Every style of sealing derives from these elementary symbols."

She stared at him, actually sat there in silence and stared at him for a small eternity, mouth opening and closing several times like a fish on dry land. What the hell had she been learning if not the basics of sealing? Konoha didn't have a lot of useful information on the matter, especially nothing that was meant to teach someone, but she'd never even seen these symbols. At least not in this context. Some were mere geometric shapes, whereas others resembled characters, often in rotated or mirrored versions.

Jiraiya had no problem at all interpreting her reaction. He wasn't nice about it either. The man practically doubled over, laughing so hard that he had to gasp for breath several times. His whole face turned red and a waitress came over asking if everything was okay.

"He's fine," Chikako groused, stealing some of his meat while he was distracted.

The waitress hurried away, but quickly returned with a glass of water. When she placed it in front of Jiraiya though, he tried to grab the woman's behind. She shrieked in surprise, lost her balance and upended the glass in his lap, then quickly backed away again, apologizing until she was out of sight. She did not return with a replacement drink.

"How are you even still allowed in here?" Chikako asked, staring down the patrons that had stopped their conversations to watch the spectacle. There was no way this hadn't happened before. Naruto didn't call him a pervert for nothing.

"I tip very well."

"And that gives you the right to molest the staff?"

"You have to admit it's far less conspicuous than asking for privacy."

"I really don't." Chikako gave him a look to make her disapproval clear, but all things considered this was hardly her problem. "Have you figured out how to make the seal work?"

"Yes."

"But?"

"It's not usable. You see-" he indicated the stacks of paper "-my style of sealing is essentially shorthand for these basic buildings blocks. I've never had a problem with it, but what you've come up with requires a level of precision that is simply not achievable. To make it work you have to use the long version, which turns each section of the seal into at least a dozen new parts.

"Your design, and as you've said that's only half of it, is already so complex that writing the whole thing down took me several hours, which means at your current speed you'd have to spend a full day on it. It's also not reusable either and only lasts for about two to five minutes because the ink can't withstand the natural energy flowing through it any longer than that."

"How complex exactly?" Chikako asked, but her hopes of getting around all of those problems by forming a chakra seal the way she currently did were dashed when Jiraiya dumped a stack of paper in front of her. He hadn't been kidding about one of the shorthand instructions she was used to requiring multiple of the basic seals. If anything his claim that it was only a dozen was a massive understatement.

"I'll write you a manual so you can translate from the basics into my style and back, but I'm afraid that is all the help I can provide," Jiraiya said eventually.

"What kind of ink did you use?"

"Regular ink infused with chakra, two types of sealing ink. I even tried blood to achieve the best chakra conductivity and I tested all inks with both my chakra and natural energy to see if interference was the problem." His tone made it clear that he didn't appreciate being questioned like this. Understandable, seeing as he was the sealmaster and she'd apparently been working with a huge gap in her knowledge.

Of course he'd also initially claimed that three dimensional seals weren't possible in the first place and Chikako had a pretty good idea why his tests had turned out the way they did. He didn't need to know that though. If she was wrong nothing changed, but if she was right she could complete the seal without having to share all of it's secrets with him.

"Thanks for the food," she told him, wrapping some of her leftover meat in a napkin for Kit. "I'll consider this part of the deal fulfilled once you get me that translation manual."

Jiraiya placed two more sheets of paper onto the ones already in front of her and then handed the stack over.

"Memorize those and meet me on your old training ground tomorrow around sundown. I have business outside of the village and I want you to master them as soon as possible."

"Two?" He'd said he wanted her to learn a seal to help keep the Kyubi trapped inside of Naruto. There hadn't been any mention of a second one. Jiraiya only raised an eyebrow at her, as if to ask what she was complaining about.

Fair enough. Knowing more seals wouldn't hurt her, so she asked him about Itachi instead. He told her that Gatsu was fine, pretending he didn't know exactly who she wanted to know about, because she'd avoided saying the Uchiha's name were everyone could overhear.

He wasn't particularly impressed when she glared at him in response, but her threat to get Naruto involved worked wonders. Chikako didn't know why he seemed to care for the blond now. Maybe it was guilt because Jiraiya had left him to fend for himself most of his life, or maybe he was just using Naruto like he was using her.

She didn't care either way. Since he had no qualms about manipulating her by putting her friends in danger she had absolutely no problem using his relationships against him either. Chikako was pretty sure that if there were to be sides, Naruto would pick hers and the Sannin had to be under the same impression.

He wrote her a short note in the code he'd made her learn, then send her on her way. All it said was that Itachi was fine and that the reason she hadn't heard from him was that Jiraiya had some time-sensitive business and was therefore employing Yata to deliver messages. Her peace of mind simply didn't rank high enough to be kept in the loop.

Chikako wished she could hit the bastard, just once. On one hand he was helping her - more than he needed to at times - on the other he treated her like an incompetent toddler and constantly tried to manipulate her actions as if she was a chess piece in his personal game.

She had more questions, for one why he hadn't helped take care of Kakuzu and Hidan, but the answer wouldn't change anything after the fact and it was in her best interest not to piss him off any more than necessary, so she left without another word. He'd only refuse to answer anyway and she'd probably start a fight, because at the very least Kakuzu should have been killed.

. . .

 _So?_ Kit's voice echoed in her mind as soon as she reentered the Uchiha compound. He was back in his fox form, but the fact that he was lounging on top of the wall made it quite obvious that he wasn't a regular animal. The way he followed Bat's chakra signature with his gaze, even though the Hyuga was trying to hide in the shadows, only underlined that fact further. Raccoon wasn't there, but it seemed standard procedure when they lost Chikako was to head back to the Uchiha compound and wait for her to return.

"Stop messing with the poor ANBU," Chikako chided, waving around the napkin-wrapped meat to get his full attention. It was cold by now, because she'd made a detour to the smith that had created her blades on her way back, but Kit looked pretty interested regardless. "Jiraiya's solution won't work for my purposes, but I think I can fix it."

Kit stopped short, eyeing the meat suspiciously.

 _This is a bribe isn't it?_

"Sure, if that makes you more likely to agree, it's a bribe."

He flattened his ears and growled at her, then jumped to snap the meat out of her hand.

 _No_ , rang in her mind and she could actually hear the triumphant grin in that one word.

"You don't even know what I want yet."

 _Do I look like an idiot? If you're asking instead of ordering it means whatever you want is stupid. So I'm guessing it involves sending me away, which would leave you here with no one to watch your back._

"Necessary," she groused. "Stupid would be delaying any longer. I've been trying to get this to work for ages. And you're being dramatic. Kakashi is here and so is Ibiki, not to mention most of my friends."

 _None of whom you're staying with_ , Kit commented dryly, seeing right through her.

Chikako sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Please? Kakuzu said getting the rings back was the next thing on his agenda and that guy ripped through my barriers as if they were nothing more than wet paper. In an open fight I wouldn't have stood a chance against that guy, hell even his idiot partner almost got me.

"I'd really, really like to have at least a chance to defend myself before I find out who gets the task next. So can you please just do this without arguing?"

 _What do you mean he almost got you? The wounds didn't look that bad._

"It doesn't matter, Shikamaru saved me. Now are you going to help or not?"

He chuffed in annoyance, but then sat down to look at her.

 _Fine, what do you need?_

"Get this-" she said, holding out the stack of papers that contained Jiraiya's fully written out version of her seal "-to Kankuro. Ask him if he'd be willing to tattoo it on my back. Try to convince him if he's still angry, but no threats. I'll pay whatever price he wants, money, blood, even information provided it doesn't put any of my friends in danger.

"This has to be absolutely precise though, especially the layering, and I'll need him to use sealing ink. I'll provide the ink of course and whatever else he needs to get the job done."

 _You sure about the no threats rule? If this is important-_

"Kit," she snapped, glaring at him.

He made an odd motion that might have been a shrug, but didn't translate very well to the body of a fox. Then he walked in a circle, a cloud of chakra smoke forming around him. When it vanished the fox was gone and instead a boy stood in front of Chikako.

He leafed through the papers, nose wrinkling a little more with each drawing he came across. After the third his eyes turned black and back again a moment later.

"I hope you don't expect me to make a copy of that when I get there."

"Are you saying you can't?"

"Don't insult me human," he snarled. "I've already agreed to one menial task and I resent the implication that the stupid bird is a better courier."

"What the hell are you talking about? I didn't even mention Yata."

"You're trying to make me carry a hidden message, which is only necessary if you think I can't protect it."

"What happened to doing as I say without argument?" Chikako asked, suddenly experiencing an overwhelming urge to slam her head into something hard. Kit's ego was like a balloon, completely inflated and only one hard poke away from bursting.

"I never agreed to that."

"Dammit Kit, using codes and hiding communication is just plain common sense, especially with something this sensitive. And why is it such a problem now? You delivered an encrypted message last time."

"That was before I was so cruelly cheated out of my victory."

Chikako groaned. She couldn't even tell whether he meant the game they'd played earlier or the race to decide who got to choose their next target. Not that either of those things should have had any impact on his opinion of coded communication.

It took almost an hour of arguing back and forth until he agreed to a compromise. Chikako would copy the whole stack with regular ink, but she'd also add the same amount of fake pages, containing random arrangements of symbols as well as partial and altered copies of the real seal. That way, in addition to having to memorize how the parts had to be arranged, Kit also had to learn which were real and which weren't, but apparently that was okay because it was an intellectual task.

. . .

By sundown the following day Chikako felt as if someone had dragged her behind an ox cart for a few hours. Inking all of those fucking symbols had taken forever. In fact she'd only now finished and was covered in black smears from head to toe. No time for a shower though, or anything really. She'd only managed to eat something around noon because Kit had gotten bored of alternating between watching her and messing with today's ANBU, Raccoon again, and gotten her some food.

Chikako sighed, stretching her shoulders, neck and hands. Her fingers felt stiff from holding a brush for so long and she'd gone through all of her supplies. The seal was a damn nightmare to draw. She really hoped that her idea worked out. It wouldn't be completely useless otherwise, but if the tattooed version couldn't withstand more than one use either she'd essentially created a really annoying to prepare emergency weapon, instead of finding a way to let her excel in open combat.

"Do you need to go-"

"No," Kit snapped, yanking the stack of papers away from her. He'd confused the order of the sealing layers earlier and had taken any offer of going over them again as a personal insult ever since. Chikako wasn't too worried, because she'd seen him arrange the whole thing correctly over a dozen times by now and she could always correct any mistakes before Kankuro tattooed her - if he tattooed her.

"Okay," she said easily, getting to her feet. "I'll be heading out then."

The 'be careful' died a silent death in her throat at Kit's glare, so she walked out of the house keeping her mouth shut.

Chikako got anpan and a bottle of water on her way to the training ground. Raccoon walked beside her the whole way, following like a really conspicuous shadow. By now her legs were nearly fully healed, so she could have outrun and then lost him, but she didn't want to be late.

Team 7's old training ground hadn't changed at all. Seeing the little red bridge that led to it brought back memories of a grinning Naruto and grumpy as hell Sasuke. It made her smile, for approximately two seconds, then she saw that, even though she could only sense two chakra signatures waiting for her, there were eight people and a huge, black wolf. Jiraiya, Bat, six others in ANBU gear, half of which she recognized as the rookies that had guarded - attempted to at least - Tsunade.

"Is anyone allowed to join ANBU now?"

"Who do you think you are?" The one with the wolf snarled. Definitely an Inuzuka.

Chikako gave him a second to rethink that question, but he just glowered at her, clearly waiting for an answer. She sighed, bodyflickered right up to him and kneed him in the stomach. Then she placed her right foot behind his, grabbed his throat and pushed. He landed on his back with a wheeze, clutching at the hand that was holding him in place and cutting off his air supply.

Chikako wasn't done yet. She showed him her teeth in a grin that would have made Kisame proud. Her chakra flooded the area with killing intend so strong and sudden it made the other rookie ANBU stumbled backwards. Next came Hell Viewing, which, as she'd learned thanks to Orochimaru's henchmen, was much more effective if the target was already overwhelmed by fear.

It hit some stronger than others. The Inuzuka and his wolf both whimpered like frightened puppies. One woman only gasped, before she shook the illusion off, but was still unsteady on her feet, entirely open for an attack. The guy that had been in Tsunade's office, the slow one, made retching noises. Chikako ended the genjutsu and clamped down on her chakra once more before she could find out whether he was actually going to puke with the mask still on.

"Congratulations, you're all dead," she informed them pleasantly. "When was the last time any of you imbeciles have looked at a Bingo Book?"

"It only says to leave you alone," the ANBU that had rammed into her barrier two days ago protested.

"My bad. Of course that means you should assume I'm in no way dangerous or inclined to hurt you. And obviously there's no reason at all to even peek at the Bingo Books of other nations. I mean really, what do they know?" Chikako sneered at the whole bunch, then turned to Jiraiya. "What is this? ANBU kindergarten?"

"Arrogant as ever I see," the Sanin drawled. "How about a little wager? You will try to use the seals I gave you, while they attack. If you can't master both without getting hit, you will train with them for a month."

"And when I win?"

"I'll teach you a technique to burn seals into objects using chakra."

"You realize I got speared through the abdomen and broke my femur two days ago?"

"Afraid?" The Inuzuka taunted. He'd recovered quickly she'd give him that, but he was clearly trying to compensate with cockiness. Well, two could play that game.

"Hardly, I could beat all of you blindfolded and with my hands behind my back."

"And would you care to put your money where you mouth is?" Raccoon asked mildly. She had to laugh at that. She'd forgotten how common betting was among Konoha's jonin and ANBU.

"Sure, how much are you willing to lose?"

He pulled a pair of shackles out of a pocket, letting them dangle from one finger.

"Let's say a million ryo if you put these on."

Ah, so that's what this was. Tsunade wanted to test Chikako's claim that Iwa hadn't been able to hold her prisoner, or maybe it was Jiraiya. Either way, she agreed, which surprised everyone but the Sannin.

"Six against one, while she's blindfolded and without chakra? That's not even a challenge," the Inuzuka scoffed.

Chikako smiled at him.

"Maybe you want to loose some money as well?"

"You're actually going to do this?" Bat asked. Her voice was incredulous and she kept throwing Raccoon glances.

"Yeah, only against clones though. Well, unless you're prepared to get a new batch of rookies. If you suppress my chakra I can't guarantee that I won't kill them by accident."

Not a total lie. It was more that Chikako wasn't confident she could win under those conditions if killing wasn't an option, but they didn't need to know that.

The Inuzuka, barely keeping his temper in check, made a few growling noises. He was embarrassingly easy to rile up and the way he - all of them really - had reacted to her killing intent didn't speak well of them either. For Konoha's sake Chikako hoped that these six were still in the first phase of their ANBU training. They had to excel in some area to even be considered for the promotion, but from what she'd seen so far she would have failed every last one.

"Clones it is," Jiraiya cut in before anyone else could get into a verbal fight with Chikako. "As for the seals, we'll do those afterwards, seeing as you won't have access to chakra."

Chikako nodded, forcing her face to remain neutral as Raccoon put the shackles and blindfold on her. Deep breaths. They were out in the open, no cell anywhere in sight. She could get free if she needed to, either by herself or with Sune's help.

Jiraiya was right that she wouldn't be able to use the seals, but only because they needed to be applied to the target. The version of the chakra-suppressing shackles that snapped shut around her wrists also drained it, but at a pace that was so slow that emptying her reserves would take hours and should have no impact on anything she did with chakra formed inside of her own body. Chikako was also pretty sure that meant she could overload them if she were to force a lot of energy in quickly.

If Jiraiya really didn't know that already, which she doubted, he'd find out soon enough. She wondered why he'd said she wouldn't have any access to chakra though. It wasn't like that would trick her. The rookies then? Maybe she wasn't the only one being tested.

Chikako activated her chakra sight as soon as Raccoon was satisfied with the blindfold and convinced that she couldn't see anything. Meanwhile the rookies created their clones, two Shadow, three Earth and one Water. Once they were done they stepped back to line up behind Bat.

"Go on I don't have all day," Chikako called. It worked like a charm.

They were still all in front of her and Inuzuka's clone charged in before the rest had a chance to get into better positions. Chikako let her right foot slide backwards, bending her knees and gathering chakra in her legs. As soon as it was close enough she shifted all of her weight onto the left foot, while at the same time pulling the other one forward and into a kick.

The ball of her right foot collided with the clone's sternum hard enough that a human's chest would have caved in. Instead the clone turned into a cloud of chakra smoke and the real Inuzuka gasped as the memory backlash hit him. Chikako ignored the reaction in favor of jumping backwards to avoid whatever two of his comrades' clones had just thrown her way. Not being able to see kunai, shuriken or senbon was somewhat annoying, but as long as she could keep everyone in her line of sight the movements of their arms should be enough indication.

She sprinted to the left to avoid the clone trying to circle her form the other side. That brought her into close quarters with a clone that was running through a lengthy chain of hand signs. It finished shortly before she reached it, which gave it just enough time to make a confused noise as the realization that its genjutsu had no effect whatsoever sunk in. Then Chikako slammed a knee into its stomach and swung her leg over its head as it doubled over. With its neck pinned between her calf and thigh she jerked it downwards and to the side, applying enough sudden force to tear the cervical vertebrae apart. That clone crumbled into dirt.

Now that she'd taken two down in less than a minute the remaining four backed off a little. Two shot fireballs at her, but the attacks weren't coordinated at all, so sidestepping them was easy. The third tried a genjutsu, which Chikako ignored and the fourth threw something big and fast enough to make the air whistle, a Fuma Shuriken if she had to guess. She took extra care dodging that one, not sure of it's exact dimensions.

Numbers one and two seemed rather happy with their decision to try and overwhelm her with long-range ninjutsu attacks and clone four had apparently decided that watching was the best course of action, so she took number three down next.

The Body Flicker Chikako used to get close startled the clone so much that it only got halfway through a block before her foot collided with it's head, turning it into another pile of dirt. The action also caused rather vocal protests from the peanut gallery, which she capitalized on immediately.

The next Body Flicker had her reappear in front of clone number two, whose reaction was much faster. It stomped the ground, pushing almost all of it's chakra into the earth to make rock spikes shoot into the air all around it.

Chikako jumped, kicking it in the chest with both legs and into it's own attack. As soon as it fell apart the spikes stopped spreading, but in its haste to defend itself the clone hadn't paid attention to where the others were.

Number one had been right behind her and while it had managed to jump upwards to avoid getting skewered, that left it in midair. Without any way to maneuver, all it could do was created one last fireball. Chikako ducked under the flames, only jumping herself once they had passed her and then kicked that clone too into the rock spikes.

If the group was balanced and its actions, or lack thereof, so far were any indication the last one should be a close quarters taijutsu user. In that case the big projectile it had thrown earlier was meant to compensate for the lack of range, but it was probably something new, seeing as the clone hadn't used any other throwing weapons. Maybe something one of the more experienced ANBU had suggested.

Chikako walked over to the clone, giving her legs a little time to recover after having pushed so much chakra into them. Fighting like this wasted a ridiculous amount of energy and put far too much strain on her muscles for regular use. The Body Flickers were fine, but putting extra chakra behind every kick and keeping it concentrated throughout her body in case she needed to create a barrier beneath her skin was not.

The last clone didn't wait until she'd reached it. Instead it sprinted forward, left hand held in front of it's chest, palm out and the other held at it's side. Chikako dodged almost without thinking about it when its right shot forward, then tilted and swiped back again, shortly followed by a hit from the left. She ducked an weaved automatically, enjoying the familiar dance.

Neji'd gotten faster since the Chunin Exams, but he still moved exactly the same. Perfect form, perfect pace, perfect execution, perfectly predictable. The fact that he couldn't hit her didn't seem to bother him this time either. She'd expected his style to become less rigid once he'd figured out why she'd beaten him so easily, but apparently the exact opposite had happened.

As long as he didn't falter he left no opening, so all he had to do was outlast his opponent. Because of Jiraiya's seal Chikako hadn't been able to sense his chakra, but even though she was pretty sure his reserves were bigger than hers if one discounted natural energy, the clone wouldn't have that much. Still, the faster she got this over with the faster she could get an actual meal.

Chikako ducked under another swipe, just slow enough to give him an opening. He struck like a viper, fast, precise, without hesitation. The blow hit her in the shoulder and in turn left his left side completely undefended for a second. Just long enough for her to ram a knee into his side.

The clone poofed into smoke, eliciting a grunt from Neji. Chikako winced a little, both because of her shoulder and because she'd pulled a muscle or two. Maybe another day of rest wouldn't have hurt. She'd certainly need one now.

She refrained from scrunching up her nose in annoyance, keeping her face perfectly blank as she walked back over to Raccoon.

"Take those off," she told him, rattling the shackles a little and presenting him her back. Chikako made sure to keep her head turned in his direction as best as possible. Good thing too, because instead of doing as he'd been told, he shifted into a combat stance.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You are under arrest."

What a surprise. Okay technically it was, seeing as she hadn't expected this particular scenario, but then something had been bound to happen sooner or later.

Chikako let herself fall into a roll to get out of his path and away from Bat, debating for a moment whether calling her blades or forcing natural energy through the shackles would cause less damage to her hands. Summoning Sune would be the safest, but also the slowest option and the fox might not be able to defend herself in time if she didn't realize that she'd landed in the middle of a confrontation. Natural energy was both fast and directing it would be easiest, but depending on how big the capacity of the shackles was Chikako might end up cooking her hands. So blades it was.

She created the storage seals beneath the skin of her palms. It prickled a little, then there was a sudden spike of pain as the swords sliced free. She managed to grip the wakizashi, but the blade scraped past the shackles. The tanto's tip on the other hand got caught in the chain between her wrists.

Chikako ended up slicing into the back of her own flak jacket when she leveraged the blade against her restraints, but that was a small price to pay. She'd have to destroy the shackles themselves to regain full use of her chakra, for now being able to freely move her arms was enough though.

Neither Bat nor Jiraiya had reacted at all to Raccoon's attack and the rookies were mostly confused as far as Chikako could tell from their body language. None of them looked particularly inclined to join in, but that didn't stop Raccoon.

He was on her again in an instant, aiming for the injured shoulder. What he got instead was a blade to the heart. Would have at least if she'd pushed the steel two centimeters deeper, but he'd stopped short and so had she.

Someone was standing at her side, hand hovering over her wrist, too slow to touch before she'd made contact. Chikako used her tanto to slice the blindfold away, deactivating the chakra sight before anyone could see. A second watcher made sense, one using Jiraiya's seal to hide while the obvious Hyuga guards drew her attention. Couldn't be much more effective at tailing her though or she would have noticed the night she'd run into Ren.

"Don't worry Cat," Chikako told the newcomer as she pulled her wakizashi back. There was blood on the tip, the flak jacket hadn't provided any resistance at all. She held Raccoon's gaze, he'd seen with his own eyes that Cat hadn't made it in time, that Jiraiya had stood back to watch. "I do listen to sensei on occasion."

Chikako changed the grip she had on her blades, pushing the tip of each between her wrists and the metal that still bound her chakra. What was left of the shackles snapped, the parts clattering to the ground. She let both swords vanish, then turned to Jiraiya.

"I won, pay up."

He didn't scowl, but unhappiness radiated off him as he, true to his word, demonstrated how to use chakra to burn seals into solid objects. He called it the Finger Carving Seal. It was the first time she saw him create a raw chakra seal, no ink involved. Just a tiny thing at the tip of one finger. It concentrated chakra into a single point and turned the energy into intense heat.

Chikako wasn't entirely sure how it worked without relying on an elemental transformation, but then she was still struggling with Explosive Tags as well. Maybe the manual he'd promised her would help.

He cautioned her to be very careful with her chakra control, lest she burn herself or destroy the object she intended to mark. Apparently, even though it looked easy, it was a very difficult exercise.

She stopped listening at that point. He was still patronizing her and right after one of his idiotic tests as well. Chikako might not understand how the seal worked, but she'd seen it, felt it. She crouched down, placed both of her palms flat on the ground, a little more than shoulder width apart. A second later the smell of burning grass assaulted her nostrils. When she took her hands back black burn marks decorated the area in very distinct patterns.

On the left side the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, a spiral surrounded by two interlocking Four Symbols Seals. It looked simple at first glance, but had many tricky intricacies and deviated from Jiraiya's usual style to the point that she wasn't sure it was his creation. That one was to hold the Kyubi in place, trapped within Naruto.

Jiraiya hadn't given her any explanation as to how exactly it worked, but Chikako was almost certain it was part of the reason that Naruto could draw on the Tailed Beast's chakra without immediately loosing himself the way Gaara used to.

The seal on the right side looked more complicated, split into three circles. One inside the other, all connected by straight lines emerging from the center. Those were only repeating patterns though, a coil to draw energy away, to disrupt the connection between summoner and summon. At least that was what the Contract Seal was meant to do, she was pretty sure it could be applied to any kind of chakra bond.

Once Chikako was satisfied that both seals were perfect she stood, giving Jiraiya a hard look. He'd stopped talking in the middle of a sentence. His mouth still hung open slightly.

"Never," she said, face blank and voice dead, "put Hinata's family in danger again for one of your tests and think very carefully about how much you are willing to piss me off."


	73. XVI - Dinner

**A/N:**

Thanks for the reviews everyone. This one is on the shorter side and mostly talk, so writing it didn't take as long as I'd expected. Have fun reading.

. . .

 **XVI - Dinner**

She'd vanished after her declaration. Camouflage, Body Flickers, the grip on her chakra so tight maybe even the Byakugan would have lost track of her for a moment. She'd most definitely pulled another muscle. Maybe she shouldn't have refused Tsunade's and Sakura's offers to heal her. Recovery was taking too long without proper rest. If she asked for help now though, she'd be admitting weakness and that couldn't happen. Especially not after the show she'd just given.

Had Raccoon attacked on Jiraiya's orders or Tsunade's? The Sanin had to at the very least have known and the same was true for Bat, otherwise they would have intervened in some way. Chikako was less certain about the rookies. She hadn't had the time to pay attention to their reactions and thanks to Jiraiya's seal she hadn't been able to sense their chakra even after she'd taken off her shackles, which didn't help her interpret their lack of action either.

"Rikumaru?" She asked, stepping foot inside of the Nara Forest. There was a deer nearby, she could feel that much, but recognizing the signatures of animals was hard. She'd had some practice with dogs, but that was it.

The deer looked at her, head tilted slightly so one of it's big brown eyes could take her in. As far as Chikako could tell it was the same animal. It didn't seem offended by the name either, not that she had any idea what an offended deer looked like.

"Would you mind playing guide again? I need some peace and quiet to work, preferably somewhere the Byakugan cannot reach."

The deer flicked one ear, then turned around and began walking. Chikako, followed, unsure whether it had agreed to her request or was simply leaving. It didn't seem to be in a hurry, but turned around every few minutes, presumably to make sure she was still there. Was it impolite not to make any noise? Should she maybe let some of her chakra leak or would the animal perceive that as a threat?

She knew how to read dogs, predators in general. Deer were prey though. She could hunt them, but she didn't know how their body language worked beyond the signs of aggression and alarm. So they walked in silence, while Chikako took great care to stay where the animal could see her and not to make any sudden moves.

The deer led her to a stump, much wider than the trees that surrounded it. Someone had taken the time to smooth out the wood and placed several boulders around it until it resembled a table. The fact that no grass grew within a one meters radius told her that it was visited regularly, but there was no path leading in any direction. Whoever came here took care not to leave a trail for others to find.

"Thank you," Chikako told the deer, bowing. Then she hesitated for a moment, wondering whether that might be interpreted as a challenge, seeing as a deer's primary weapon were its antlers. The deer blinked at her, bowed as well and then wandered off. Its chakra signature changed into something a little more bubbly and she got the impression it was laughing at her. She watched it for a moment, then shook her head at herself and sat down on one of the boulders.

Chikako placed her palm on the stump, activating her newest storage seal. A moment later paper, ink bottles, brushes, her Kiri hitai-ate and all the other things she kept in it appeared. Her chakra flared a second time, taking with it everything that wasn't needed at the moment and leaving only the sealing utensils, four empty bowls and three little crucibles behind. Each easily fit in the palm of her hand and was filled with dark powder in different shades of black. The smith had thought her request curious, but acquiesced without fuss.

Chikako filled about two teaspoons worth of powder from one of the crucibles into a bowl, then added three times as much ink and mixed the two components together with one of her brushes. She used the mixture to draw a series of simple seals on paper, each three times. The first time she used just the ink, the second she added her own chakra and the third she pulled on natural chakra. The seals themselves also varied in the amount of layers each required, ranging from one to six.

Once the seals were drawn, she tested them, using a separate piece of paper and her bastardized version of Jiraiya's seal to jot the results down in chakra rather than ink. Chikako noted the amount of energy necessary to activate each seal, how strong the resulting barrier was, how fast it appeared, how long it held with only natural energy to draw on and anything else she could think of.

She repeated the same steps over and over again with different mixtures, changing how much powder or ink she used, blending the powders with each other and her blood as well as varying the amount of chakra she added. She also created tests with regular sealing ink and ink mixed with only her blood, but none of the powders.

The results were ... better than she'd expected, but worse than she'd hoped. For a seal with just one layer it was almost irrelevant which mixture she used. The only thing that seemed to matter here was whether chakra had been involved in creating the seal. As soon as more than one layer was involved though things became tricky. If she only used one type of ink the seals burned up within moments. She had absolutely no idea how Jiraiya had managed to make one hold for more than a minute. Her best attempt was forty seven seconds.

Her chakra sight easily confirmed that the problem was interference. Not in the way the Sannin had suspected though. He'd thought his chakra interacted with the natural chakra that her seal was supposed to draw on. In reality it was the seal that interfered with itself, or rather the different layers. When she created them using pure chakra the layers didn't actually touch, they were close enough that they could interact with each other, but at the same time clearly separate parts of a whole.

When drawn in ink the same design created problems, because wherever the layers touched chakra leaked from one into another, like a river flowing back into itself in multiple places. It caused turbulence and an imbalance in chakra concentration that made the whole seal less effective and burned the ink away.

On the bright side, the experiment confirmed her hypothesis as to why Jiraiya hadn't been able to make her seal work. The remaining problem was that the powders, ground versions of three different types of chakra conductive steel, didn't work as expected. No matter how she mixed them with the ink or each other, she could never completely avoid interference. Not even between just two layers. The metals were simply too similar to each other for that and as far as she could tell the regular sealing ink was made with one of them as well.

The only thing that did work was using a metal and ink mixture for one layer and a blood and ink mixture for the other. That proved that creating the seal with ink wasn't impossible, but left her with the task of finding five chakra conductive materials to create ink, similar enough to allow interaction between layers, but different enough to prevent leakage.

Not only that, they also had to be usable for tattoos, meaning it couldn't be something that would decompose or eat away at her skin. So the metal was fine, but blood was out. Where the hell could she get four more-

Chikako sat up straight at the flare of a chakra signature. It was considerably closer than she would have liked, but at least this time she knew who it was. She had to wonder though whether it was a coincidence that Danzo had chosen to send someone as hard to pick out as Ren. Because his signature was so utterly bland it blended well into the environment even when he was announcing his presence.

He walked up slowly, deliberately making just enough noise to communicate that he wasn't trying to sneak up on her.

"Yes?" Chikako asked once he'd halted, leaving several meters between them. If he carried any weapons they were well hidden.

"Councilman Danzo has requested a meeting."

"Requested has he?" She smiled sardonically, because they both knew it was a demand, an order, as if Danzo had any right to command her. "Tell him he can stick his request where the sun doesn't shine and stay out of the forest, you aren't welcome here."

Ren looked at her as if she might change her mind if only he waited, but he couldn't hold her gaze long.

"I will convey ... polite refusal," he said, the last part hesitant. He sought out her gaze again, making certain that that was okay, then scurried off.

Did that count as lying to Danzo? Had he realized yet that he was terrified of her? Would he get punished? Had he been? He looked the same as last time she'd seen him, but the fact that he'd changed the message spoke volumes. Was that for her sake or his?

Dammit, she needed to stop sympathizing with him this instant. He wasn't her problem, he most definitely wasn't Sai and unlike Sho he wasn't behind bars either. If he wanted to leave all he had to do was run. And hope nobody found him and …

Chikako shook her head, scowling at nothing in particular.

Shikaku appeared only minutes after Ren had left, which she took as her cue to pack her things. Quiet experimentation time was clearly over and she hadn't eaten anything substantial yet either. It probably wasn't fair to blame Jiraiya for that, it barely required any mental acrobatics though, so she did anyway.

"You had a visitor?" Shikaku sounded neutral, but she sensed concern, so Chikako quickly assured him that nothing had happened.

"That's not the point," he told her, growled almost. "He shouldn't have been here in the first place."

"Apologies. He came to speak to me. I'll stay away-"

"You are welcome any time. What I meant was that he shouldn't have been able to get this deep into the forest unnoticed."

Chikako blinked at him. The perceived rejection had stung, even though she'd come to the conclusion that she should have returned the necklace. Her left hand reached for the pawn almost involuntarily, but lingered there without ever moving towards the clasp.

"Forgive me, but why? It seems very easy so sneak in. Any shinobi worth their salt can move silently and mask their chakra as well as scent. Keeping one's body temperature hidden wouldn't even be required and Camouflage should be sufficient to completely bypass your monitoring of the shadows, seeing as it prevents the user from casting any. On top of that Ren's chakra is exceptionally hard to detect even when he isn't trying to hide it. It would be very easy to overlook his presence."

Shikaku gave her an odd look, then, just as the silence began to stretch, her stomach punctuated her statement with a loud growl. Chikako didn't flush in embarrassment, but his quiet laughter said she didn't hide the emotion very well either.

"Come, Yoshino will be upset if the food gets cold."

"I wouldn't want to impo-"

"I insist."

Shikaku didn't wait for an answer, just turned around and walked. She followed after a moment, but he never looked back to make sure. Was it trust? A gamble? Did he not actually care after all or was he that certain that she'd do as told?

It struck her as odd that she had no desire at all to give him any indication of her presence, when earlier she'd worried about being polite to the deer. But then she hadn't questioned the animal's motives either. Maybe she should have.

Chikako stayed silent, a predator stalking prey - only without the intention to attack and not entirely sure which of them was the hunter. It became all to clear when they neared the house. She wasn't the only guest who'd been invited to dinner and at least some of the others had no doubt been selected because of her. Ino and Choji sat with Shikamaru, across from Naruto, Ibiki and Hinata. Kakashi was there too, lurking outside and waiting for the right time to be late. What a curious trap to lure her into.

If her steps faltered for a moment Shikaku didn't mention it. His chakra didn't react in the slightest either, so there was a chance he hadn't noticed. As far as she could tell he wasn't currently monitoring the shadows, so he should have no way of knowing whether she was there and yet he hadn't looked for her once. Was that polite or a mind game?

The door opened before they reached it, revealing Yoshino Nara in a pink blouse and long, ocher skirt. Chikako had seen the woman a few times, heard plenty about her temper, but right then she greeted them with a smile as the delicious smell of home-cooked food wafted out behind her.

"Ah, good. Come in, come in. Now only that tardy sensei of yours is missing."

Chikako bowed, as much to be polite as to hide her smirk.

"He's been here for a while Nara-san, likely arrived precisely on time."

The woman blinked at her owlishly when she straightened her posture again. Shikaku too seemed skeptical. She smiled at them, knew very well that Kakashi would stay exactly where he was unless someone forced him out of hiding.

Chikako waited a second longer, then shrugged and vanished. She'd given him a warning, it was on him that he'd chosen to ignore her. There was no way she was heading into that house without backup.

She reappeared between him and the branch he was crouched on. Chose to interpret the exposed Sharingan as a compliment rather then the threat it was likely meant to be. Kakashi switched with a Shadow Clone immediately, not giving her the chance to do anything.

Chikako ignored it in favor of following him to the next branch, releasing chakra into it the instant she landed. Wood splintered with a crack, robbing both of them of a foothold. Kakashi's eyes widened minutely at the sudden drop, but he was more than fast enough to react in time and jump. Chikako grinned, proceeded to, quite literally, throw herself at him.

"That's cheating," he grunted as her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs around his waist. He easily landed on his feet though, then pried her off like a particularly annoying barnacle.

"Cheating would have been if I'd read Jiraiya's notes for the next Icha Icha out loud," she told him, knowing full well that he could have dodged if he'd wanted to, "So you should really be grateful that I'm such a nice person and would never let slip how-"

He clamped a hand over her mouth and she giggled, while Shikaku and Yoshino looked on in amazement.

"There you are!" Naruto shouted, nearly barreling Shikamaru's mother over in his haste to get outside. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

Chikako gave Kakashi a smug look, but it slipped when the second part of that statement registered and she realized he was talking to her and not their sensei.

"Define everywhere." He hadn't been anywhere near the Uchiha compound, she would have noticed.

"Well, everywhere," Naruto said as if it should be obvious. "You know, Hinata-chan's place and Kiba's and I looked all around the village. I even asked Iruka-sensei, granny Tsunade, old man Ichiraku and Bushy Brows for help."

"Literally no one on that list makes any sense, except for Hinata and I haven't even gotten around to visiting her yet."

"Which I'm taking personally by the way," the girl shouted from inside.

Chikako frowned, mouth closing with an audible click. That had been Hinata's voice, no question, but she'd sounded confident in a way Chikako wasn't used to hearing in company. The girl had only ever used that tone during their training, when she'd gotten comfortable enough to forget that she was shy.

"Maybe we should head inside?" Shikaku offered, glancing at his wife warily. Yoshino was still smiling, but there was also a vein pulsing at her temple, prompting everyone to agree hastily.

The first thing Chikako noticed once they joined the others was Hinata's hair. The girl had grown it long and wore it loose. Her clothes weren't quite as baggy as they used to be either and her posture was perfect, but the hair was the biggest change. After all, Chikako didn't wear hers in a ponytail or braid at all time because those were her favorite styles. She did it to make sure it didn't snag on branches, obscure her vision or provided an easy target for an enemy to grab onto. All things Hinata knew very well, which meant the way she wore hers was a statement, a declaration that she was good enough not to worry about any of that.

She'd probably mastered the Hyuga's defensive techniques then. Good for her, provided she'd also gotten over her unwillingness to actually attack an enemy.

What caught Chikako's attention next were the chairs. The table could easily sit six people, eight if they didn't mind giving up some elbow room. There were only seven chairs though, despite the fact that Yoshino had said they were waiting for Kakashi. So even discounting Chikako's presence two were missing.

Hinata looked very comfortable next to Ibiki. Seeing as she'd started her apprenticeship in T&I quite some time ago, Chikako might have dismissed the easy familiarity. The Hyuga heiress was equally at easy with everyone else in the room though, except for Naruto and oddly enough Yoshino, implying she wasn't as used to interacting with them. Which on the flipside meant she was used to the other six.

What made Yoshino and Naruto different then? The former was the only non-active shinobi in the room. Not much reason for them to meet unless Hinata came for a visit. The latter was the only jinchuriki, the girl also had - or at least used to have - a crush on him, but she wasn't acting embarrassed or afraid in any way, just a little reserved. He'd only just returned to the village though, as oblivious as ever.

Her connection with Ibiki was T&I, Team 10 she'd have run into on a semi-regular basis simply because they'd graduated in the same year. Which left Kakashi and Shikaku. The latter she might have seen a few times because he was the Jonin Commander, but that would have been in an official capacity and Kakashi she shouldn't have come across at all.

There was also the matter of the chairs. Yoshino was only now getting two extra chairs. Two, not three like they would need to seat everyone. It seemed Chikako had been wrong in assuming that the extra guests were because of her, at least in the way she'd assumed.

"How often do you meet like this?" She asked lightly, which had Choji choking on his food.

"Pay up Nara," Ibiki said, giving Shikaku a smug look. Kakashi's chakra too held the warmth that came with pride, but he remained silent.

Naruto meanwhile looked very confused, confirming that he wasn't usually part of whatever this was. Yoshino on the other hand hadn't reentered the room after she'd brought the second chair and it didn't seem as if she was going to any time soon, so she hosted but didn't participate.

"Told you it's too obvious," Shikamaru muttered, which Ino disputed with an incredulous, "No way, did she just guess that thirty seconds after entering the room. Who cheated?"

Kakashi shook his head, gesturing for the two empty chairs. Chikako followed him without protest. Watching Naruto's face change from confusion to understanding and back again as he tried to figure out what was going on was quite entertaining and so were Ino's attempts at interrogation, especially when she rounded on Ibiki.

It took several minutes for everyone to calm down again, by which time Kakashi had eaten his fill, somehow managing to remove his mask in a room full of people without drawing any attention at all. Naruto was especially dismayed when he finally realized that he'd just missed a prime opportunity to see his sensei's face.

"Man, I don't get any of this," he complained. "Someone explain what is going on. Chikako-chan?"

"Why the hell are you asking me?"

"You're smart."

"Seriously? Your criteria is smart and I'm the first person in this room you look at?"

"Uh, Shikamaru?" He tried next, turning to the Nara, who already looked like he'd rather be anywhere else.

Chikako couldn't help her laughter, not that she tried particularly hard. In almost any other constellation of people she would have agreed that Shikamaru was the obvious choice, but not when Shikaku and Kakashi were options as well. She laughed even harder when Naruto frowned at her, clearly not understanding what she found so funny.

"What?" He asked with an air of petulance.

"Nothing, feel free to ignore me."

"That might be a bit of a problem, seeing as you're the guest of honor," Shikamaru drawled.

There was a whole lot more bickering before anyone finally got to the point and explained that they usually didn't meet so openly. Apparently Chikako's presence was good cover because they were all connected to her.

That night she learned that Tsunade was very aware of Danzo and his actions, but that the elders stood against her at every turn. Not only that, she didn't know which of her people she could trust, which in turn meant she relied overly much on those that had proven their loyalty. So the reason for sending Hinata's team and the other clan heirs on important missions far away from Konoha was twofold. One, Tsunade needed to be sure that her orders were actually followed and that the respective team hadn't been infiltrated by ROOT and two, they acted as bait to draw Danzo's agents out.

The increased number of rookie ANBU fulfilled a similar role. They gave the Godaime a chance to fill her ranks with shinobi she'd chosen herself and closely monitoring their every action didn't draw any suspicion, because it was expected. The whole process was slow, a silent war, and at least Tsunade had no idea how many pieces her opponent even had or how big the playing field was.

Chikako still didn't like her, but she had to admit that the woman probably wasn't as much of an idiot as she'd thought. Those were bad odds and with Konoha on the line taking some risks was required if Tsunade wanted to win the game. She was seemingly trying to do it above board too, at least outwardly. Likely trying to preserve the village's reputation.

They discussed what they'd learned, how best to help their Hokage and a number of problems that were more general or unrelated to Danzo, but in the end finding a way to get rid of the councilman was what had brought them together and what they concentrated on.

Chikako watched in silence, pretty sure that they were acting mostly without the Godaime's knowledge. As far as she could tell Shikaku was the only one who communicated with Tsunade about this group, but it seemed to her as if he'd never disclosed who it's members were. On one hand that meant it was harder for anyone else to uncover, even if they did learn of the group's existence, but on the other it also meant that Tsunade had no idea who knew what.

Same thing with Jiraiya and the measures he was taking against Akatsuki. The woman had chosen her generals and was letting them fight the war for her. If she got killed the fight wasn't over, so Danzo couldn't just take her out, because then he'd be as blind as her. Risky indeed, for everyone involved.

Chikako much preferred open bloodshed.

"What are you thinking?" Shikaku eventually asked.

She didn't answer right away, debating with herself whether she should keep her mouth shut. Her answer was obvious and she already knew they would neither like nor agree with it.

"Bait as many ROOT agents as you can out of the village. Ensure they don't make it back and kill Danzo while they are gone. Afterwards keep any known or suspected sympathizers under surveillance, have Tsunade publicly announce the councilman a traitor. Then kill whoever tries to assassinate her.

"Interrogating the ROOT agents is a waste of time and I'm not sure you'd have much more luck with Danzo himself, but that's at least worth a shot. Once he's gone you should concentrate on searching his house and the tunnels for information. If he fancies himself a kage, chances are there are written records of his activities somewhere.

"It's possible he has some kind of fail-safe in place or instructions to be carried out after his death, but after everything I've learned about him so far I'd wager he's more dangerous alive. Still, it'd be prudent to stay on high alert for some time. The man has been playing the long game for ages now and I wouldn't put it past him to be vindictive enough to salt the land if he can't have it."

The room was silent, all eyes on her, some more surprised than others. Shikaku was the only one with chakra calm enough that she couldn't read emotions from it.

"Is that how you handled Kiri?"

"More or less, only then I was on the other side."

"I couldn't help but notice that you didn't mention any trials."

Chikako shrugged.

"No prisoners, no trials. Mist was pretty clean cut and my job wasn't to change hearts and minds. It was a simple matter of eliminating any threat to the village and it's new kage."

"So you're just the executioner then? How many people did you kill?"

"During the coup? None."

"What?" Ino gaped at her. "But you took over a village."

"Yes, well, I had my hands full with a Tailed Beast and once that was dealt with I was mostly trying not to choke on my own blood. By the time I came to again Zabuza was Mizukage and all I had to do from then on was take out a few would be assassins."

"Whoa you fought a Tailed Beast? Like all on your own?" Naruto's eyes sparkled with excitement as he leaned over the table. He nearly planted a hand in one of the rice bowls, only missing, because Hinata snatched it away in the nick of time.

"Only for a few minutes to distract it before the backup arrived. See, the plan was for me to assassinate Yagura and failing that to meet up with the people we had in the village. Didn't work out quite like that of course, seeing as he knew we were coming and ambushed us outside of Mist."

Chikako told them about the whole fight, but changed a few things here and there to avoid compromising Kiri's security. The part in which she got eaten garnered a few interesting reactions. Naruto thought it all very cool, like a big adventure to free the people of Mist from a tyrannical ruler. The other occupants of the room on the other hand were more focused on everything that could have gone wrong, specifically how often she could have died.

"Wait," Ino said when she was done, "how'd you decide who got to be the new Mizukage? Zabuza was a nukenin, so shouldn't this Mei woman have had the stronger claim?"

Chikako grinned at her, remembering the first time she'd seen Zabuza wearing the hat - it looked ridiculous on him.

"When you overthrow a government it's might makes right. Mei is strong and has people of her own, but if she'd staked her claim she wouldn't have survived long enough to try on her new clothes. Well, at least I don't think so. It's possible that Zabuza would have let her rule, but she chose to play it safe, so we'll never know."

"But isn't this the same situation we have with Danzo now? Mei staying in the shadows with people loyal only to her?"

"No," Shikamaru said. He sounded confident, so Chikako waved a hand for him to continue, even if the question had been for her. "If Terumi wants the best for her village, she won't risk another coup so soon, and if all she'd wanted was power she would have tried to ensure Momochi didn't survive long enough for the question of who should be kage to even come up. I'm assuming she's since given up on the idea of becoming Mizukage entirely."

"Why would you think that? Another female kage wouldn't hurt you know? Tsunade-sama is really strong and Temari did a good job as interim Kazekage."

"Because she's still alive," Chikako said, wiping the playful pout from Ino's face. "It's not about whether she would have been a good kage or not. I spent six months in Kiri after the coup to ensure Zabuza could hold the village. If Mei had given me any reason to believe that she was a danger to him I would have killed her and every last one of her supporters."

"Without asking Momochi for permission first?" Shikaku asked, cutting off Ino's sputtered protest. He was giving her that look again, the same one he'd shot her earlier when she'd described how easy it was to sneak into the Nara Forest. She couldn't quite interpret it. There was definitely a hint of speculation there, but with that man that didn't say much.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Just ask me what you really want to know."

"Is it true that you head Kiri's Hunter-nin Division?"

"That's ... a little complicated. Technically it was never officially my job and even if it had been, I quit when I left. However, I've since been informed that no one will take the job in my stead, so I suppose you could say that I am."

Shikaku looked surprised, albeit pleasantly. He probably hadn't expected an honest answer, or at least not one this detailed. He'd no doubt heard about her debriefing with the Godaime. Chikako trusted these people though. She still wouldn't tell them anything they could use against Kiri, but they'd earned this much.

"Why did you leave?"

"It was time."

That answer he was less happy with, but he didn't press, which earned him a smile.

Shikaku had a few more questions concerning her knowledge of Akatsuki and her partnership with Kisame. She also filled them in on what she knew about Danzo and any ROOT operative she'd run into.

Chikako was pretty vague about where and when exactly she'd come across the one that she'd eventually ended up in an Earth prison with, but Hinata connected the dots anyway. The girl practically radiated guilt when she did. She didn't care that Chikako didn't blame her either or that the whole thing had in no way been her fault for that matter.

"The Hyuga owe you a debt," the young heiress eventually declared.

"Don't be daft Hinata. You owe me nothing and neither does your family."

"We do," she insisted, "if not for that then for coming to rescue me after the Chunin Exams. If not for that then for saving Neji-nii-san on the same day. If not for that then for saving him again the day you and Sasuke defected. If not for that then for sparing a member of my clan even though he attacked you without provocation. Do you need me to go on? Because I can."

"Fine, fine," Chikako held her hands up in surrender, "please stop making it sound as if I'm some kind of selfless hero or something. By the way, since you know that Raccoon attacked me, do you know why?"

"Our dear sealmaster ordered it," she said as if the title was actually an insult. "I'm not supposed to know anything about that, so it's not as if someone filled me in, but as far as I understand it he's testing you."

"Yeah, I got that. I just can't figure out why. It seems kind of random. Sometimes he helps me out even when he doesn't need to and other times he tries to put me in my place or leash me. It's like he can't decide whether I'm a toddler that shouldn't be left alone with pointy things and needs coddling, or an asset that, while useful, can't be trusted."

"Have you considered that he's trying to make you his successor?" Shikaku suggested as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Come again?" Chikako stared at him, because no, that thought hadn't crossed her mind once. Not even as a remote possibility.

"Obviously I lack details, so correct me if I'm wrong," the elder Nara drawled, looking like the cat that got the canary, "but is it not true that he's teaching you his sealing techniques? His last apprentice in that area was the Yondaime Hokage and since then he's refused to share more than the most basic sealing knowledge with anyone.

"Then there's the other side of his job. You grew up with the Intelligence Division protocols. Your abilities make you uniquely qualified not just for assassinations, but also tracking, infiltration, information gathering and countering all of the above, including sealing I'm told.

"That you aren't officially a member of any Hidden Village gives Konoha plausible deniability if any of your operations were to be uncovered, yet at the same time you are tied to multiple people and even clans, ensuring your loyalty to the Leaf. You have contacts all over the Elemental Nations due to the time you spent traveling and access to both the Kazekage and Mizukage.

"So tell me, while you're working for him, is he not teaching you all of his tricks? Making sure you know how to contact his people and verify their identity? It seems only natural that he would also continue to test you at every turn. After all the position of spymaster would give you access to all of Konoha's secrets, so he has to be sure that you are both willing and able to protect them. Wouldn't you agree?"

"You can't be serious."

He didn't waver though, barely even acknowledging her immediate refusal to believe a word he'd just said. It was ridiculous. Hadn't they just established that she was technically a Kiri ANBU?

"Can't I? We had trouble finding a Hokage after the Sandaime's death. Who do you think is next in line as spymaster?"

That ... was a good question actually. Whoever it was would have to be part of the Intelligence Division she supposed, but that was fractured into so many smaller groups that it was hard to keep an overview. Especially because most groups were recreated and disbanded as needed, like any concerned with reconnaissance and infiltration for example.

The only permanent fixtures of the division she knew of were the Torture and Interrogation Force, headed by Ibiki and the Analysis Team, headed by Inoichi. And while both men excelled in their field she couldn't see either do Jiraiya's job.

An ANBU maybe? There had to be at least one Intelligence Division branch exclusively concerned with the elite and their covert operations. If so that branch would likely be kept secret and staffed by ANBU as well.

"No idea, who?"

"No one. Jiraiya has worked alone for over a decade now. He isn't bound to any team, division or group. His official rank is jonin and any authority he holds beyond that is because people are willing to defer to him." Shikaku offered her an indulgent smile. "I hear your position in Kiri is somewhat similar in nature."

. . .

"Spymaster huh?" Shikamaru asked later.

She'd decided she needed some air after that particular conversation and fled to the back porch. The others had left not long after, but nobody had tried to approach her to say goodbye. At least until now.

"Nope," she chirped, forcing her voice to sound cheerful. It was a pitiful attempt, but he switched topics without mentioning it.

"We have a guestroom you know?"

"Ibiki put you up to this?"

Shikamaru sighed, turning around to make sure his parents were still busy cleaning the dishes, then pulled a cigarette and lighter from the breast pocket of his flak jacket. He lit the thing with practiced motions, but then only held it, watching the thin band of smoke rise into the night.

"You should know better than to stay alone when there are so many people willing to help."

"And you should know why I'm doing it anyway." It came out more aggressive than she'd meant it to, but she didn't apologize. He'd been there. He'd seen Sai make the stupid decision to save her and pay for it with his own life.

"It's okay to miss him, but clinging to the memory like that isn't healthy."

"You're one to talk."

He laughed, quiet, not much more than a whisper on the breeze. She'd expected it to sound bitter, but instead it was fond.

"I suppose you're right," he told her, stubbing out the cigarette on the porch without having taken more than the single drag necessary to light it.

They sat in companionable silence as they often did, but Chikako couldn't help fiddling with the necklace from time to time. She could tell that he wanted to say something. He never did though, which was just as well. Chikako had no intention of talking about the thing. She should have given it back yesterday, at the very lasted today during dinner. Now midnight was approaching and still she wore it as if she had any right to.

"Jiraiya's leaving tomorrow," Shikamaru said eventually.

"Yeah, something about important business outside of the village."

"What about you? You came here to talk to him, didn't you?"

"I still need a few things, so I'll stay a little while longer."

"At the Uchiha compound."

It wasn't a question, but she answered it anyway, tone just as flat and matter of fact as his had been.

"Yes."

"With no one to watch your back."

"I'll be fine."

"Just like you were fine against Hidan?"

"Is this about the story I told earlier?"

He took a deep breath, then exhaled loudly. It gave her the odd impression of a man headed for the gallows.

"Kurenai is pregnant. I'm not sure if Asuma-sensei even knew he was going to be a dad. Just," he paused for a moment before continuing in a stronger voice, "just stay in the fucking guestroom will you? I'm not cut out for revenge."

Chikako gave him a long look, taking in the way he still held the cigarette stub. He was a little too pale and there were faint bruises under his eyes. It'd make him feel better if she stayed, but she knew that he wouldn't hesitate to follow in Sai's footsteps if the opportunity presented itself. Just another one of Konoha's bleeding-heart goody two-shoes, always ready to be the noble sacrifice.

She shook her head at herself as she jumped from the porch and crouched down to pick out a stone. She wasn't being fair and he deserved better, especially from her. He'd already saved her life after all and without even suffering so much as a scratch for his troubles. Nara weren't cowards, no, but they didn't run headlong into trouble either.

She wouldn't deliberately put him at risk by staying here, that was just too much to ask. Maybe she could do something so he didn't feel helpless though.

Chikako found a stone that was mostly smooth, small enough to comfortably fit in the palm of her hand. Then she picked out a second and used the technique Jiraiya had shown her to burn seals into both of them. One she kept for herself and the other she held out to Shikamaru.

"It's ... well, not technically a seal, only part of one really. It serves as an exercise to test remote triggers, like the ones used for most Explosive Tags. If you push chakra into it the other half will heat up, so that you know you did it right. In this case that's your stone. The range is limited, but it'll work while I'm in Konoha.

"I promise I took appropriate measures to secure Sasuke's house, but if I happen to need help anyway I'll use the seal and you can call the cavalry. Fair?"

He took the stone carefully, turning it this way and that to inspect the seal. She was pretty sure he couldn't read the thing, but that clearly didn't matter. Chikako watched him for a moment, then decided a demonstration was in order.

He yelped in surprise when the stone suddenly heated up. Instead of dropping it though, he gripped it tighter, giving a sharp nod.

She left him standing alone on the porch before he could make her promise to actually use the thing.


	74. XVI - Yamanaka Mineral Run

**A/N:**

Thanks for the reviews.

 _Homarid_

Not sure whether and how much I'll actually go into Chikako becoming Jiraiya's successor. It depends a lot on how the following chapters will play out.

 _The Harrinator_

I'm not really sure were you got that idea. The first time she sees him after Wind is in Bird and his initial reaction is to be wary, because of the Bingo book entries about Wraith. Also I'm too lazy to go back and see how old exactly he was, but it would have been around fifteen. Seems a little young to make proposals if you ask me. Not to mention that we're talking about Shikamaru here, whose Infinite Tsukuyomi dream in canon is to avoid marriage.

. . .

 **XVI - Yamanaka Mineral Run**

Chikako's night remained, once again, completely uninterrupted. It made her antsy to say the least. She wasn't quite ready to jump at shadows yet, but there was a distinct urge to stay out of sight and double check that no one was following her when she left the Uchiha compound.

Bat had been at the gate to greet her, but the female ANBU hadn't even attempted to tail her this time. Why even keep a guard around then? Unless ... maybe she'd misinterpreted. Despite what Raccoon had said for the sake of Jiraiya's - or Tsunade's - test, she wasn't actually a prisoner. She'd gotten permission to stay for as long as she needed, meaning she could also leave whenever she wanted. The ANBU's behavior made much more sense if they were meant as bodyguards. During the day their services clearly weren't needed, but they could stand guard during the night.

Then again, it might just be another test to see how she'd react to being followed around. At this point the only thing Chikako knew for a fact was that she knew nothing at all. If Shikaku's insane theory was correct, and she very much doubted that, Jiraiya was an even bigger asshole than she thought as well. On top of that nobody seemed to think that her consent was in any way required. As if it was a foregone conclusion that she'd do the job if it was offered to her. Just like her goddamned Hunter-nin, who really shouldn't be hers anymore. She'd quit for a reason.

Chikako made an effort not to scowl as she entered Yamanaka Flowers. She'd gone to T&I first to ask Ibiki whether he knew about any materials besides metal that acted as good chakra conductors. His supremely unhelpful answer had been blood, which she'd already ruled out and Hinata didn't have any more information either. So now it was Inoichi's turn.

She had no idea why he personally manned the flower shop's counter several days a week, or how he found the time for that matter, but Ibiki had been sure he'd be able to help.

"Ah, Chikako-chan, thank you for helping out and bringing my little girl back in one piece. Are you here to buy flowers?"

She was about to refute helping Ino, seeing as she'd barely taken note of where exactly the girl had been while they'd fought Kakuzu and Hidan, but Inoichi didn't give her a chance. He grabbed the first bouquet in reach and practically shoved it into her face.

Chikako managed to keep her reflexes in check, so she didn't end up batting the flowers away. Instead she took a large step backwards and to the side, getting in position to glare at the man. He looked delighted, even more so when she had to sneeze.

"Get those away from me," she hissed, wrinkling her nose. Chikako had absolutely no idea how he could spend all day in here. The smell was strong enough to give her a headache. "Do you know about any materials that are good chakra conductors? Besides metal and blood I mean."

Inoichi frowned at her, holding the bouquet out a moment longer before he finally placed it back on the counter.

"You are such a grump, just like Ibiki. A little romance wouldn't hurt either of you."

"You know what will hurt me? Not getting this done, so stop trying to peddle your weed and be helpful."

"Well," he chuckled, already used to her behavior, "we do use a special mineral to produce fertilizer for our more delicate specimen. There is also a rare flower called Light Catcher that absorbs a certain amount of chakra as it grows. It's very beautiful. I think even a grouch like you-"

"Yeah, yeah," Chikako waved him off. "I need anorganic materials, so no flowers. How much for the mineral?"

Inoichi looked her over, gaze catching on the necklace for a moment. It made her want to snatch the thing and stuff it under her flak jacket, out of sight - or maybe chuck it at his head.

"Tell you what, I was going to send a few people out to get more in two days anyway. You can pay by escorting and protecting them."

"The location is a clan secret isn't it?" Chikako asked, eyes once again narrowed, in suspicion this time.

Instead of answering he just grinned at her and shooed her out with instructions to be at the main get at nine in the morning.

Goddamned Nara and his goddamned necklace. Not that she had any right to be angry with him. The stupid thing had been a comforting reminder while she'd been on her own and now it was helping her in a more tangible way. By rights she should be thanking him, but in reality she wanted to keep the necklace as much as she wanted to burn it.

Now that it wasn't just a gift from a friend anymore, now that people noticed and associated meaning with it, it felt more like a collar than anything else. She might not wear a hitai-ate, but that thing marked her as belonging to the Nara clan to anyone who knew what it was.

Not property, no, but still owned. After all the protection it provided wasn't one-sided. Shikaku might not have outright said so, but it hadn't been hard to read between the lines. She was expected to act like a member of the clan, and that meant bowing to it's head and acting in the best interest of the clan at all times. It wasn't unfair exactly and, except for the bowing bit, she would have done her best to protect Shikamaru's family and friends anyway, but now the necklace made it feel as if she wasn't doing it out of her own free will.

"Fucking stupid," Chikako muttered under her breath as she continued her quest to ask everyone she knew for help without divulging why she needed it.

. . .

By the end of the day she had a pouch full of kikaichu chitin, thanks to the Aburame, and no idea where to get two more substances that fit her requirements.

The chitin wasn't actually anorganic, but would take so long to decompose that it worked for her purposes anyway. Shino had been pretty helpful, listing a number of insects that could use or interact with chakra. For most of those their exoskeletons played a big part in the matter, as they allowed for very efficient chakra flow and could even retain a certain amount of energy.

Sadly, her experiments with metal had already proven that just using different bugs wouldn't work, so she'd settled for the one's that took to natural energy and her chakra best.

They'd spent at least an hour discussing the different properties of each insect. Chikako couldn't say that she was interested in the matter beyond what she needed for her seal, but Shino had seemed to enjoy the conversation immensely. He hadn't let her pay for the dead bugs either, claiming that he owed her for saving his life and that the clan had no use for the chitin anyway. She wasn't sure she believed the latter, but didn't argue.

At the end of the day Ren had once again found her on her way back to the Uchiha compound. She'd walked past him without a word and he hadn't tried to catch up.

They both knew what her answer was and it didn't matter how often Danzo asked. She still rather doubted it was a request anyway. If it had been he would have approached her himself by now or at the very least proposed a public meeting, but doing either would put him in the weaker position if he actually wanted her help with something and any other reason he might have for wanting a to see her couldn't possibly be good for her health.

Chikako didn't know how patient the man was, so maybe there would be some more asking before he tried coercion or blackmail. She'd deal with that when the time came. For now she had a bag full of kikaichu that needed to be taken apart, so she could grind the chitin into powder without contaminating it.

. . .

Most of the following day was devoted to testing ink mixtures. As it turned out the chitin was an even better conductor than the metal and, just as it had been with her blood, it allowed her to create layers without interference.

The rest of her time she spent training, while trying to figure out whether there was a way to make organic substances work somehow, because if so she already had everything she needed. More often than not though, her mind drifted as her ideas got more and more outlandish.

She'd even tried to create the seal with only tree types of ink, her blood acting as a substitute for the mineral. That had ended with a feeling of triumph that lasted for approximately the three seconds it took the energy to spiral out of control. Chikako managed to contain the destruction to about two square meters, but those two square meters had turned into charred earth that felt as dead as it looked.

Definitely not something she'd want to get tattooed on herself.

Rikumaru had kept her company, curiously watching her experimentation. For that he'd given her the evil eye though - apparently deer could look scary if they really wanted to, but then he'd also helped her turn over the soil and cover it with fallen branches and leaves.

Not exactly inconspicuous if she was honest. The deer had seemed happy enough with their shoddy job though, so she figured it was fine.

. . .

Day six started with her tracking down Kakashi to let him know she'd be gone for a few days, which was really odd because she'd never had to do that. Before he'd become Team 7's sensei he'd always been the one who'd left, sometimes for weeks at a stretch. As a kid she'd hated not knowing whether he'd gotten bored of her like all the other ANBU. Once he'd started leaving the dogs to warn or watch over her she'd instead worried about his safety, but that had been a million times better than not having any idea why he wasn't around.

Inoichi, who was sometimes almost as bad as his daughter when it came to spreading gossip, would no doubt inform Ibiki, Hinata and Shikamaru of her whereabouts, but Kakashi deserved a personal visit so he could properly pretend he didn't care. The fact that that gave her a semi-plausible excuse to snoop around in any ANBU facilities she could find might have also played a role in that decision.

She eventually tracked him down in the tunnels, Cat and Raccoon by his side. They were all in full ANBU gear, but clearly not on duty if the game of poker was any indication. Chikako guessed that their shift had either just ended or was about to start.

She used Camouflage to walk up to them, spying on everyone's cards. Then she tapped them out on Kakashi's back together with the message that she'd be gone for a week or so.

He didn't even twitch, making her wonder whether he'd somehow been able to tell that she was there. Guessing wouldn't have been too hard after a second, after all there weren't a lot of people that could hide as well as her, but she'd been prepared to dodge at a moment's notice when she'd first touched him. That she hadn't needed to made her frown, not sure whether she should be annoyed.

Her distraction gave him all the time he needed to snatch her wrist and pull her onto his lap before she could make an escape. Cat startled so badly, she reflexively used her cards like shuriken and launched them at Kakashi. Raccoon on the other hand jumped backwards, toppling his chair and slid into an opening stance of the Gentle Fist.

"Was that necessary?" Chikako complained, which Kakashi answered by ruffling her hair and messing up her braid.

"Of course it was my cute little genin."

"Tsunade promoted me to chunin."

"Temporarily," he told her as if that made the rank invalid by default.

Chikako crossed her arms and pouted at him.

"If I have to accept her petty insults so do you."

He looked down at her, completely unfazed by her expression.

"You really think it's an insult?"

"I mean I get why it's chunin, what with the whole clearance and chain of command stuff, but she didn't have to give me a rank at all. She could have just demanded I help out and leave it at that."

"Ah," Kakashi hummed in that non-committal way that sounded somewhat like agreement, but actually meant that he though she was absolutely wrong and being dense on top of that.

"What?" She snapped, which had both Cat and Raccoon staring at her as if she was insane.

Kakashi just crinkled his visible eye in an insincere smile and cocked his head slightly. She heard the, 'you should know better,' and, 'figure it out yourself,' even if he didn't say a word. Worst teacher ever. How hard could it be to just tell her outright?

"Asshole," Chikako muttered.

Cat chuckled quietly, a little confused, but willing to see how things played out. Raccoon on the other hand had drawn in an audible breath, apparently expecting some kind of violent confrontation. Chikako ignored both of them, taking her time undoing her hair to fix her braid.

So the positive spin on her guards was that they were meant to protect her. How would a temporary rank help? She didn't get the clearance and even if anyone didn't know that, which would hardly be Tsunade's intention, she couldn't get any important information.

Since she'd agreed to play nice both jonin and ANBU could technically give her orders, but the Godaime had rather implied that she was free to do whatever unless the woman herself assigned her to a mission. She supposed it would allow her to request missions from the Mission Desk, without having to acquire permission first, but it wasn't as if she was actually going to do that.

What else? She could order around a few genin if she felt like it, but again, why bother? Chikako supposed wearing the uniform would prompt people to leave her alone while she wandered the streets, even if they didn't recognize her as Wraith, but it was hardly as if she couldn't take care of nosy shinobi herself.

"I got nothing," Chikako eventually said, mentally projecting, 'tell me already,' at her sensei. He sighed exaggeratedly, clearly unaware of her silent command.

"Why is the rank temporary?"

"Because I'm not staying, obviously."

He gave her a look that was about forty percent fondness and sixty percent exasperation. Chikako's answering glare was a lot less friendly, but didn't survive for more than a few seconds.

"Wait, your not serious. She wants me to stay?"

Kakashi made to ruffle her hair again, expression having morphed into an actual smile. This time she managed to bat his hand away in time though.

"You are reasonably trustworthy, especially were certain individuals are concerned," opined Cat with a pointed look at her sensei. "Integrating you back into the village would require far less time and money than training the rookies. Not to mention that, as you saw, they aren't exactly prime candidates, whereas you have already served as head of an ANBU division for approximately six months. There are also your unique sensing abilities, near perfect stealth, an immunity to both poison and genjutsu as well as the fact that Jiraiya-sama has chosen to share some of his sealing knowledge with you. All of which make you a valuable asset, outweighing minor concerns about your affiliation with Suna and Chigiri."

Chikako stared at the woman, blinking stupidly. The argument made sense, kind of, but-

"Are you okay? That was like, half a dozen sentences. In a row."

Cat shrugged, once again perfectly silent.

"The recruits annoy her," Kakashi said in a tone that heavily implied she wasn't the only one. "They need a lot of work, but we're supposed to train them without taking ... drastic measures. Godaime-sama is worried our usual methods might leave them open to outside suggestions of dissent."

Meaning Danzo.

Chikako frowned at him. She could see how Tsunade might come to that conclusion, but the woman's solution was ridiculous.

Chikako didn't know how exactly Konoha ANBU were trained, but she knew how things worked in Kiri. The people chosen for that position didn't only have to be the elite when it came to their combat prowess or whatever other skills they brought to the table. Their loyalty also needed to be beyond question.

In Kiri there would be at least one situation during training in which a recruit was made to believe that something had gone horribly wrong. They were put into a position in which they had to decide between whatever had been determined they held most dear and either protecting the village or carrying out their mission, depending on the circumstances. Their every weakness would be exploited, buttons pushed and levers pulled. Torture wasn't necessarily part of the test, but would also be employed if the situation necessitated it.

Passing the test wasn't a requirement to make it into ANBU, after all it was specifically designed to put the most pressure possible on a candidate and reveal their breaking point. For the ones that failed badly that would be their last mission. If they hadn't betrayed - or attempted to betray - Kiri they would be sent back to the regular forces and never learned that it had only been a test. If they had they would be disappeared at the next opportunity - usually killed in action.

Everyone else was given a poison capsule, to be carried however they chose and told to kill themselves if they thought they were about to break.

After that they'd get low priority missions or ones that didn't require they know anything that could seriously harm the village for a while. Once they thought the training was over and that they were finally a full member of ANBU the last test followed. It was designed with the same goal in mind as the first. Only this time failing was always a fatal mistake. Anyone who broke or didn't take the poison when they were about to was eliminated.

Those that passed were given the antidote if necessary, and were then handed a different, much faster acting, poison capsule. Both so they wouldn't have to suffer a slow death and to ensure the enemy had no window in which to react. That poison also had a secondary slower acting component that would liquefy the victims innards. Not quite as effective as proper disposal, but better than leaving an intact body behind for the enemy to examine.

At that point they also received the highest clearance level and could be confident in the knowledge that whatever problems they might encounter for the rest of their lives, Kiri would stand behind them. There were other privileges as well, for example if they wanted leave they got it, no questions asked.

Chikako knew from Kisame that the system had been much different under Yagura, far more focused on blind obedience rather than actual loyalty. These days missions outlined the objective and any necessary parameters, but other than that any ANBU had carte blanche and the right to discuss their orders with Zabuza if they felt it necessary.

That was why Chikako trusted them so much. They'd proven their loyalty and the perks that earned them gave them no reason to betray the village afterwards. It wasn't fool proof of course, but certainly far better than what Tsunade had apparently decided.

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Chikako said after a rather pregnant silence. "If she's afraid they might turn traitor if you don't handle them with kid gloves, what's the point in even trying to recruit them?"

"You would know wouldn't you?" Raccoon shot back. "With how many of your people have committed treason, I suppose Chigiri is somewhat of an authority on the subject."

"Watch your mouth asshole. My people are loyal."

"Afraid you mean? Too terrified to go against you after you slaughtered half of them?"

"Precisely," Chikako said, giving him a nasty smile. Was he really that much of a dick or did he think she was an idiot? As if she'd tell him anything about Kiri's combat strength. Just because it hadn't been Zabuza's intention to further obscure how many people he had under his command when he'd pardoned so many nukenin didn't mean they couldn't press the advantage.

Raccoon huffed, rubbing his chest above his heart. The wound hadn't been deep enough to still cause him trouble, not with the kind of medics Konoha had, but it had apparently left an emotional impact. Good, he should think twice about attacking her again.

"Fair enough," he said. There wasn't even a trace of scorn in his voice this time. He sounded almost friendly in fact.

"Fucking Hyuga," Chikako muttered, then vanished again. She didn't hear his response, but Cat's laughter followed her almost all the way out of the tunnels.

. . .

Chikako reached the gate about fifteen minutes early, but the three Yamanaka workers she was supposed to protect were already waiting. And so was Team 10.

"What are you doing here?" She asked without preamble. Even if Inoichi didn't actually need her help for this and had just asked her because he knew she didn't like owing favors, no simple escort mission required a full chunin team in addition to her. Not to mention that the only ones that usually had more guards than charges were those handed out to genin, and even then only because the jonin sensei was the one expected to protect the clients.

"Dad didn't tell you?" Ino asked. She looked and sounded as if she was going on a holiday, completely relaxed and happy. Not helpful.

"No, he was too busy shoving flowers in my face."

"Yeah, he does that," Ino giggled.

"I'm aware."

"Right, I always forget that you've known him for almost a decade." She looked a little sheepish, but Chikako was too annoyed to continue the conversation, so she stalked over to the gate guards instead.

Izumo started to wave at her, but the motion stuttered to a stop as soon as he saw her scowl.

"Uh, good morning?" He tried.

"You know which mission I'm on?"

"Yamanaka Mineral Run."

"Good, hand over the file."

"What fi-"

Chikako grabbed the front of his flak jacked and yanked, pulling him halfway over his desk.

"Do you want to explain to Ibiki why I wasn't given potentially vital information before or after I come back?" She asked sweetly, but her glare left no doubt that she wasn't in the mood to play games with him.

"Well if you put it like that," Kotetsu butted in before his partner could say anything stupid. It took him approximately three seconds to search through a drawer and slide the correct file over to her. "Excuse him, he's on a double shift. The lack of sleep must have affected his brain."

"Good man," Chikako grinned, letting go of Izumo. She should tattle on him for even trying to pretend there wasn't a file. As if she'd somehow forgotten protocol in the past three years. The gate guards always had copies - and were relevant, past reports - for any current, out-of-village missions below A-rank.

Chikako rejoined the others, reading as they walked past the gate.

"You could have just asked Chikako-chan," Choji said. His tone wasn't quite harsh enough for a reprimand, but he obviously didn't agree with how she'd handled that.

"I did."

"No, I mean you could have asked us."

"And why would I do that when I can also bully real information out of my two favorite T&I gophers?"

"Well, that was kind of mean," Choji told her at the same time as Ino said she thought it was funny. Shikamaru, for his part, remained conspicuously quiet, not even complaining about how much of a drag this mission already was. She realized why when she reached the report of the previous team that had headed out.

Usually the escorts for this mission were two jonin, always Yamanaka, Nara or Akichimi. The last run had been less than a week ago, which meant the next one shouldn't have been for at least another month or two, but that team hadn't managed to even reach their destination.

They'd realized they were being followed a day or so from River's border and decided to confront the pursuers. There hadn't been any casualties on Konoha's side and the jonin had even managed to cover the workers' retreat, but they'd both paid for it. One hadn't even been conscious when her partner had dragged her in and he'd collapsed shortly after reaching the village as well.

The last update stated that they would most likely survive, but there was no telling whether they'd fully recover. Their status read, 'in medically induced coma,' because apparently they'd been poisoned with something nasty and would have otherwise ended up hurting themselves. Which was a nicer way to say that they would have screamed until they'd damaged their vocal cords permanently, clawed their own skin off or something equally unpleasant.

Chikako would have to make some time to shout at Inoichi once she got back. He knew poisons didn't really do anything to her, so that was fine, but he really should have mentioned that, least of all so that she could better protect the workers.

Judging by his reaction, or rather lack thereof, Shikamaru clearly knew what was in that file though.

"Who assigned you to this mission Nara?" She asked quietly, so none of the others would overhear.

"I did."

He didn't even sound apologetic or chagrined or in any other way as if he knew how stupid this was. He also kept his eyes on the road ahead, but she was pretty sure he could feel her glare drilling into the side of his head anyway. Not that that prompted him to apologize for this idiocy and turn around.

Chikako picked up speed a little, so she could put some distance between them, mouth pressed into a flat line in an effort not to say anything she couldn't take back.

. . .

She kept her silence and a minimum of ten meters between them the rest of the day. Then spent a little over an hour securing their camp for the night with her chakra web, burning seals into any pebble, rock and tree she could get her hands on. Once that was done she found a good vantage point on a thick branch and leaned back against the trunk so she could pretend to sleep while the others ate.

The only interaction she'd had with them was a nod when she'd been informed that she'd been assigned second watch. That was, of course, entirely for show. Chikako had no intention at all to sleep. At least not for more than a few minutes at a time, long enough that she wouldn't be dead on her feet, but not so long that someone could get within range while she was napping. Hardly ideal, she didn't have much of a choice though.

Shikamaru joined her half an hour later, holding out a wooden bowl with rice, pieces of chicken and expertly chopped vegetables. It smelled fantastic.

"Thanks."

"You're angry." Not a question, but then she hadn't been subtle.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I hope that was a joke," Chikako growled between bites. He just kept looking at her, expression neutral.

"Have you even informed your dad that you were taking this mission? Or theirs for that matter?" She gestured down, towards Ino and Choji.

More silence. That was a no then. So he did know he was being an idiot, but had decided to ignore that little fact. Fucking great.

"Your team is in no way qualified for this Nara. All of Ino's specialties lie off the battlefield and while Choji is strong, the only way he has to defend himself, or anyone, is the fact that he can take a little more damage than most people. That was why they'd been supposed to stay out of sight and only act if an opening presented itself when we went after Kakuzu and Hidan. You gave that order, remember?

"The jonin that were supposed to play escorts for the last attempt at this mission were in no shape to give a full report, so we have to assume that whoever tracked them got away. Meaning they'll likely try again, probably with backup.

"How exactly do you see this playing out? I can protect myself and I know you are fast enough to avoid attacks and can quickly disable or kill opponents, but Choji and Ino are going to be liabilities, not to mention the three people we're actually supposed to keep alive. Your team isn't suited for open combat or escort missions. They are also both short-range fighters, putting them at a huge disadvantage against an enemy that uses poison.

"And why the hell am I even talking?" She threw her hands up in frustration. "You already know all of that."

He remained silent for so long, gaze turned towards the fire below, she almost thought he was ignoring her. When he answered though she wished he'd kept his mouth shut.

"They felt useless after the last fight. This will be just dangerous enough to challenge them, but between your ability to burn out poisons and Ino's medical training it's highly unlikely that any of us will end up crippled or worse."

"That's it?" She asked, voice laced in disbelief. "You're sending your friends on a dangerous mission, that they aren't suited for, because their egos got a little bruised?"

"You also needed backup. Inoichi was going to send you alone."

"Good, now go home."

He opened his mouth, likely in protest, but she cut him off before he could get a single word out.

"I was assigned this mission, apparently as a solo mission as you just said, which makes me the leader by default. Now take your friends and go the fuck home Nara, that's an order."

Chikako didn't scream at him, she really, really wanted to though. What the fuck was he thinking? There had to be more to this. He wasn't usually this reckless.

"You can't protect three people on your own against the kind of attack you're expecting, not while also taking care of the enemy," he told her reasonably. And, well he wasn't entirely wrong. Defending them, while at the same time taking out the attackers would be a little annoying. Far from impossible though.

"And you think adding two more people that need protection solves that problem?"

"I think making sure that you can concentrate on finding and eliminating the enemy without having to worry about protection does."

Chikako bit down on her tongue before she could say something stupid, like that she wasn't going to leave his back unprotected no matter what. Shikamaru was the only one who wouldn't be a liability if they had to fight. She should trust that he could take care of himself, same as she did with Kisame.

"Look," Shikamaru said, when she didn't immediately argue, "it's very likely that you will be able to detect the enemy long before they know we are there. That gives us enough time to decide whether we should fight or retreat and if you want to go in alone while the workers stay back I won't stand in your way, but if attackers somehow manage to sneak up on you, you're going to need all the help you can get."

Chikako sighed. Damn Nara and their damn logic. The second scenario wasn't likely at all, but even in case of the first, it wouldn't be responsible to leave the workers on their own when there were three chunin on hand to guard them. It also wasn't very likely that an attacker would get past her and if they did she'd actually need some help. So Chikako agreed reluctantly, perfectly aware that he'd said he wouldn't stand in her way, not that he wouldn't follow. That was probably payback for her own little omission when she'd handed him the stone.

. . .

The plan was easy, three days to reach the mine, one day to work, three days for the trip back, don't get killed in the meantime. An attack would be most likely on days three, four and five, when they were closest to the mine. Since it was outside of the village, but had no guards there had to be some other kind of protection in place. Chikako didn't think it was merely well hidden, but that the last team had encountered enemies before they'd reached the mine made her think the attackers might not have known it's exact location in the first place.

She wouldn't have been surprised if Ren, one of her ANBU guards or both had shown up at some point during their first day of travel. She certainly wouldn't have minded having someone else there who could actually fight, but that never happened. Choji and Ino had already proven that they would disregard orders if Shikamaru was in danger. Which would have been perfectly fine by Chikako, except last time they'd done it in such a way that they'd increased the risk to him and themselves.

She hadn't paid much attention to it back then, seeing as trying to make sure none of them ended up as bricks of coal had seemed more important, but everything was always clearer in hindsight. Choji had shielded Shikamaru, so far so good, only then he'd stayed in place instead of immediately seeking cover. Not to mention Ino, who should have never left her hiding spot in the first place. Even if Shikamaru had been badly hurt, it wasn't as if she could have fixed him up right in front of an enemy. So all her presence had done was provide an additional target and waste her chance to use one of her clan's mind techniques while the enemy was still unaware of her presence.

They'd obviously meant well, but they hadn't thought and they lacked the skill to compensate for mistakes like that. Chikako was pretty sure that Shikamaru alone could have gotten out of the way of Kakuzu's Fire attack. He wouldn't have considered that option though, as it would have meant leaving his friends behind. And even with Chikako's shield they still would have all died, either by suffocation or due to the heat, if Kisame hadn't intervened as well.

Even worse, Choji had let himself be goaded into a stupid attack, forcing Shikamaru to waste a considerable amount of chakra stopping him. If that hadn't happened Hidan might not have been able to break the Shadow Bind when they'd separated him from Kakuzu.

Might-have-beens were only conjecture of course, but fact was that both Ino and Choji had had no business being on that battlefield. Their involvement should have ended as soon as Kakashi had found the two Akatsuki members.

Chikako hadn't questioned it then, after all she hadn't seen them in quite some time, but she was questioning their presence now. Shikamaru hadn't denied anything she'd said to him. That didn't necessarily mean he agreed, but she could only assume that he knew he'd outgrown his team and was simply not ready to accept it.

He'd made chunin on his first try, when he'd half-arsed the exam. She'd seen him in combat several times since then. There was no way he couldn't have made jonin by now if he'd wanted to.

Chikako had no doubt that he would have avoided the responsibility three years ago, when he'd even complained about being made chunin. Too annoying, too much trouble. Things were different now though. Even when she'd first seen him again in Suna after her defection he'd admitted to training in secret, as opposed to merely playing shogi instead. He'd certainly not gotten worse since then. Although she had to wonder how aware his teammates ware of that fact.

If Tsunade was so desperate for ANBU she could trust, why overlook the Nara prodigy? He needed some stealth training, maybe something to increase his chakra reserves as well, but other than that he was easily more qualified than the rookies Chikako had seen. Hell it didn't even have to be ANBU, he'd be far more useful to the village as a jonin as well and it wasn't as if he could refuse that promotion.

Chikako's resolve not to sleep for more than a few minutes at a time, so she could keep watch left her with a lot of time to think. Days two and three passed as quietly as day one, which included her scouting and avoiding conversation with anyone. She might have decided not to fight Shikamaru, but that didn't mean she was happy about him staying. If necessary she'd just put a barrier around all of them while she fought. He wouldn't even be able to complain, because his shadows could pass through her shields unhindered.

Day four of the mission started out nice and peaceful as well, even remained that way throughout lunch. By early afternoon though, Chikako sensed several chakra signatures closing in on their position, only to be intercepted by two others.

Shikamaru kept watch at the mine's entrance, whereas Choji, Ino and Chikako had headed inside with the workers. There was an intriguing set of seals down there, courtesy of Jiraiya no doubt. According to Ino it was somehow tied to the clans' bloodlines, ensuring that only a born member of the Akimichi, Nara or Yamanaka could find the correct way through the labyrinthine tunnels.

It took Chikako no time at all to realize that the seals weren't only illusions and wards. Those she would have been able to get through easily. Figuring out that the damn tunnels actually physically moved around and on top of that used something akin to portals, combining pathways that were not, in fact, connected or even close to each other, required several hours of experimentation though and she still wasn't sure how that worked.

She would have called it a masterpiece, only she was nearly certain that she could have burned each seal away individually. It was hardly a common skill and she obviously couldn't test it without destroying Jiraiya's work, but he really should have taken the time to protect the seals themselves.

Chikako wasn't quite finished with her inspection when she sensed the fight in the distance, but seeing as humans were more likely to disappear than seals, she decided to deal with that first.

"I'm gonna go check something out," she informed Shikamaru as she exited the mine. Then immediately employed Camouflage so he couldn't follow.

. . .

When she reached the group of new arrivals things had already gone quiet. The Iwasaki siblings, efficient as ever. Ren was busy tying up an unconscious man, whose clothing distinctly reminded her of the style Orochimaru's people seemed to favor - tan fabric with purple rope around their waists or black and gray, featuring snake scale patterns. His sister, Rei, on the other hand was dancing around, patting down corpses before she sealed them in scrolls. Eleven foreign shinobi all in all, plus the one they'd kept alive.

"Having fun?" Chikako asked from right behind Ren. He flinched, badly, but recovered in record time.

"Man, don't do that boss," he complained.

"I assume it's no coincidence that you're here?"

"No, we ran into the grumpy fox on our way back from Suna," Rei chimed in. "He said you were around here somewhere, so we thought we'd come say high. I think he was worried because you aren't in Konoha, but you know how he gets all snarly when I ask about things like that."

Rei acted sweet most of the time, looked it too with her big eyes and goofy smile. In contrast her brother immediately seemed to make enemies wherever he went. No matter how different they seemed on the surface though, they were both accomplished assassins and among the most lethal of the Hunter-nin.

Which begged the question, "Why were you in Suna exactly?"

Ren kicked the guy he'd tied up, either because he was bored or to make sure that he was really out cold.

"We know you don't trust Mei-san around the redhead, so we elected to accompany her. Got some dirt on the council too. You want it?"

"No, let her do the scheming, might distract her from getting revenge on me for scaring her. I will take these though," Chikako informed them, gesturing at the sealed bodies as well as the live one. "Also, do you have time to do me a little favor?"

"Sure thing boss, we were gonna bring these over anyway. What do you need?"

"Uh, is this off the books?" Rei asked excitedly. "Like a black, black ops mission?"

Chikako frowned at her.

"I have no idea where you get the second black from, but sure, we can call it that. The team I'm here with made camp about five kilometers east-southeast of here. There's a Nara in that group. I need you to take him out, clones only, no permanent damage. I want to know how good he really is, so if he doesn't realize you're there give him a fighting chance. Also transform the clones to look like the guys you killed and approach camp from the back. Don't mention me either. He probably won't believe you snuck past me and pretending to have killed me could go either way."

Ren repeated the parameters back to her, saluted and then the siblings were off, doing exactly as asked. Chikako for her part stuffed the scrolls into her bag and threw the unconscious guy over her shoulder before she followed, making sure to use Camouflage as she neared the mine.

As requested, the siblings were waiting quite some distance away as their clones slowly approached. They'd poured a considerable amount of chakra into them as well. Chikako estimated that one was around eighty and the other closer to eighty-five percent.

Shikamaru was still the only one outside of the mine and he didn't show any outward reaction to the approaching clones. The hitch in his chakra told her the second he noticed though. Not bad. Neither clone had come into view yet, but Rei's had passed through a patch of chakra laced shadow.

When Ren's clone moved in for the kill the Nara dodged easily, ducking under the kunai aimed for his throat. Then his shadow expanded, quick as a snake, latching onto the clone.

Rei's managed to avoid getting captured as well, by using Camouflage, Shikamaru wasn't that easily beaten though. He sent his shadow out, letting it solidify into spikes that suddenly shot out of the ground several times. Rei's clone managed to dodge every single attack, but his accuracy was disturbing, considering that at least half of those were guesses, predicting where the clone would be next with hardly any information to go on.

It was scary how fast he could grasp his opponents movements and extrapolate their actions from what little he'd been able to observe.

Just when it looked like he'd managed to herd the clone into a corner though, Ino, who had likely sensed the expenditure of chakra and decided to investigate, left the mine. Rei's clone was behind the girl, kunai to her throat long before Shikamaru got a chance to call out a warning.

"Stalemate," Rei's clone grinned and the Nara froze. Just froze up like a genin fresh out of the Academy and confronted with his first real fight.

It wasn't even that he was being cautious. He could have eliminated the clone. He'd literally stopped his attack right before it would have made contact by smothering his chakra with so much force that it allowed Ren's clone to break free of the Shadow Bind.

A moment later both Ino and Shikamaru fell over, likely sedated with the same tranquilizer that had been used on the shinobi the two Hunter-nin had kept alive for interrogation.

"What the hell was that?" Rei's clone demanded. It sounded annoyed, like someone that had been cheated out of victory despite coming out ahead.

"Bullshit was what that was," her brother's clone spat. "Kid did good, could have taken both of us down. And then he just what? Decides he doesn't want to after all? He squeamish about killing things? Cause if one of those spikes had connected while you were invisible, I'm pretty sure that would have done the trick."

"It's not killing you moron. If he'd pulled through with that attack he would have hit his friend too."

"What?"

"It's simple physics. Come on, you're not that stupid. If you take into account the speed at which I can move you can easily calculate how fast the attack would have had to be to hit me before I got close enough to kill the girl. Once you know that, you can determine how long the spikes would have been. For that we have several data points, because as you saw, the faster his earlier attacks were the longer the spikes and the more recovery time he needed in between attempts. Then-"

"Oh my god," Ren's clone moaned, "please just fucking stop. You're driving me nuts. Nobody calculates shit like that in the middle of a fight and certainly not within less than a second."

"How deep?" Chikako asked. That was another major difference between the siblings. Ren acted mostly on instinct, whereas Rei was the clinical type. She didn't necessarily make elaborate plans ahead of time, but she did in fact calculate these kinds of variables in the middle of combat. And if she'd been able to make that evaluation in time, so had Shikamaru.

"Two or three centimeters, four at worst. Would have hit her right upper arm. Might have left a scratch on her rib cage as well."

So definitely not something that would have warranted aborting the attack.

"Thanks for your help, you can go now. I'll make sure to stay around long enough for you to rest properly."

They saluted without a word and then they were gone, leaving Chikako with three unconscious people and a headache.


	75. XVI - Fear is the Mind-killer

**A/N:**

Thank you for the reviews.

 _Homarid_

The part of the seal that she wanted Jiraiya's help with channels natural energy. If Chikako uses it the way it is now though, it also hurts her in the process. Think back to what happened when she fought Sasori and more or less cooked her own arm because she pulled too much energy through.

The fixed version is supposed to allow her to channel natural energy without that drawback. I guess you could think of it as a weaker version of Sage Mode. The second part of the seal is variable. For now the only things she's been doing with that is either channel the energy into her shields or release it as an attack.

 _angrypixels_

Well, if it is we can both be weird together, but I don't see why it would be. I think they are both very adorably bad at communicating like normal people.

. . .

 **XVI - Fear is the Mind-killer**

Choji left the mine about five minutes after the two clones had vanished. His expression morphed from worry to confusion and then relief when he saw the unconscious forms of his friends and Chikako had to grit her teeth not to snap at him.

Either Ino was the idiot for not telling him why she'd come outside to investigate or he was the idiot for not going with her in the first place. Seriously, how many reasons were there for someone to use a lot of chakra in an area where a Kanoha team had been attacked by foreign shinobi? Or had Shikamaru not even told them that much? Maybe Chikako was the idiot for assuming she was the only one who hadn't read the last mission's report beforehand.

Ino had acted as if this was just a simple trip, there and back, no problem at all. And of course Chikako had been too busy fuming silently to check with her or Choji after she'd found out that Team 10 hadn't been supposed to accompany her.

Quite possibly they were all idiots.

"They are perfectly fine and should wake up in an hour or two," Chikako supplied before Choji could ask any questions. "Go back and help the workers. I'll keep watch out here. We leave tomorrow morning."

"Not tonight?"

"A little extra rest won't hurt anyone. The attackers are taken care of and it's not like this is urgent."

She'd expected him to ask for an explanation of some sort, but Choji just nodded and went back into the mine. Just as well, she wouldn't have told him the truth anyway.

. . .

The track back to Konoha was as silent as the previous days had been, at least on Chikako's part. The others were conversing quietly, sometimes even whispering as if to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Clearly the hostage that hadn't been there when they'd embarked on their mission was a source of great confusion and that was before she told them about the sealed corpses.

What had frightened the workers was likely the fact that their unwilling companion had started begging her for mercy as soon as he'd gotten a good look at Chikako. He'd actually started screaming when she'd told him not to worry because she wouldn't be the one interrogating him. Apparently Wraith was a horrible monster and whoever she'd hand him over to had to be worse. He hadn't even begged for freedom. All he'd wanted was a quick death, pretty please.

She wondered what he'd heard about her, and from whom. That reaction seemed a little dramatic. Her main concern was to shut him up though, which she did by knocking him out and them gagging him for good measure. He got the hint when he woke up again, remained silent too, except for some quiet whimpering now and then.

Rei liked picking out the easily frightened for questioning. They were more likely to tell you whatever they knew to avoid pain. They weren't suited for bad interrogators though, because they would also say whatever they thought the person deciding their fate would most like to hear. Not that Ibiki would have that problem.

"Have fun with the Hokage," Chikako told the others once they'd passed under Konoha's main gate. "I'll hand this one over to T&I. Tell her she'll have my written report on her desk sometime tomorrow."

She didn't wait for anyone to protest either. Debriefing Team 10 probably wouldn't take long, so she was on a time limit.

. . .

Nobody tried to stop her when she entered the T&I building. In fact, most barely even took note of her presence, a glance here a nod there. Someone hauling in a person that was frightened out of their mind wasn't exactly the norm, but it was hardly unheard of. In Intelligence everyone knew not to dig too deep into other people's business. Well, almost everyone.

"What's this then?" Izumo asked with a grin. "Made a new friend?"

"Didn't know you were this kinky," Kotetsu chimed in, eyeing the ninja wire the hostage was tied up with. He seemed pretty interested in the knots Ren had made. Quite a few of them were entirely unnecessary, strictly decorative in nature. The idiot liked to sign his handiwork.

"Wait, isn't that?" Izumo shot her a look, leaving the question open.

"Yes, but keep it quiet I need to talk to Shikaku before Tsunade gets a report about this."

"Already trying to falsify documents kiddo?" Ibiki asked lightly. His arms were crossed and his mouth twisted in anger, but she saw the humor dancing in his eyes even as the other two slowly inched out of his way.

"How dare you accuse me of such vile, underhanded-" she started, throwing in a lot of phrases that got increasingly more archaic and nonsensical.

Ibiki stopped her eventually, probably to save face and not break out into laughter.

"Just don't make any trouble for me kiddo," he ordered.

She grinned at him.

"When have I ever-" He raised an eyebrow at her and Chikako backtracked quickly. "Okay, nevermind, don't answer that. I promise it's clan business, so you should be fine."

Chikako handed over the scrolls, to Kotetsu's immense displeasure.

"Why would you do this to us? Do you know how many forms I have to fill out for the corpses of foreign shinobi?"

"No, but I'm assuming you'll have to add a few extra to however many you're whining about when you find out that they're probably all Orochimaru's lackeys," she told him with a grin.

"Leave demon, your foul aura is besmirching these halls, leave and never return," Izumo declared in a grave voice, nearly shoving her out of the door. One would think after spending so many years behind a desk the two idiots would have gotten used to paperwork, but they still liked to pretend that it was the most torturous job anyone could ever do, especially when they tried to haggle for a pay raise.

. . .

Chikako's next stop was the Hokage Tower, specifically the Jonin Commander's office. It wasn't particularly big. Bright, clean to the point of almost looking sterile. No pictures, plants or any other kind of decoration, only shelves laden with books and folders, and of course a wooden desk that took up a considerable amount of space.

"I need a word," she said in lieu of offering a greeting.

"And would that be a word with Shikamaru's father, the head of the Nara clan or the Jonin Commander?" He asked slightly amused, leaning back in his chair and giving her his full attention.

She frowned at him.

"What do you think? If I'd wanted this to be official I would be in Tsunade's office right now."

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards a little, as if he was trying not to smile. Chikako narrowed her eyes at him.

"You already know, don't you?"

"What do you think?" He asked, throwing her words back at her, albeit with less sarcasm.

"Then why haven't you done anything yet? At this rate he's going to get someone killed."

Shikaku's eyes widened, clearly taken aback. Apparently they weren't talking about the same thing after all. He'd only been referring to Team 10 following her on her mission. That Shikamaru had wanted to protect her and do something about the hit Ino's and Choji's confidence had taken didn't surprise him either. When she came to the part in which his son would have gotten himself and the blond killed or kidnapped though, well that he hadn't expected.

"I didn't realize it was that bad," Shikaku sighed, leaning forward and resting his chin on his interlaced fingers.

"What exactly is 'it'?" Chikako demanded, entirely out of patience. "I mean I get that he wanted to avoid hurting Ino, but there was no way he didn't realize that stopping his attack would ultimately do much more harm. Also, how did he avoid drawing Tsunade's attention? Taking on two ANBU, even when they aren't really trying to murder you isn't something your average chunin can do. He didn't just hold his own either. He could have destroyed the clones if he'd wanted to."

Shikaku sighed again, closing his eyes for a moment.

"He's been training on his own ever since Sasuke left, because he still blames himself for how badly that recovery mission almost turned out. He put even more effort into it after he came back from Suna. I think that was when it really hit him that strategy alone isn't enough when you lack the means to implement it.

"See before, he only thought he'd overlooked something, that he should have planned better, taken more variables into account, looked further ahead. After being faced with an opponent that was essentially a force of nature though ... Well, lets just say that having to hand his best friend over to an enemy, because he was unable to protect him hit Shikamaru harder than he let on.

"Then your friend was killed, you were unconscious and he had to leave you with the very people that had betrayed Konoha not so long ago, all so he could get home and make sure that whatever the Temujin had done to fix Choji's arm wouldn't turn out deadly in the long run. Of course he never said anything to that effect, but he started training in earnest afterwards.

"Those solid shadow spikes you described? They're his invention, not a clan technique. I think he was trying to form barriers the way you do, but chakra constructs aren't as easy to create for most people as they seem to be for you. As far as I know he didn't even bother to name the jutsu, probably considers it a failure, seeing as it was meant to be something entirely different."

"Okay," Chikako said slowly, a little overwhelmed. She'd thought this was a new thing, not something reaching back several years. "But if his intention is to protect his friends, why put them in danger on a mission like that and then pull back in the worst possible situation? Saving Ino should have outweighed hurting her a little.

"There is also the fact that he brought them on that mission at all when the team is that imbalanced. I mean I get that they all wanted to avenge Asuma and that he couldn't really have left them behind for that even if he'd wanted to, but this time there was no need at all for them to be there, or him for that matter. The mineral run was neither especially urgent, nor is Team 10 suited for escort missions. He could have easily picked something else."

"A shinobi needs to be confident in their own abilities. Letting doubt fester is never a good idea. Considering recent events and your stay in the village you can hardly blame him for wanting to make sure you have someone to watch your back, and while I don't agree with how Shikamaru handled the situation, Ino and Choji aren't the only ones that need to feel useful," Shikaku told her with a sad smile, as if she was the one being stupid for not wanting to put anyone else in danger when she didn't have to.

One of the first things Chikako had done in Kiri was implement a new rule stating that all Hunter-nin had to work in pairs, which was most definitely colored by Konoha's love of teamwork. The Leaf had taken something good though and insisted on it to the exclusion of everything else.

For this particular mission she could have easily summoned Sune if she'd needed someone to keep an eye on the workers for a while. Having a second shinobi there would have worked as well, but a whole team was overkill. And a team not suited to the job was borderline harmful. Most of all, it wasn't smart.

When she thought about Shikamaru she thought about a brilliant strategist, not someone who would ignore logic in favor of hurt feelings. He'd been calm and logical when he'd dealt with Hidan, otherwise she'd be dead now. And what was up with that needing to feel useful crap anyway?

"He just brought two S-rank nukenin in alive, Akatsuki members no less. He came up with the whole damn plan and predicted their movements with barely any information to go on, when several other teams and the whole damn Analysis Team had been unable to do the same. Even saved my life by figuring out how Hidan's jutsu works before the bastard had the chance to finish me off. How can he possibly not feel useful after that?"

"He almost killed you."

"Not this bullshit again," she groaned, "that was an accident he couldn't have possibly foreseen."

"It still happened," Shikaku insisted. "Don't be a hypocrite. From what I hear you take on blame that isn't yours to bear all the time and tend to refuse gratitude even when it is deserved."

"That's-"

"Different? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe applying different standards to yourself than you do to anyone else is the definition of hypocrisy."

Chikako scowled at him.

"Shikamaru's supposed to be smarter than me," she muttered crossly.

"We are all human Chikako. None of us can stay logical all the time, especially when it concerns the things we care about," the head of the Nara clan told her sagely. "That is why we have friends to tell us when we are being stupid."

"I already did that."

"Then what do you propose to do next?"

"Why are you asking me? I came here because I thought you might know. I've been gone for so long that the best I can do is piece things together after the fact and that puzzle is so full of holes, I can only guess at the picture most of the time."

"What if it was someone else?"

"What?" She blinked at him, annoyed by the turn this conversation had taken.

"Pretend we're not talking about my son. What if it were say ... one of Kiri's Hunter-nin? How would you handle it then?"

"Well, first I'd ask them whether they wanted to keep their job. If so I'd give them some time to work things out however they see fit and if they can't I'd force the issue. Depending on how that turns out I'd determine their new place in the military, or if it goes really badly I'd have them discharged so they won't put other soldiers in danger."

"What exactly does 'force the issue' mean in this context?"

Chikako shrugged.

"Confrontation and desensitization training. But we're talking about seasoned ANBU operatives here. If you force them to see a psychologist they'll just lie their heads off until they're cleared for active duty. Also I'd have to test them regardless, because I'm not sending anyone into the field without being sure that they can do the job."

"So you're saying that shouldn't apply to Shikamaru?"

"Of course not!"

"And why is that? Earlier you implied that he should have been one of the ANBU rookies currently under evaluation, yet now you say he's what? Too weak? Too easily broken?"

"That's ..." Chikako trailed off, feeling backed into a corner. He was right, but they were talking about Shikamaru goddamned it. He wasn't weak in any sense of the word, but he was her friend and that made all the difference in the world. She like her Hunters just fine, most of the time at least, but they weren't pack. She'd kill and die for any of them - if they endangered Kiri though, she'd personally slit their throats. If Shikamaru on the other hand needed Konoha to burn, she'd fan the flames - right after getting everyone else she cared about out of danger.

Chikako also still remembered how Sasuke had looked at her when she'd forced him to activate his Sharingan in Wave. Remembered how he'd kept an eye on her afterwards, despite understanding why she'd done it. Even if she wasn't the one doing the deed this time, Shikamaru shouldn't have to go through something like that. No matter how well meant, forcing a friend to do something against their will was always a betrayal of sorts. There was more than enough time to try a slow approach, one less emotionally taxing and-

"It's not different," Shikaku said, interrupting her thoughts. "I know you care about him and so do I, but you can't forget that he is ultimately the same as any other soldier. Either he gets over this or he leaves the military. The latter would be devastating, taking away his ability to keep his friends save. The former he won't be able to do on his own.

"The Yamanaka would probably be able to help, but what happens in the meantime? He'll still be send on missions unless I make it an official matter and if I do that it's out of my hands. This needs to happen fast and the fewer people know the better. I refuse to put my son into a position were he's out of my reach, not when our esteemed councilman is lurking in the shadows."

Fuck.

She knew what came next even before he finished.

"Can I count on your cooperation?"

She wanted to say no, opened her mouth to do it too and then closed it again with an audible click, because hadn't she just complained about Shikamaru making decisions based on feelings instead of facts? Chikako was fine with being a hypocrite when it came to expecting more of herself than she did of others, but this didn't qualify. Right now her only argument was that she was afraid of Shikamaru's reaction if she helped with this. But that hardly mattered. Shikaku had made it about his safety, which would always outrank her personal feelings on the matter.

Bastard no doubt knew it too. He could have probably argued the whole thing from three different perspectives depending on what she valued most. Damn Nara.

At least he wasn't gloating.

"You can command whichever clan members you see fit," Shikaku informed her when it became clear she wouldn't refuse.

Chikako glared at him as she stood.

"You still need to do something about his team."

. . .

Early the next day she sat in a clearing in the Nara Forrest, two reports in her lap. Ren hat waited for her the night before, once again silently making clear that Danzo's invitation, if it could even be called that, still stood.

She'd avoided the others after her conversation with Shikaku, shutting herself away so she could figure out how best to get the job done. had to be fast and effective, couldn't draw attention. Shikamaru needed to know why holding back hadn't been the right call, most likely did already, but that wasn't good enough. He needed to feel it too. Needed to be sure down to his bones, so he could act next time instead of stopping to think and doubt.

As they say, fear is the mind-killer. A shinobi without their wits about them was as good as dead. And he'd told her hadn't he? What good was he if he couldn't think? Not his exact words, but close enough.

And what had she done? Called him stupid, because she didn't share his fear. Because she didn't care if she got hurt, but he did. Not only did he care, he held himself responsible and so instead of easing his mind when she'd put it off she'd only made things worse.

Chikako forgot sometimes that blood and death weren't really normal, even to shinobi. To people like Kisame, Kakashi and herself getting injured was only noteworthy in so far as it impacted their ability to fight. Yes, it was annoying and it hurt, but it was also part of the job. If she sparred she bled and if she hunted she risked death. That was just the way things worked.

She didn't particularly care as long as it was just her. She also hadn't worked in a real team for far too long, whereas Shikamaru had never done anything else.

She hadn't been very helpful before, maybe she could be now. He probably wouldn't thank her for it, but then she didn't need him to. She just needed him to be okay.

Chikako played with the grass, winding the soft blades around her fingers as she waited for her friend to arrive. She'd asked Rikumaru to get him about half an hour ago. The deer was still the only one that ever approached her. It made for a good companion when she wanted quiet and an even better one when she asked for help.

The Nara heir stumbled into the clearing after another five minutes or so had passed, looking both confused and annoyed as the deer nudged him forward.

"The sun has barely started to rise," he informed her with a yawn. It turned into a soft smile that she didn't return, instead holding out both reports for him to read.

"Which one do you want me to hand in?"

The one he looked over first would fit with what his team had most likely told the Godaime. It stated that Chikako had gone scouting when she'd sensed a group of shinobi approaching, then defeated them and took one prisoner. Meanwhile two enemies had attacked the camp from the opposite direction. Shikamaru had held them off, but then one of them had used a genjutsu on him and Ino. Chikako had arrived only moments later, killing both enemies and sealing them away with the other corpses before Choji had even left the mine.

Didn't make them look terribly competent, but served as justification for having a team there in the first place. It's main purpose though, was to downplay Shikamaru's proficiency in combat and the skill gap between him and his teammates. That was probably what he did all the time, so this report would nicely help him stay under the radar.

The other one detailed what had actually happened, but both failed to mention that he could, in fact, have killed the two attackers, yet had chosen not to. Instead this one too blamed an exceptionally strong area genjutsu.

"You told two Hunter-nin to attack me?" Shikamaru asked, eyes narrowed and fixed on the second report as he read the passage again.

"You were acting weird and all they did was sedate you."

"I was acting weird? Does it ever occur to you to just ask people?"

Chikako got to her feet slowly, stretching a little.

"I don't like being lied to," she informed him. "I don't need to know all your secrets, but if you insist on fighting at my back - going directly against my wishes - I need to be sure that you won't freeze up in the middle of a fight. That seems like something worth mentioning without being prompted don't you think?"

His eyes widened minutely, but he stood his ground despite her hostile tone. Chikako didn't give him the chance to defend himself before she continued.

"I don't know what the fuck you were thinking, but in aborting that last attack you condemned both Ino and yourself. If you'd been lucky a real enemy would have just killed you on the spot, but you're both clan heirs. Chances are they'd have kidnapped, tortured and then either sold you back to Konoha or dissected you - in this case probably alive because Orochimaru is just that sick.

"Now, either you get over whatever the hell your problem is, or you quit being a shinobi, because right now you might as well stab your comrades in the back."

"I would have killed Ino if I hadn't pulled back," he said through gritted teeth. His gaze was directed at her this time, but it seemed focused somewhere in the middle distance, as if he was seeing something else, maybe remembering something.

Chikako's nails bit into her palms, but she kept her features even, tone aloof.

"Really? Because that's not what I was told. I watched the whole thing you see and even without calculating where exactly that attack would have landed, it seemed to me as if she would have needed to heal her right arm and maybe lung at worst. Certainly not a lethal wound for a medic."

"What the hell do you want me to say?"

"Nothing, I want you to attack me, prove that you can hurt a friend so that I know this won't happen again."

"You're insane." Shikamaru turned on his heel, one fist clenching around the reports and crumpling them up as he left. Tried to at least, he didn't get far. Less than two meters behind him a shimmering curtain came to life, blocking his path as Chikako activated the barrier seals around the clearing.

His chakra was agitated, but anger was only the tip of the iceberg. The rest was darker, deeper, less clear. Whatever it was, it hurt, but she couldn't let it go again, couldn't just tell him he was being silly and move on, because he wouldn't.

In a perfect world he would have gotten someone who'd slowly melt the ice, work out the problem at his pace. Instead he was stuck with her.

It would have to do.

"The faster you get this over with the faster you can get out of here," she told him mildly, already knowing his answer. He crossed his arms and told her to go to hell, fully prepared to wait her out.

"Either you draw blood or I will Nara."

"Go right ahead," he scoffed, drawing a genuine smile from her. The fool would bleed to avoid hurting her, but that wasn't the point of this game. He should know better than that. She didn't like seeing him in pain any more than he did.

Chikako drew a kunai, twirling the dagger around her finger once before she gripped the hilt. His muscles tensed a little in anticipation. He made no move to defend himself though. Stubborn.

Her hand blurred with the speed of her movement and she smiled even wider as the steel bit into her left upper arm. Warm blood slowly trickled down her skin on either side of the kunai, turning into a thin river of red as she pulled the weapon free again.

"What the hell?" Shikamaru demanded, sounding slightly hysteric. He'd finally grasped the rules then. Good.

"I told you, either you draw blood or I will," she said, as if it was the most reasonable thing in the world. Unlike a certain religious fanatic, Chikako didn't enjoy pain, but she'd had ample opportunity to get used to it and this was ultimately for a good cause. She could draw this out all day if she had to, had learned more than enough to avoid accidentally passing out due to blood loss.

She gave him thirty seconds to react, but all he did was stare at the blood running down her arm. The anger was gone now, replaced by shock and the edge of fear. The choice should be obvious, she'd be the one getting hurt either way, but he could make it stop. There wasn't a moral dilemma here, only fear trapping him in his own mind.

He didn't move a muscle, too fixated on the crimson.

"As you wish," she said, squarely putting the blame on him. It wasn't fair, but if he wanted to claim responsibility for her well-being she might as well use it against him to push a little harder.

The second time the kunai landed right above the same spot, tearing muscle, but stopping before she hit bone - healing that afterwards would take too long.

He ordered her to stop, demanded, almost pleaded. No attack came though, so she prepared to let the kunai sink into her flesh again.

It stopped abruptly, right before the now slick steel could pierce her skin. Shikamaru had bound her shadow - impressively fast, but still not an attack. She broke his hold on her, forced to use more chakra than she'd expected, and completed the motion. If he managed to make that binding any stronger she might have a problem. She couldn't let him stop her by going against the rules, that would defeat the purpose, might make things even worse in the long run.

He cursed under his breath. Before she could try a fourth time though, his shadow shot upwards in black spikes that seemed to absorb light completely. Chikako held perfectly still, calmly watching as each of the sharp tips failed to hit home.

Shikamaru glared at her, at his shadow as well. She couldn't tell if he'd meant to cheat or simply couldn't bring himself to go through with it. Was this to him like fighting Kakashi had been to her?

"I'm letting you have this one because you actually tried," she commented idly, "but the next attack had better make contact."

He glared harder. She could almost hear his teeth grinding and his anger was once again palpable. He wasn't like Sasuke though. Shikamaru wouldn't let himself be goaded into attacking her recklessly if she just pissed him off enough, and if she'd attacked him he might have defended himself eventually, but he wouldn't have retaliated, not with the intention to harm her at least.

That was fine. He needed to deliberately make the decision to hurt a friend in the knowledge that it was the better of two bad option. In this case, to spare her worse pain, and back at the mine to keep Ino safe.

His next attempted resulted in a scratch across her cheek. It burned a little, but her finger came away clean when she touched it. Not quite there yet. She couldn't help marvel at his precision though. It had taken her forever to first form her chakra claws, this was so much more sophisticated. He should be proud.

"Again," she ordered.

Another scratch. Chikako let that one slide as well, but when the third attack also failed to draw blood she made use of her kunai again. He clenched his jaw even harder in response, to the point that she was worried about his teeth.

Then something snapped. She could feel it as an explosion of chakra, but it took a moment longer for the rest of her to catch up. He'd vanished and then gravity had shifted.

Chikako found herself on her back, Shikamaru on top of her. He was more or less sitting on her legs, using his weight to keep them immobile. His left had pinned both of her wrists to the ground above her head while the right held a kunai to her throat.

She hadn't known he could be quite this fast. Another thing to be proud of. He didn't sound proud though when he whispered, "that technique was never meant to kill."

He threw his kunai away, then took hers and chucked it into the bushes as well before letting go of her wrists.

"Please stop." His thumb gently brushed over her throat, barely touching and she only realized there was a slight burning sensation when he held it up to show her the faintest trace of red.

"How am I supposed to keep Asuma's child safe like this?" Shikamaru rasped. "I was trying to create something that would serve to protect, not harm and when I couldn't do that I tried to make the best of it and almost ..." he stopped, swallowed, "When Ino exited the mine ... it was like she was suddenly gone and instead I saw you, covered in blood. You looked so surprised and then when you fell ... Fuck. I thought I'd killed you."

His eyes were distant again, focused on the memory. She wanted to slap her past self so badly for ever getting caught in Hidan's jutsu. She wanted to slap him too. He was clinging to maybe and perhaps, to what might have gone wrong instead of what had gone right.

"You need to listen to me Shikamaru, not just hear the words, really listen for a moment. Can you do that?"

His eyelids fluttered as he shook off the memory, then his gaze found hers. It was a little too bright, a little too wet, but he gave a firm nod.

"Don't fixate on the worst thing that could have happened. You're supposed to be the smart one, remember? Look at the facts. Ino and Choji are fine. Asuma's kid will grow up in the knowledge that his or her father rests in peace. It won't be the same as having him there, but he made an impression on your team and you can pass that on to his child.

"You don't have to provide a literal shield to be there. Kakashi watched over me all the time when I was younger and that man is an assassin and socially inept. Make the best of what you have and if you need help figuring things out, well there are more than enough people willing to lend a hand.

"You beat the odds Shikamaru. You avenged your sensei when no one else could even find his killers and you ensured that all of us made it back alive. Don't sell yourself short because of one stupid accident. You couldn't have known and you figured out what to do to fix it anyway.

"So stop moping," she said, finishing on a light note. "While I'm sure that life is going to be a bitch and throw a few more stones in your path, I'm confident that you'll always outsmart her in the end."

He shook his head, smiling almost involuntarily.

"You really believe that don't you?"

It took effort to grin in response and sound cheerful as she chirped, "Of course I do, you're my favorite Nara after all."

He slumped forward a second later, as if someone had cut the strings of a puppet. She caught him, rolling him over gently and laying him on his back in a position she hoped was comfortable. Her hand wandered to the shallow cut on her throat, that had long since stopped bleeding, any trace of cheer wiped from her face.

It still wasn't enough. She'd given him so many tries and pushed. All he'd had to do was be serious for one damn attack.

"I'm sorry," Chikako breathed, hardly even a whisper, as she pulled off the necklace he'd given her. The pawn didn't burn her skin when she touched it, but she felt like it should. Shikaku might have asked this of her, but she'd agreed and the worst part was yet to come. Even if she'd somehow deserved that token before, she certainly wouldn't afterwards.

Chikako placed the pawn in his hand and fished the stone she'd given him out of his pocket. This wouldn't be the last time she saw him, far from it, yet the kiss she placed on his forehead strangely felt like goodbye.

She glanced at the deer that had sat down by Shikamaru's side and at Sune who had closed her eyes to concentrate. Making him go through the memories in a genjutsu until he could handle them was the kindest thing Chikako had been able to think of. Still, she'd hoped it wouldn't be necessary.

What Sune could do was nowhere near as bad as she suspected the Tsukuyomi would be, but it would still take it's toll. At the very least he'd come to with the worst headache of his life once the kitsune was done with him.

Chikako had no intention of staying around that long though. Maybe Nara weren't cowards, but it seemed she most certainly was. Even if he somehow didn't react the way Sasuke had, she'd need some time to steel herself before she could face him again.

. . .

Chikako wandered the streets for the rest of the day, keeping to the shadows and avoiding everyone she knew. It didn't help all that much. She had half a mind to just go on a hunt. That might take the edge off, but it would also take too long. Konoha wouldn't hand her an A or S-rank assassination mission while she was classified as a chunin, so she'd have to pick someone from the Bingo Books and track them down herself.

Kisame had been generous to give her three months and she couldn't squander them. She still needed more ingredients for her ink, then she needed to make sure everything worked as it should, after that came the trip to Suna. The tattoo, even if Kankuro agreed and she didn't have to find someone else, would take time as well and then she needed to test it, hopefully not kill herself in the process, and finally she needed to meet up with Kisame.

Three months was a lot, but only if things worked out as she hoped they would.

So no hunt. Instead she wandered the streets until her feet hurt and she'd been through all of Konoha's seedier parts at least twice. She'd scared off a few off it's more unsavory citizens as well.

Scared off and not killed, because that was frowned upon here. If she'd come across a grown woman with her hands in the crotch of a boy in Mist she would have painted the streets in the bitch's blood.

In Leaf all she could do with a civilian was scare her half to death, then wrap her in ninja wire and dump her in front of the Hokage tower, because the Military Police Force no longer existed.

Chikako preferred Kiri's justice. For one because it didn't differentiate between shinobi and civilian and for another because prison sentences weren't a thing. The latter was due to the fact that Kiri lacked - or had whenever that had become the norm - the resources to feed unproductive prisoners.

If your guilt wasn't certain you went free, which meant back to work. If it was, compensation was required, often in the form of unpaid labor. In this particular case the sentence would have been death, very simple, very permanent.

. . .

By the time Chikako made it back to the Uchiha compound her toes were numb and the full moon stood high in the sky, illuminating the empty streets in washed out colors. Night had fallen a while ago and it was probably around midnight.

"Your stalker got bored and gave up," Raccoon informed her as she walked past the gate.

She shrugged, took a few more steps before turning around.

"Care to spar?"

She didn't have to ask twice. He was in her space a second later, palm colliding with her left shoulder. There was a sharp pain as the tenketsu were blocked, making the arm completely useless. He seemed surprised that she hadn't attempted to dodge, but she didn't give him much time to think about it as her own fist collided with his stomach.

He tried to kick her legs out next, which was a really bad call. Instead of getting out of the way, she took a step forward, right into his personal space and kneed him in the thigh. He lost his balance, rolled and was already lunging at her again within the space of three heartbeats.

Usually she liked tho think about fights as dances. If combatants were skilled they could certainly make it seem that way, especially if they were familiar with each others moves. This wasn't a dance though. This was at best a brawl, dirty, with little to no concern for such mundane things as form or honor.

"There a reason you're punishing yourself?" Raccoon asked when it became obvious that she let him make contact whenever he wasn't aiming for something vital and then hit him back just as hard.

Chikako shrugged again.

"Does it matter? We both know you've been itching for a chance to beat me up a little."

"Hound's not going to like this."

"So don't tell him." It was way too late for that objection anyway. They were both dirty, bloody and would be covered in bruises soon enough, and, unlike him, she'd be healed up by the time she saw Kakashi next.

Things slowed down a little after that, almost like a real spar. He mostly refrained from using the Gentle Fist and she only threw sand in his eyes twice.

Chikako still thought he was an asshole, but whether he'd meant to or not, he was helping her. As long as her mind was too busy determining which hits did and didn't need to be evaded, cataloging the damage and occasionally taunting him, it had no time to think about Shikamaru.

When she finally fell into bed she was so tired she nearly forgot to activate the wards. Her eyes fluttered shut before she even hit the futon and then she was just gone, lost to the void of sleep.

. . .

Chikako tensed when she woke, on high alert without knowing why. She wasn't alone in the room and she'd just given away that she wasn't asleep any longer either. Fucking rookie mistake.

A hand reached out to her from the left. She didn't know how she knew, eyes still closed, but she did. She grabbed the wrist before it could touch her, clamping down hard. Had to hurt, but the owner of the appendage made no sound, just went completely still.

"Pup?"

The voice was careful, gravelly, male, tired, familiar. She had an image of lightning in her head that didn't fit and the urge to pull the man closer, either to hug or kill him, she couldn't quite decide. There were warm feelings, of family and home, of a past trailing back several years that she couldn't quite focus on. There were also flashes of death and blood, much colder, sharper, much more recent.

She blinked her eyes open, hoping that seeing might clear the fog in her mind. Her head hurt so much, she thought it was ironic, which confused her because she had no idea how she'd come to that conclusion. That concern quickly vanished, replaced by agony as blinding light caught her off guard.

White, bright, piercing fucking light.

That was so not the room she'd fallen asleep in, might explain the people. There shouldn't have been any, but then she shouldn't have been anywhere other than her borrowed futon either. Hospital probably Why? Who the fuck knew? Whenever she tried to follow a train of thought to it's end the damn thing turned around and bit her, sending fresh stabs of pain through her skull.

She tried blinking again, slowly this time. Light in tiny increments still hurt, but if she didn't let it in all at once it was almost bearable. Seemed like an eternity passed before she could finally make out shapes.

Friend-Killer, Cold-Blooded, Copy Ninja, Kakashi.

He didn't look cold to her. Tired, relieved, concerned, not cold though. She had more names for him too, even if they came slower. Hound and sensei. Didn't help with the memories. She should want to hug him, but whenever her gaze wandered to his face it made her want to flinch back and she didn't know why. He was good, trustworthy, pack. He was also dangerous, deceiver, death.

She shook her head, groaned when all that did was make it hurt worse, finally let go of his wrist. He wouldn't hurt her, probably. Made no sense now that she was awake and unchained. That was important. Chains were bad, bad, bad.

"Don't touch," she rasped. It came our garbled, not at all like she thought the words were supposed to sound. He seemed to understand though, drew his arm back slowly.

"Are you okay pup?" He asked, using that name again. Pup, that was her, made her feel warm and fuzzy and safe. Was that right? It seemed right, but there was still that little voice screaming at her to run.

"Shikamaru," she slurred, not entirely sure why until after the word was already out. There was something important she needed to know. What was it? There was a ... thing? Something ...

"Okay," she decided on, "Is he okay?"

Kakashi gave her a curious look, then his eyes trailed up to fix on something at her back. She didn't turn around to see. Her head didn't like being moved right now.

"Why wouldn't he be?" The Friend-Killer returned. Fucking answering questions with questions. Asshole. She was torn. Fond because it was familiar, comforting. Angry because she needed that information and because ... she didn't know, but that only made it worse.

"Yes. Or. No?" She insisted, biting off each word. He'd implied, but she wasn't stupid. That was how you were supposed to lie.

He looked at her again, taken aback.

"Yes."

"Good," she decided, feeling as if she'd accomplished something. She deserved a reward for that. Closing her eyes again seemed reasonable. A little more of the empty dark would be nice after all the red and white.

. . .

Her whole face scrunched up the next time she woke, the stench of disinfectant clogging her nose. Her eyes flew open wide, panicked. She could still see the swirling red and black and the shadows that were all wrong. A whistling noise came out of her throat as she tried to draw breath, but it was as if a donkey had kicked her in the chest. She wheezed and gasped, but no air would come.

Hands found her shoulders, radiating warmth through the thin excuse for clothing someone had clad her in. Where was her fucking flak jacket? The hands pulled her in until she leaned against a chest, one arm behind and one in front to hold her upright and in place. There was thumping beneath her ear, steady and strong. Heartbeat, she identified easily. Not afraid, calm, kind of comforting. She recognized the smell too, fresh air after rain, forest and rich earth, as well as a hint of smoke that had her wrinkling her nose again.

"That's not healthy," she mumbled, never even having noticed when breathing had become easy again. Her answer was a rumbling noise that she couldn't quite place. Not laughter exactly, but she liked the way it felt, vibrating through his chest.

Another thing she hadn't noticed was the weight on her legs. Not heavy at all, but also warm. When she looked she saw two furry lumps. A pug and a fox, both snoring lightly, laying as far away from each other as they could without giving up their claim on her and the bed.

"They've kept watch since Kakashi had to leave," Shikamaru informed her quietly. He'd kept watch too, she knew. That was why Kakashi had looked at her weirdly, because she'd asked about the Nara when he'd been right there, next to her. She should have been able to tell.

"You're okay?" She asked, just to be sure.

He shook his head and her heart sank for a moment until she realized the gesture was exasperated, not a denial.

"You keep asking me that." He sounded resigned. How often had she woken up? More importantly, why couldn't she remember? She felt okay, well except for that panic attack and the burn of disinfectant in her nose. That hadn't lasted long though, couldn't be that bad.

"Are you? I asked Kakashi, but ..." she trailed off as he shifted, pushing her away a little so he could look down at her better. Maybe she hadn't said that before?

He studied her for a long moment, eyes wandering from feature to feature. She could tell that he was looking for something specific, waiting, but nothing happened. She felt silly under his scrutiny, scowled when minutes passed in silence.

"What?" Chikako finally demanded. "I'm not a goddamned bug and you're not Aburame, quit starring."

He blinked as if snapped out of a trance, then pulled her in again while at the same time calling for a medic. The sudden increase in volume made her flinch, startling the two yokai sharing her bed.

"Sorry," Shikamaru muttered, much more quietly, as Pakkun rumbled something unintelligible and Sune hissed in annoyance.

The kitsune looked her over too, albeit much more briefly. She sniffed, then shook herself and vanished in a cloud of chakra smoke. Chikako's left arm burned as more ink intertwined with the symbol Kit had added to her Summoning Tattoo when he'd offered her a contract. She watched the process in fascination, knowing exactly what had just happened, but having no clue as to the why.

Pakkun barked in surprise as the door was flung open, suddenly on all fours. An adorable little growl rumbled in his chest while he fixed a startled medic with his grumpiest stare. He was a trained ninken, but Chikako wouldn't exactly call him threatening. She scratched behind his ear until the growling stopped and his hind leg twitched.

He had a point though. Chikako too kept the medic in her sights. She'd never been a fan of people that wanted to stick her with pointy things, especially those that wore white coats.

"Touch me and I'll make you bleed," she warned. The young medic jumped, only now realizing that the pug was the least of his worries in this room.

Shikamaru sighed, but before he could say anything Tsunade and Jiraiya walked in, prompting the frazzled medic to scramble out of their way.

"I'd be surprised if you could manage to stand on your own," the Godaime opined snidely, as she tapped a medical chart against her thigh. Chikako would have proven her wrong out of spite alone, but she was pretty sure she'd faceplant the instant she so much a leaned over the side of the bed. She settled for scowling at the unwelcome visitors instead.

"What do you want?"

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat confused. Tsunade waved at him, not saying a word, but apparently communicating a whole lot. The sealmaster narrowed his eyes, then handed over a thin folder. Inside were several sheets of paper. The handwriting was jittery at best, almost illegible in some places. It was also undeniably hers, written in the code Jiraiya had made her learn. The problem was that she had no memory of writing any of it.

It took her a moment to realize that she was holding a report in her hands and a little longer to note that what she'd assumed to be weird ink was actually blood. The sentences were a little disjointed, stray thoughts sometimes interjected in odd places or aborted mid-paragraph.

Chikako didn't like paperwork, but she'd never in her life handed in anything this sloppy. She glanced at the two Sannin, but their faces were blank masks as they watched her, so she kept reading in silence. Some of Orochimaru's more ... creative drugs had resulted in her mind forming really odd connections at times. They'd always made perfect sense while she'd been under the influence, but if repeated to her afterwards she'd had a hard time piecing things back together. This was a little like that.

The report put a lot of emphasis on a bleeding sky and shadows having the wrong color, mentioning both over and over again. There was also a short rant about whether any colors other than red were actually real, apparently she'd been mystified by having seen something purple and orange for some reason. Admittedly, that wasn't a very common combination, but why would it prompt her to question the existence of colors?

She'd been really worried about the shadow people too, those that had the right color, which was the nothing-color, also known as not-white. That one wasn't so hard to figure out, seeing as the first thing she'd done was ask about Shikamaru. Still, she had to have been delirious when she'd written that. Not very helpful. Would it have killed her to add a sentence saying why the Nara were in danger? The whole clan no less, and apparently that one deer.

At least she could be reasonably sure it was something other than that 'training session' she'd had with Shikamaru. The thought made her tense and then groan in pain as a memory flickered to life. A red sky, white shadows, a man she couldn't quite see, Kakashi's face, someone calling him Friend-Killer. The name had been laced with hatred through and through, so much so that she'd felt the blood freeze in her veins.

"That's enough," Shikamaru said coldly, glaring at the Hokage. "If you push her too hard-"

"Shut up or get out Nara," Jiraiya cut in. Oddly enough, he didn't sound hostile in the least, almost friendly really. "She's doing far better this time."

This time? What the hell? Was this also something they'd done more than once? Shikamaru had said that earlier, but he'd also looked at her in a way that had made her think something was different.

Retrograde amnesia, she concluded, affecting only the most recent memories. She'd had that problem before, hadn't she? Right after Sai's death, when she'd hidden under her bed so that idiot Suna nin would leave her alone. Then Gaara had come in, found her, ordered her to meet him outside. He'd been surprised when she had, because apparently they'd gone through that whole spiel several times, only she'd never actually obeyed. Until that last time, the only time she remembered.

So ... something traumatic then? She hadn't forgotten Sai's death though, only the immediate aftermath. Had to be something along those lines. Jiraiya had said she was doing better this time. Maybe she was recovering on her own, maybe the way she tried to assess the problem also mattered somehow.

"Did I remember the first time?" She asked out loud before the thought had fully formed.

The question seemed to surprise Tsunade, but Jiraiya looked pleased.

"You said I should tell you, 'Look underneath the underneath, but don't take it at face value. The idiot didn't know what he was talking about and neither do you.'" The corner of his mouth twitched in amusement, when she glared at him.

"Was I perchance high on painkillers when I said that? Also when I said 'you', was I referring to myself or to you?"

"When was that?" Tsunade asked angrily, before Chikako got her answer. The two Sannin argued among themselves about Jiraiya questioning a patient without permission, but she let that fade into the background until it was nothing more than noise.

Underneath the underneath, Kakashi liked to say that. It usually wasn't literal, but ... Chikako's eyes transitioned to full black as her chakra sight kicked in, revealing a second layer of text beneath her scribbles.

MADARA

Bold lines, spread out over each page, over and over again.

Madara Uchiha

She choked on a scream, hand flying to her throat as breathing once again seemed like an impossible task. Her vision blurred and she could hear Shikamaru shouting something. His arms wound around her tighter, pulling her in.

Shadows spread out around them, blanketing everything in black, absorbing the light. Was that a new technique too? She stared at them, soothed because they had the right color and now she knew what that meant too. White shadows were bad, just like chains.

Chikako's head turned further into Shikamaru's chest as she mumbled apologies over and over again, trying to keep both the sobbing and hysterical laughter under wraps. Looking even more like an insane person wouldn't do her any favors. It made sense now though, that she'd thought her headache was ironic.

She'd had Sune make Shikamaru go through his memories to help him, thinking it was the least cruel option, because apparently she was a fucking idiot. Now that she'd experienced it first hand, she knew for a fact that that genjutsu couldn't compare to the Tsukuyomi. That was hardly an excuse though.

"How can you even sit here?" She asked, voice strained with the tears she refused to let fall and the laughter still trapped in her throat. He tensed for a moment before relaxing again, tightening his hold on her even more.

"It doesn't matter."

She wanted to argue, but his tone was like a massive steel door falling shut, discussion over. Insisting would mean pulling away and if she did that she'd surely fall apart.

Madara fucking Uchiha

Her mind was racing in circles as images flooded in. Red and black and white and completely out of order. Snippets, glimpses, broken words. Friend-Killer, peace, blood, war and savior, but above all, always and all encompassing was Madara Uchiha. So much power that even the memory made her tremble, because she was nothing, barely even an insect. So insignificant that she didn't warrant being killed, after all what could one more ant do when faced with a god? She should feel blessed that he'd condescended to even talk to her and-

Crack.

Chikako blinked stupidly, registering the stinging pain in her cheek far too slowly, as her gaze fell on Jiraiya's outstretch arm. Black wound around it, squeezing, trapping, so close to breaking. Shikamaru was angry, nearly livid. She'd assumed he couldn't be goaded into a reckless attack, but maybe she'd been wrong. If he didn't let go soon he'd shatter at least Jiraiya's humerus, radius and ulna.

"I think ... I think I asked him to do that," Chikako whispered, a little unsure.

Shikamaru looked down at her again and the Sannin sighed as the shadow lowly retreated. Shouldn't he have been able to break free on his own? Shikamaru was both brilliant and strong, but he couldn't match Jiraiya's chakra. Could be a test again, maybe the old asshole was finally testing someone other than her. Well, that or he thought her fragile, which was probably pretty accurate right now. She had a hard time holding her thoughts together even without people fighting around her and that slap had just prevented a lot of spiraling. If that had happened several times it was the breaking point. She must have asked him so he could stop her from going down that rabbit hole.

Those thoughts were weird too. She wasn't a fucking ant. She was Wraith. Goddamned Madara Uchiha could go fuck himself. The sense of power was real though, overwhelming, crushing power. Like when Team 7 had encountered Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, only a thousand times worse. Still, she would never call him a god and mean it, not in the sense of someone that should be worshiped. She'd decided to fight after that day in the forest. If she'd die either way she would fight, so she couldn't be an ant. Ants didn't make for very good assassins.

If underneath the underneath was Madara Uchiha, then the idiot that didn't know what he was talking about was either Kisame or Sasuke. The same was true for that 'you', her, or Jiraiya.

According to Sasuke, Itachi had claimed if he managed to master the Mangekyo there would be three people that could use it. He hadn't specifically said Uchiha, but Chikako rather doubted he'd been referring to Kakashi at the time. Kisame on the other hand had said that Madara wasn't Akatsuki's leader, but involved with the organization somehow.

What was that other cryptic shit she'd come up with though? Don't take the underneath at face value, the idiot didn't know what he was talking about and neither did 'you'. So Madara, but not. There was something wrong with the statement about the unknown Mangekyo user, and her own conclusions or possibly Jiraiya's, presumably concerning the Uchiha clan or Akatsuki, were also faulty.

Very fucking helpful.

Maybe she was going at this from the wrong angle. The only way she would have come up with those statements was if she'd learned something new, either because the attacker had told her or because she'd noticed something. So she needed to remember what the hell had happened.

"Can you get Inoichi or Otter in here? I need someone who isn't a snarly demon fox to look through my mind."


	76. XVI - New Rules

**A/N:**

Thanks for the reviews everyone.

 _angrypixels_

You didn't miss anything. This chapter should explain what happened.

 _Delathen_

I think you confused something somewhere. There is only Raccoon, no Rooster. He's a Hyuga and doesn't answer to Ibiki.

 _Sunrae13_

Welcome. I hope binging the story didn't cost you any sleep (that's usually what happens to me and I always regret it in the morning).

 _KadeBear_

Thanks. I think roughly half of the chapter titles refer to more than one thing, but it's admittedly hard to notice at times and mostly for my personal enjoyment. Glad you liked the chapter (and it's title).

. . .

 **XVI - New Rules**

The person that entered the room was both blond and a Yamanaka, but she was most definitely neither the head of the clan, nor ANBU Otter.

"Inoichi has assured me that Ino is more than qualified for interrogation work and as a medic this should be safer for her as well," Tsunade said before Chikako managed to voice her protest.

"There is no way in hell he volunteered his daughter," she said instead.

The Godaime looked tense, the skin around her eyes taut, nostrils flaring slightly.

"You asked for a Yamanaka, this is the one you get." She was ready to fight over this. Why? She might suspect Otter of being ROOT, but if she trusted Shikaku, she trusted Inoichi as well. Kakashi wasn't here though, which meant they might be busy as well.

What else had happened? So far all Chikako had learned was that she'd been out cold for five days and that Raccoon was the one who'd gotten her to the hospital after Sune had alerted him. It appeared he hadn't even noticed their altercation with the intruder, either due to inattention or an inability to see past Chikako's wards - something to keep in mind for later.

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. It would be so much easier if Sune could do this, but the kitsune used genjutsu, meaning she could only invent scenarios or bring forth memories that her target actually remembered. Also, as was the nature of all genjutsu, blanks and half-remembered fragments were filled in to make the illusion as realistic as possible, which in this case would mean falsifying the memory. Not something Chikako was willing to risk without knowing what she was looking for. She needed the raw thing, unfiltered, unaltered.

The Yamanaka clan's mind techniques could do that, but as she'd said to Tsunade on her first day back in Konoha, she had no idea how her chakra would react to that kind of intrusion. That was precisely why she'd asked for one of the two most experienced Yamanaka she knew of.

Otter was an old woman who hadn't watched Chikako for long before she'd been replaced by Cat, less than a week probably, but she'd immediately realized that Chikako could identify the members of ANBU, whether they wore their masks or not. After that she hadn't bothered trying to hide who she was and threatened to rifle through Chikako's memories. That was the last day she showed herself as well.

Chikako didn't know who had taken issue with the old ANBU's behavior, but when she'd asked Itachi he'd told her that Otter was an incredibly accomplished interrogator. Apparently she'd been known for diving right into the minds of her victims without even trying to make them talk the old fashioned way. She'd also taken things too far during the last war, invading the thoughts of friends and foes alike. After that she'd been ordered not to use any of her clan's techniques unless the Hokage commanded otherwise. That was most likely why she'd merely threatened Chikako at the time.

Inoichi too was a master of his clan's techniques and both would have easily been able to shield their minds in the event that something unexpected happened. They had experience enough to immediately notice if something didn't go the way it was supposed to as well, whereas Ino - well, Chikako didn't actually know how many minds the girl had walked or how good she was, but she was sure that Inoichi wouldn't have agreed to this. Which meant nobody had asked him.

"You're going to have to drain most of my chakra first," Chikako said, gritting her teeth. It wouldn't leave her completely helpless, but it came far too close for her liking. Still, if she didn't take the precautionary measure there was no point even trying with Ino.

Jiraiya looked positively giddy at that idea and Chikako narrowed her eyes at him.

"You were going to do that regardless, weren't you?" It wasn't really as if she could properly defend herself at the moment after all.

"Well, this certainly makes things easier," he told her, already fishing sealing ink and brushes out of a pocket. "Willingly putting yourself at a disadvantage to protect a fellow Leaf ninja should also raise Raccoon's opinion of you."

"As if I give a shit what that fucking Hyuga thinks."

"You should," was all Jiraiya said, because he was a cryptic bastard. Did that mean Raccoon was one of his spies or simply that he wanted her to make nice with Konoha nin in general? God she wished Kisame were here. He would have knocked some heads together by now. The man made an excellent guard dog.

Not that she was complaining about having Shikamaru around. At this point he was the only person in the room she trusted, which was probably more concerning than she could comprehend while her head still felt as if someone had rammed an ax into it. He should be spitting mad at her, but instead he sat by her side, offering silent comfort and watching everyone else with hawk eyes.

He didn't move when Jiraiya started painting seals on her skin, but she could feel the tight coils of his chakra, like a snake ready to strike. After that display with the Sannin's arm she had no doubt that he would step in if anyone decided to take advantage of her weakened state, although she had to wonder how smart that was.

Chikako really hoped he would back off if Tsunade were to decide to throw her into a cell. She could always get herself out later, but she wasn't sure if Shikamaru realized that or whether he'd care at that point. Situations like this were exactly why she hadn't really worked with a partner after Sai's death. And the ex-ROOT operative had at least known exactly what she could and couldn't do.

Shit, she probably shouldn't think about stuff like that right when Ino was about to dive into her mind. She saw her friend's death often enough in her dreams, no need to relive it while she was awake too.

"Ready?" The Yamanaka asked as if on cue.

Chikako wrinkled her nose, looking down at the ink seals on the backs of her hands.

"Those don't drain."

"Try to channel chakra," Jiraiya told her with a smug grin.

She did. It was a little more difficult than it should be, as if wading through water, but it took only seconds for the seals to burn themselves out and as soon as they were gone so was the resistance. Then chakra rushed out of her in a fine mist, blanketing the whole room before it dissipated. It left her light-headed for a moment. Chikako was pretty sure that the room wasn't actually spinning, but it most certainly felt that way.

"What the hell kind of seal is that?" She muttered annoyed.

"Trade secret," Jiraiya informed her. "Maybe I'll teach you some other time, for now we should get this over with."

Chikako got the feeling he was in a hurry, but she couldn't tell why. He wasn't fidgeting or anything, his chakra was calm and his voice had been even. Maybe his good mood was just weirding her out. He wasn't usually this friendly and offering to teach her a seal for nothing in return was definitely fishy.

"Please close your eyes and concentrate on the last thing you remember before waking up in the hospital," Ino said. She sounded like a professional, calm and collected. Her cool fingers splayed on Chikako's temples, not exerting any pressure.

As soon as Chikako closed her eyes she saw Raccoon. He kicked at her head and she felt herself block. It was weird because she saw things exactly as they had happened from her own perspective, yet she still felt like an outsider watching someone else, unable to change what was already in the past. She could also feel a presence in her mind, like a cold spot between her shoulder blades. That had to be Ino. It was incredibly easy to pick out, either because the girl wasn't hiding or because of how well Chikako could sense chakra signatures.

The Yamanaka heiress was content to watch for a while, but when the brawl dragged on she began to push, forcing the memory to move faster. Chikako had a hard time not fighting her. She wanted to hurry to the important part as well, but whatever Ino was doing felt like an itch and not scratching it took a surprising amount of willpower. She was pretty sure those weren't just her instincts, but also her chakra reacting to the intrusion, only at the moment she was so drained that the effect was laughable.

The memory played out further, ending the fight, exchanging a few insults, walking into the house, barely remembering to activate the wards before she hit the futon and passed out, followed by nothing. The black lasted for an indeterminate amount of time, then a shout that sounded kind of familiar ripped through the quiet, next a feeling so horrible that Chikako couldn't even describe it dragged her under, claws and teeth ripping into her flesh.

Her eyes flew open on a gasp as her whole body recoiled from Ino. She heaved breath after breath into her burning lungs, shuffling backwards on the bed until she hit something warm, only then realizing that she was shivering all over.

She almost fought him on pure instinct when Shikamaru put his arms around her once again.

"Not chains, not chains, not chains," she whispered, repeating the phrase like a mantra. He was safe and warm and most importantly his arms weren't chains.

Fucking hell, she needed to know what that meant. She'd never been afraid of the chains in Orochimaru's lab. They'd just been part of life, like the cages and the Pit. She'd calmed herself down in Iwa and the shackles she'd worn when fighting the rookie ANBU had only bothered her for a moment. This reaction now was new and she hated it. How the hell was she supposed to fight a fear when she didn't even know why she was afraid in the first place?

"... pushing her," Shikamaru growled. She hadn't heard the beginning of that sentence, but it wasn't too hard to guess, especially considering Jiraiya's answer.

"I told you to be quiet Nara. It's just a little blood and we need to know what happened."

Blood? Chikako frowned, then put a hand to her face. Yeah, definitely blood, trickling down her chin. Seemed like she'd bitten her tongue. The metallic taste brought up a memory of the cave in River and she wanted to gag at the thought. Instead she kept her mouth shut and swallowed, forcing her hand into fists at her side, to keep them from trembling. She already looked weak, no reason to bare her throat as well.

Ino looked a little bewildered, chewing on her lower lip as she glanced between her teammate and the two Sannin.

"Keep going," Tsunade told her, "and remember what we discussed."

Yeah, that didn't sound at all as if Chikako should be concerned about secondary motives. If only her goddamned head wouldn't hurt so much, maybe she could actually pay attention to what was going on around her.

Ino said something that she didn't catch and then they were back in Chikako's mind, only much, much earlier than they were supposed to be. She was four or maybe five in this memory, strapped to a gurney and watching as Orochimaru stitched a long gash on her right thigh. He was talking. It sounded friendly enough, but she couldn't understand a word he said. At that time even a cut and a needle passing in and out of her flesh had been too much pain for her to handle.

Why were they watching this memory? It had no connection at all to what they were trying to find out.

Ino's presence pushed and then Chikako was in the Pit. There was blood on her hands and an unconscious boy lay on the ground in front of her. Her knuckles had split open from hitting him over and over again. At least two of her ribs were broken and she'd done something to her ankle that made balancing on it hard, but none of that mattered because Orochimaru was clapping. As long as he was happy with her she'd get a long pause to recover before the next fight or experiment or whatever else he had in mind.

"Very good Chikako-chan," she heard him say in that sugary sweet voice that made her skin crawl.

Ino dragged them through two more similar memories that were none of her business before Chikako finally caught on that the girl was gathering intel. Of course, why not use the chance? After all Chikako had refused to give Tsunade information and it wasn't as if she would open her mind like this again anytime soon - willingly and slightly delirious.

That was only further confirmation Inoichi had no idea this was happening. He would have warned the Hokage not to attempt something this stupid with Ibiki's ward. The head of T&I hadn't only trained her to withstand physical torture. Just because no one had ever actually gone through her mind, didn't mean he hadn't made her learn the theory of how to handle these kinds of attacks as part of his lessons on how to recognize and play mind games.

Chikako had hated those lectures, thinking they were a waste of time because of her resistance to genjutsu, but she loved the paranoid bastard for caring enough to make her learn anyway. He might not qualify as a good father in the traditional sense, but he'd given her every tool he could so that she had a chance to defend herself no matter what life threw at her.

He'd also taught her that being vindictive could be a very good deterrent. So, instead of simply forcing the Yamanaka out of her mind, Chikako dragged her in deeper. She wrenched up the most horrible parts of her past that she could think of, while making sure not to give any more away than she already had. No knowledge, only blood and death, the gorier the better.

There was the day she'd been forced to kill that one child that had been friendly to her, because Orochimaru hadn't wanted her distracted. Weapons weren't allowed in the Pit and she hadn't been strong enough to do much damage with her fists, so she'd had to use her nails and teeth. Blunt, human canines weren't meant to tear skin and muscle. It had taken her a while to get the job done and she made sure to stop before Ino saw her throwing up and then cry curled up in the corner of her cage after the fight.

Next came the day she'd seen children try to chew through their own limbs in a futile effort to escape. Orochimaru had injected them with something that had apparently caused horrible hallucinations. They'd screamed and sobbed for hours, tearing at their restraints until their wrists and ankles had been too slippery with blood.

Then there was that one drug that had felt as if it burned her from the inside out - like boiling acid in her veins. Chikako hadn't been able to tell up from down at the time and reliving it wasn't remotely fun, but she could tell by the way that Ino's presence shivered and tried to pull back that she got at least part of the sensations. That made it more than worth it.

Chikako didn't stop with her early childhood either. Once that was done she kept going, pulling on every memory in which she'd been frightened, helpless or in pain. Wave, the confrontation with Orochimaru during the Chuunin Exams, every time she'd come across Gaara back then, Konoha being invaded, fighting Kimimaro, fleeing with Sai. On and on she went, throwing one memory after the other at Ino.

Chikako lingered on her first time in an Earth prison especially long. They didn't even get the whole way through before Ino's presence was ripped out of her mind by a blast of foreign chakra.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Tsunade snarled at Chikako while she inspected the other girl.

Ino's pupils were blown wide and the trickle of blood on her face was definitely a nosebleed. She looked completely dazed and her whole body was trembling as silent tears ran down her cheeks.

"Oh nothing, I just helped her snoop," Chikako spat. "You're lucky she didn't stumble on any of Kiri's or Suna's secrets, because I would have had to kill her for that."

Shikamaru's fingers dug into her shoulders, hard enough to bruise. He didn't say anything though and Chikako couldn't tell whether he was angry with her, Tsunade, Ino, Jiraiya or all of them. She couldn't take the words back though. Ino wasn't pack. Chikako had given her the benefit of the doubt because she was Shikamaru's friend and she'd kept Chikako's secrets in the past. This was a breach of trust though, even if she hadn't found anything significant.

Chikako wouldn't hold it against her, since Ino had clearly been given orders to have a look around in her mind. Didn't mean she'd just forget it ever happened though. She wasn't nearly as forgiving as Shikamaru seemed to be - and she still wasn't sure whether he wasn't just biding his time until whatever was going on at the moment was dealt with.

Obviously she couldn't really kill Ino, but the more believable the threat, the better. If the girl had come across a memory that could harm anyone Chikako cared about, she'd have had to do something to ensure the information was safe. With murder out of the question that would have meant intimidation, blackmail or something equally messy and unreliable, since trust clearly wasn't an option.

Ino might not go around sharing Chikako's secrets, but evidently the Yamanaka also wouldn't go against orders for her sake. Which, fair enough, she had no right to expect that. It did mean that she wasn't to be trusted with anything important though.

"Again," Jiraiya ordered. Oddly enough he was glaring at Tsunade for a change.

Then again, maybe it wasn't that odd and Chikako was just really slow at the moment. He'd tried the friendly approach and the Hokage had ruined it. Seemed like he was actually on Chikako's side for once, even if it was only for the sake of getting information via different means. She had to wonder why he was even in here though. Hadn't he said he had business outside of the village? Had that already concluded or had he come back for this? For her or whatever else had happened?

"I'm not sure I should-" Ino started, but was cut off by an impatient Tsunade.

"You can do it. I'll pull you out again if it gets too much."

The girl nodded, taking a deep breath as she squared her shoulders. Then her gaze fell back on Chikako.

"Try to stay calm when we get to the black spot next time," she said, voice almost steady. Chikako inclined her head in acceptance and a moment later they were back in her mind, where the end of the fight with Raccoon played out.

They reached the black spot more quickly, only to get assaulted by overwhelming fear together with a slew of other emotions she couldn't even separate. Chikako gasped and chocked as her eyes flew open once again. She wasn't nearly as disoriented by the abrupt change the second time around, swallowing the blood that had pooled in her mouth.

"Can you slow that down? It's too much to process at once."

"Slow what?" Ino asked, looking confused.

"You don't feel that? At all? Right when the black ends, it's like we're going through days and days worth of torture or fighting or ..." Chikako sighed. "I don't really know, something. It's too much, too fast."

"I can try, but slowing things down is harder than speeding them up and I'll be even more disconnected from the memory, so I won't have as much control."

"Just do it. I already survived whatever it is, so seeing it a second time probably won't do any harm."

Shikamaru made a noise, but both girls ignored him as Ino put her fingers back on Chikako's temples.

Raccoon, fight, wards, sleep, black. Then nothing for a long while, because Ino apparently really couldn't tell when whatever was forcing Chikako out of the memory started. It was dark and empty for so long that the sudden spike of fear felt like a sledgehammer. Even with things slowed down, it was just there from one moment to the next, not creeping in or even just starting strong and gradually becoming worse. That couldn't be natural, could it?

Even when hit with killing intent people felt it coming. That was why they had time to stagger a step or two, no matter how strong the aggressor was. Fear, just like any other emotion was ultimately caused by a chemical reaction in the brain and anything that required things to happen physically could not be instantaneous.

Genjutsu were a different matter though. They could affect areas of the brain directly, bypassing the usual neurotransmitters and if Madara Uchiha was somehow involved it might very well have been a Sharingan illusion, which she wouldn't have been able to fight off like a regular genjutsu. It seemed ridiculously unlikely, but then she didn't have anything else to go on, just that name and the fact that whatever had happened, she hadn't been able to do anything about it.

After the fear had set in, helplessness followed and even though there was no apparent cause - which likely meant it was part of the illusion - the emotion was still too strong for Chikako to just ignore. She had a staggering urge to roll over and present her throat like a dog might. She could also hear the distant echo of a chuckle that made her shiver, both in pleasure and disgust, then the black shattered around her and she was once again looking at Ino's pale eyes.

The girl's blank look said she still had no idea what the problem was. Chikako held up a hand to silently ask for a pause, while she got her racing heartbeat back under control. Nobody said anything, not even to tell her she didn't have to continue. She wouldn't have taken them up on such an offer, but having the option would still have been nice.

Instead the silence was slightly hostile, because this was really only one step removed from an interrogation and even that apparently only because she was cooperating at the moment. It likely had been that way the whole time as well and she'd simply taken this long to notice. Maybe fighting through this memory would clear her head a little.

"You don't have to slow down quite that early," Chikako said once she was sure that her voice wouldn't waver. Ino only nodded and the cycle began again.

That time she made it past the chuckle, but almost threw up when her eyes flew open next. She could still hear a velvety voice crooning in her mind about her god, Madara, her savior. She felt the need to find him, to worship him. It clashed horribly with a sick, twisting sensation in her gut.

The fucking bastard had tried to force her to love him. To create adoration, respect and devotion out of thin air.

To what end though? If he was powerful and arrogant enough to even attempt such a thing he'd hardly need her help. Unless it was as a spy, maybe a sleeper agent or something similar.

She'd speculated that Yagura might have been affected by a Sharingan genjutsu, meaning it had to either have been incredibly strong to hold that long or someone would have had to renew it frequently. They'd never figured out what the hell that had been about though. Not that they'd tried all that hard, seeing as it was merely speculation and Yagura was dead anyway.

Still, her attacker claimed to be Madara Uchiha, which according to Kisame meant he was connected to Akatsuki somehow. Why not just capture the then Mizukage and extract the Sanbi? Why let her live? Why come after her in the first place? Was it the ring? She didn't want to check right now, because that would mean releasing all the items from that particular pocket dimension, while she couldn't keep them out of Jiraiya's and Tsunade's hands.

"Get me something to bite down on and maybe bring a bucket and a bottle of water," Chikako instructed no one in particular. She already felt like shit, but now she was also pissed off. No better motivation than that.

. . .

She got further each time she confronted the memory that followed the black spot, but trying over and over again took a lot out of both her and Ino. Chikako was surprised that neither the Hokage nor her spymaster left the room at any point, silently looking on as if they had nothing better to do.

Chikako had to request several, increasingly longer pauses and had used the bucket twice by the time two chunin brought a tray of bland hospital food for each of them. She barely touched hers, no point if she was only going to spit it back out again.

The thoughts and emotions Madara had tried to plant in her head conflicted so much with her natural reactions that they unfailingly caused nausea and made her want to crawl out of her own skin. She'd actually raked her nails over her arms several times, leaving behind deep gashes, to the point that Tsunade had insisted on healing them and Shikamaru refused to let go of her wrists.

A lot of it was just the desire to treat Madara as her superior and take his word as law, which she could easily recognize and differentiate from her actual thoughts. The anti-Konoha sentiment that seemed to underlie everything was a little harder to separate out though, seeing as she really didn't think that well of the village. Chikako knew for a fact that the wish to level the place wasn't hers, but it was possible that there was more subtle resentment that she'd overlooked.

What really troubled her were her mixed reactions to Kakashi. Whenever she thought about her sensei it was as if polar opposites collided. As if she loved and hated him at the same time. For whatever reason Madara seemed to despise Kakashi, or at least he'd wanted her to despise the man. She rather suspected that it was personal for him though, because the emotion seemed ludicrously strong in comparison to anything else, otherwise it wouldn't be so hard for her to fight it.

She had never in her live hated Kakashi. At worst she'd been afraid of him and even then the thought of being in conflict with him, much less actually hurting him, had caused her emotional distress. Now it was as if his name came with the label Friend-Killer and an unhealthy dose of rage attached to it.

Chikako knew he had been given that name at some point in his teens, had read it in his Bingo Book entries more than once. It was one of the many things he beat himself up for, but didn't like talking about. Maybe it was time she found out the whole story. It seemed silly that one of the village's founders - who should really be dead by now - would be so fixated on him. Not only that, it apparently wasn't even because he was the only non-Uchiha in possession of a Sharingan, but something far more personal.

Ino, for her part, was completely unaffected by the lingering influence of the genjutsu, couldn't even perceive it, but using her clan techniques so much and for extended periods of time took it's toll on her as well. Her chakra reserves were down to less than one quarter and she'd also started to rub her forehead every few minutes, which indicated a headache.

Tsunade and Jiraiya stood by the door, silent watchers. Neither offered to continue another day. They didn't tell them to hurry up either, but their presence alone was testament to how urgently they wanted to know what had happened. So as soon as everyone had eaten, or in Chikako's case ignored the food, the grueling exercise of unraveling what lay behind the black spot continued.

After two more attempts, one of which required the use of the bucket and had Shikamaru alternate between being worried and angry, the nothingness finally made way for something else. It was a little hazy, too dull, too desaturated, but it felt just like every other memory Chikako had relived that day.

. . .

A shout woke her.

"That's the bitch!"

She remained calm, didn't move an inch because that was Hidan's voice. Hidan who was supposed to be nothing more than a muzzled head in custody of T&I. He wasn't alone either. With him was another person, an Uchiha. She could tell because all of them felt like fire, smoke and lightning to some degree. She didn't recognizes his signature though.

The man was powerful and he'd gotten past the net of chakra strings and her wards without tripping either. Most definitely not a friend.

He remained silent for a while, moving around the room slowly, either watching her or looking for something. When he got close enough Chikako lunged at him without warning, wakizashi appearing in her hand halfway through the attack.

He was wearing a simple, black cloak paired with an orange mask that only had a hole for his right eye, a spiral pattern focused around it. Underneath the cloak he wore dark clothing that covered him completely, except for his hands and feet, so the only other feature Chikako could make out was his unruly, black hair. He didn't seem to be carrying any weapons either, but both of his wrists were shackled, the steel bands connected by a chain that hung behind his back. It was almost long enough to reach the ground and didn't restrain his movements in the least.

Most notable though, was the fact that her blade glid right through his throat. Not in the, cutting-muscle-and-tendons-like-butter way either, but rather in the not-actually-touching-anything way. She could see him, sense his presence, hear him move, would swear to anyone who asked that he was present and not an illusion, yet her blade didn't connect with tissue.

"Oh, that was fast," he praised happily, almost sounding like a little boy.

"What the hell are you doing? Kill her already so we can get out of here!" Hidan, and it was really just his head, shouted from the ground, where he'd been discarded like yesterday's old clothes.

"Don't be angry sempai," the weird Uchiha pleaded.

Chikako ignored both of them, jumping backwards and sending Fox Fire after the guy in the orange mask. He tensed for a fraction of a second, just long enough for her to see. Then his chakra diminished, as if most of it had just been shut away. After that the blue flames didn't seem to bother him at all and soon died out for lack of fuel.

"Not nice," he whined and she could hear the pout in his voice even if she couldn't see it. What the hell kind of nutcase was this guy?

"I was just going to ask for the ring," he told her. "Hidan-sempai says you have one and I need it or I won't be allowed to join Akatsuki."

Then he was suddenly behind her. She barely managed to put space between them again before he could ... tap her on the shoulder? Chikako frowned, eyeing his left hand and the raised pointer finger. He hadn't gathered any chakra whatsoever, but she didn't trust his friendly act. The guy was undeniably dangerous, even more so if he really was an Uchiha.

"That nice man at the bounty station said you had jewelry you wanted to give back," the guy babbled on as if this was completely normal.

"I'm afraid he was mistaken," Chikako said quietly, keeping her voice as even as possible. She'd intended that comment as a lure in case Hidan or Kakuzu hadn't been to the bounty station before their group had reached it. This on the other hand felt very fucking similar to the time she'd sat on that roof with Gaara, right after he'd turned Dozu into red mist. Entirely too dangerous and easily avoidable if she'd just kept her mouth shut.

"Oh." The weirdo shrugged. "Well, that's okay. Hidan-sempai said a boy took his ring so I'll just-"

Chikako didn't wait for him to finish his sentence. She let her wakizashi vanish again, used a Body Flicker to move right into the guy's space and struck at him with a chakra fueled palm, hoping that the natural energy might have an effect.

His chakra flickered for the briefest moment and she would swear she'd felt fabric touch her skin, but then she passed right through him. The chain that was wrapped around her throat an instant later though was perfectly solid as it chocked the life out of her.

How the hell was he doing that? More importantly, how did she get around it? She was faster than him, but just barely and whatever that technique was allowed him to react late, because it didn't require he dodge. If it kept things from touching him though, it must also keep him from touching anything. So in theory, she should be able to make contact whenever he did.

She gripped the chain around her neck, pulling to keep it from cutting off her air completely. Her arms trembled with the effort that took. He was strong and she was pretty sure he could pull harder if he wanted to.

"Oh, I know this game," he chirped, the friendly tone completely at odds with the fact that he was strangling her. He didn't sound the least bit strained either, just a cat playing with the silly little mouse that hadn't yet realized that it had already lost.

Chikako grunted, throwing her weight forward in an effort to unbalance him. He didn't stumble after her, but then the chain turned incorporeal. The sudden lack of resistance meant she was pushing against nothing and ended up crashing into the wall.

The guy cocked his head, as if confused, waited until she'd steadied herself, then vanished and reappeared behind her again. She was prepared though. A barrier flickered to life and she shoved the seals forward, slamming him into the wall this time. She heard the impact right before he slipped through the shield as if it didn't exist.

He growled, voice much deeper than the playful tone he'd used before, then came at her head-on.

His right hand swiped for her face, but she refrained from ducking out of it's path, so she could in turn kick him in the side. A crack confirmed that she'd made contact with, and broken at least one of his ribs, but it was hardly worth the prize. She was pretty sure his attack would have broken her neck if she hadn't tried to cushion the blow with chakra. Instead the force behind the hit took her off her feet.

Chikako crashed into the dresser so hard that the wooden doors groaned as they gave way with a snap. There were probably splinters in her skin, but she didn't get a chance to take inventory, too busy starring at the masked man.

Sune had been sleeping down in the living room earlier, but now she dangled in the air, helplessly flailing as he casually chocked her. How the hell had he gotten to her and back so fast? Chikako couldn't sense her either and every attempt she made at sending the kitsune back into the Void failed miserably. Without a bond, like she shared with Kit, she couldn't do much in the first place, but Sune should have been able to retreat on her own, yet all she did was claw at the Uchiha's hand.

"I only need one ring to join," he said over Hidan's loud protests, again sounding like a happy-go-lucky idiot. She'd heard that growl though and using Sune for leverage was cold calculation, maybe mentioning that he'd go after Shikamaru if she didn't cooperate had been as well.

"You'll leave if I hand it over?" Chikako asked tightly.

"Pinkie promise." He nodded eagerly, holding out his right hand, little finger extended while the rest were curled in.

In theory hers was the hardest ring to obtain, because she always created the seals for her pocket dimensions with chakra, so it wasn't as if he could just steal a storage scroll from her. There were two other rings in the village though and from what he'd said he knew at least about the one Shikamaru had taken, not to mention that Chikako had no way to rescue Sune.

She slowly stood up, eyeing him warily as she held out her own hand and linked their fingers.

"Whoever lies has to swallow a thousand needles," he declared enthusiastically as he shook their hands up and down three times. Then he let go again and looked at her expectantly while Sune kept struggling for air.

Chikako opened her newest pocket dimension over the bed, fishing out the ring and letting the rest disappear again as fast as possible. The masked guy made ohing and ahing noises the whole time. She couldn't tell whether he was actually impressed or mocking her.

He let go of Sune as soon as she held the ring out to him and snatched it away with a delighted, "Thank you!"

Then crimson flashed behind his mask and Chikako barely had time to extinguish the outer wards that kept them trapped with the lunatic and shout, "Warn Shika-", before the Sharingan spun into it's advanced form. She recognized the Mangekyo's pattern immediately as Kakashi's, but then all colors except for red were suddenly gone and she was in a world of pain.

. . .

There was a high-pitched scream, labored breathing. It took Chikako a moment to realize that the former had originated from Ino and the latter belonged to her. The girl's eyes had rolled back in her head and she'd pitched over like a wet sack, foaming at the mouth.

Tsunade was by her side in an instant, checking her pulse and doing all sorts of things with that mint green medical chakra that Chikako couldn't use. The Hokage led her out of the room as soon as the girl regained consciousness.

Jiraiya on the other hand hadn't moved and inch and was looking at Chikako with an expression that said she better talk fast.

"Ring," she panted. "He came to get one of the rings so he could join Akatsuki."

"Only one?" The Sannin asked, sounding skeptical and not at all sympathetic, either ignorant or uncaring that the lingering traces of the memory were still making her heart beat a staccato rhythm as if she'd been running for her life. She snarled at him.

"How the fuck would I know? He said one, it's not as if anybody told me what happened after."

Chikako's eyes widened a moment later as her brain caught up with the situation and the implications of what she'd just remembered sunk in with each lungful of air that made it past her chapped lips. She almost toppled over when she lurched half-way out of her sitting position in an attempt to get in Jiraiya's face. Shikamaru barely reacted in time to hold her back, making sure she didn't meet the floor head first.

"Did he go after the others? Is Ibiki okay? Izumo? Kotetsu? Tell me you at least killed Kakuzu," she fired question after question at him, one chasing the next as images of the death and destruction the masked guy could have caused flashed through her mind.

Jiraiya's expression remained stony, but the slant of his mouth shifted just enough to turn it from a frown into something between neutral and the hint of a smile. Apparently he approved of her reaction and it dawned on her that he'd thought she'd helped that masked lunatic.

Chikako wanted to shout at him, scream and claw his fucking eyes out, then cut him into teeny tiny pieces and feed them to Sune. Even with adrenalin coursing through her system and Shikamaru holding her in a mostly upright position though, she could barely keep her eyes open, feeling completely drained in every way, so instead she settled for the most hostile glare she could manage.

"Everyone is fine," the sealmaster informed her calmly, all traces of his earlier friendliness gone from his voice. "Both Kakuzu and Hidan have been freed without anyone even noticing until long after the intruder had already left the village. By all accounts you are the only person who even saw him. The rings of both Akatsuki members were kept in a secret ANBU facility, but have also vanished without a trace or witnesses."

He gave her a pointed look with that last statement. Chikako bristled at the implied accusation.

"And you think the incompetence of your shinobi is somehow evidence I stole the fucking things?"

"I know it wasn't you," he said before she could start calling him names, but she had a feeling there was a 'now' missing from that sentence. If the asshole had known he wouldn't have needed to keep her in the dark and play nice in hopes of getting information out of her.

She didn't care what Shikaku thought, Jiraiya didn't trust her and he never would.

"Get the fuck out!" She growled.

"What happened?"

"What do you think happened asshole? He got my ring too. Now. Get. The. Fuck. Out!"

Jiraiya looked as if he wanted to argue, but then Shikamaru's shadows stirred in the corners of the room, ever so slowly creeping towards him and he reconsidered.

"Raccoon and Bat will be guarding the door," the Sannin threw over his shoulder before walking away.

. . .

When Chikako woke - and when had she fallen asleep again? - Shikamaru was slumped over in a chair right next to her bed. His head rested on his arms, both crossed at the edge of her mattress. It didn't look the least bit comfortable. His hair was a mess, as if he'd dragged his finger's through it a few dozen times, pulling more and more strands out of the typical Nara ponytail. There were also dark smudges under his eyes and his skin seemed paler than usual.

"Did he leave at all?" Chikako whispered, not wanting to wake him.

"Only for a second to check on Ino, but he made me stay here instead," Shikaku answered just as quietly.

"If you're here now, why not send him home? He clearly needs rest."

The elder Nara shook his head as if she was being silly.

"I heard about your little spar with Raccoon."

Chikako frowned at him.

"Why and what does it matter?"

"He thinks it's his fault that you ended up here. Came to confess that he'd neglected his guard duty and attacked his charge instead. Apparently he's under the impression you would have been fine if he hadn't beaten you up."

Shikaku didn't ask outright, made no demands at all, but it was obvious that he wanted an explanation. She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"He's being dramatic. He hardly did any damage, even that only because I let him and the reason he attacked in the first place is that I asked him to spar. Not to mention that the guy that came for me," she trailed off, sighed again, "it wouldn't have made a difference. The intruder had all the leverage he needed to make me comply and I really doubt I would have stood a chance even in a fair fight. I'm not alive because I somehow managed to chase him off or anything. He let me live."

The jonin commander listened attentively, but while he no doubt filed away every word she'd said about the attacker, his interest seemed to lie elsewhere.

"Why would you ask an ANBU that you know holds a grudge to spar? Why let him hit you?"

His gaze seemed to pin her to the spot. Chikako wouldn't have been surprised if it had swept over the place her necklace used to dangle, but he never broke eye contact.

"None of your business," she ground out, sure that he already knew the answer.

"Did it help?"

"Never does."

His eyes narrowed a little at that response, but she didn't look away. It wasn't as if she usually found someone to beat her up a little when she thought she'd done something bad. Her training with Kisame just got rough and now that the sharkman wasn't here it had become quite apparent that she needed a way to take the edge off. She was restless, constantly waiting for someone to attack. Fighting someone and having to push herself to do it was really the only way she could properly rest at this point. Oxymoronic as it might sound, it was the one thing that always commanded her full attention, left her no time to look for other threats because she was too preoccupied trying to stay alive. The adrenalin focused her and the exercise made her happy, while at the same time tiring her out enough that she could rest properly afterwards.

The way she'd done it with Raccoon wasn't right, left her more useless than relaxed, but then he wasn't Kisame. He wouldn't have been able to keep up in a proper spar and holding back that much defeated the purpose. No, that fight had just been punishment.

"Pretty sure he's fit for duty," Chikako said, glancing down at Shikamaru. Not exactly subtle, but Shikaku didn't protest.

"I'll take your word for it."

"That's it? No interrogation?"

"If I didn't trust you with my son's life I wouldn't have asked you for help in the first place," he told her. The elder Nara got up in one fluid motion and handed her a folder that had 'CONFIDENTIAL' stamped on the front in bright red letters as he walked towards the door. "He chose to hand in the real report."

Chikako blinked after him in confusion for a moment before she remembered the choice she'd given Shikamaru. One report to help him conceal how much better than Ino and Choji he really was and one that told the truth.

The file Shikaku had left her was for ANBU Crow, at least that would be his name once rookie training was over. The choice made her smile. An ill omen, symbol of conflict and death, but also skillful, cunning and single-minded. A bringer of knowledge who excels at trickery and, according to some, was a reminder to learn from the past, but not hold onto it.

Tsunade either had a sense of humor or had let someone else pick the name.

There were notes in that file dating back to the Chunin Exams, mostly idle observations and musings from a number of ANBU. One of the older ones was from Hound, commending Shikamaru's loyalty and determination to protect his fellow shinobi. The last had been added by Cat. She seemed very impressed with his ability to seem lazy and borderline incompetent, even though everyone knew he was a genius. The word 'recruit' was underline twice.

Chikako chuckled quietly. Seemed like Cat had finally found a rookie that wouldn't waste her time.

. . .

"Wake him and I'll skin you," Chikako said casually as the door opened an hour or so later.

Raccoon froze in place, then stepped into the room and closed the door again without making a sound. He took position by the window, standing perfectly still and watching her draw ink seals on a piece of paper. There were dozens more spread around her on the floor. Some smeared, others unfinished and a few crammed with so many scribbles that only the faintest traces of white were visible under all the ink.

Chikako had shifted Shikamaru onto the bed, right after his father had left the room. Then she'd released her sealing implements from their pocket dimension and started practicing the elementary seals and how to translate from them into Jiraiya's shorthand and back again. The manual he'd written for her was nice and all, but it was better if she could do it by heart. Understanding how exactly he'd come up with his shorthand in the first place also wouldn't hurt.

After several minutes had passed in silence, only broken by the sound of paper being shuffled around, Chikako finally looked up at Raccoon.

"Did you need something?"

"I came to apologize," he said in a formal tone, his posture stiff.

"No need." She waved him off, gaze once again fixed on her work. "You're probably better off not having noticed the intruder's presence and it's not like I ever expected you or Bat to be any help."

"We're ANBU," Raccoon snapped almost reflexively. He was careful to keep his voice down though, which made her smile.

"Do you think you could have gone head to head with Madara Uchiha? Because that is who the intruder claimed to be, and while I'm not sure I believe that, he did have a Mangekyo Sharingan."

"What?" The Hyuga spluttered. Obviously this was not how he'd expected this conversation to go. Maybe she should have just said 'thank you' or 'don't worry about it', but this was much more fun.

"Yeah, you might want to run and tell Jiraiya. I would have done that earlier, but then he was his usual asshole self and I probably would have tried to rip his throat out if he'd stayed in the room a second longer."

"He's a sealmaster and one of the Sannin," Raccoon said, sounding affronted. "You should be grateful he's agreed to teach you at all. If you were my pupil I would have send you packing for the rudeness alone."

Chikako paused her work to raise an eyebrow at him.

"What he is, is an irritating son of a bitch who keeps suspecting me of foul play at every turn, and at the same time expects me to trust him and follow his orders without question. Never mind that they alternate between being way too cautious and putting me in the middle of enemy territory.

"And for the record, he doesn't teach me, he throws me scraps to figure out for myself and even that usually only if he gets something in return. Trust me, as soon as he's fulfilled his part of our current deal I'll be happy if I never see him again."

"You sound bitter," the ANBU observed. There was a sharp edge to the words, biting and gleeful at the same time. He might have apologized, but he didn't like her and her dismissive behavior towards him probably hadn't helped the matter any. Not that Chikako cared. She hadn't come back to make friends and so far he'd been a nuisance at best.

Well, except for when he'd gotten her to the hospital, but that was part of his job - which he'd miserably failed at in every other respect. She didn't get why he felt the need to defend Jiraiya either. He'd ended up at the wrong side of her blade because of the Sannin, yet she was somehow the villain in this story.

There was a snap and ink splattered over the floor as Chikako broke her brush.

"Maybe," she said, getting up and then advancing on Raccoon, "I'm bitter because you treat Jiraiya like some saint who can do no wrong. Have you ever asked yourself why he refused to take up the mantle of Godaime Hokage? Twice? He doesn't want the responsibility that comes with that title, but he sure as hell meddles behind the scenes, maneuvering people around like chess pieces.

"Your great Sannin used Team 10 to make me go after two S-ranked nukenin, hoping that I'd get Kiri's Hunter-nin involved, so that they could do Konoha's dirty work. That was after Tsunade had given explicit orders to the contrary by the way.

"Now don't get me wrong, I vastly prefer Jiraiya's approach most of the time and, while I resent being manipulated like that, it is admirably pragmatic of him. What I absolutely can't stand however, is that he pretends none of this is his business. He only ever gets involved when the shit has already hit the fan and then apparently the Hokage's orders don't apply to him.

"Either he fucking leads this village or he doesn't. And it's the same shit with Naruto. Don't give me that look," Chikako snarled when Raccoon snapped to attention as if bitten by a snake, "you are old enough to know exactly what he is and who his parents are. Now that Naruto can be useful Jiraiya suddenly cares, but where was he sixteen years ago when the Sandaime decided that keeping Naruto's parentage a secret was a good idea? Where was he when Naruto grew up feared and loathed by a whole fucking village?

"Have you ever seen the rundown flat Naruto lives in? Do you have any idea how lucky you are that he has decided he wants to be acknowledged instead of resenting everyone? Even I, Orochimaru's favorite little experiment, had more people interested in my well-being than he did.

"So yes, I'm bitter, because this village likes to pretend it's all teamwork and friendship and the bloody fucking Will of Fire, when in reality it's no better than the other Hidden Villages. Possibly worse, seeing as you lure bright-eyed kids who don't yet know any better in, so that they can become cannon fodder for the next war, all the while telling them that they are here to protect the people.

"Never mind that most civilians are - with good reason - afraid of shinobi. And who needs to know that the lifespan of the average ninja is significantly shortened anyway? Or what about the fact that the chances they'll end up murdering strangers and watching their friends die horribly because of political games are disturbingly high?

"No, instead you lead them down the path slowly with mind-numbingly boring E-ranks. Then painting fences and catching cats turn into escorting civilians from A to B, and before they know it even the desk ninja have blood on their hands and nightmare fuel to last them for the rest of their - probably short - lives."

Chikako glared at Raccoon, trying to ignore her pounding headache. What she'd said was true, but she wouldn't usually have monologued about it. Fucking Madara and his fucking genjutsu.

"You know," Shikamaru said on a yawn, stretching on the bed like a lazy cat. "For someone who threatened to skin the guy if he woke me you're making a lot of noise."

"Shit, sorry," she started, then spun around and narrowed her eyes, because he couldn't have heard that if he'd woken up only now. "Did you sleep at at all?"

He shrugged.

"A few minutes here and there."

How good was his self-control? Chikako could usually tell whether someone was actually out cold or only pretended to be by the way their chakra felt. Shikamaru's hadn't reacted to anything that had been said though, which either meant he had no opinion on the matter - highly unlikely - or he had impeccable control over his reactions.

Was that a new skill or did he usually just not bother hiding things from her?

Chikako frowned, turning back around to face Raccoon. She'd somehow ended up placing herself between him and Shikamaru without even noticing.

"Anyway, go tell Jiraiya the intruder was in possession of a Mangekyo Sharingan. I'm sure he'll hunt me down for further questioning soon enough."

Raccoon rolled his shoulders, hesitated for a moment as if he wanted to argue, but then shook his head and left without saying a word. Chikako watched him, mentally tracked his chakra signature through the corridors and all the way out of the building.

Maybe she should upgrade his status from mildly annoying to mildly useful.

Once he was gone she kneeled down to gather her papers, ink and brushes, making all of them vanish back into their pocket dimension, except for the one brush she'd broken. That one found a new home in the trashcan. Next she grabbed a towel from the adjoining bathroom and used it to clean up the ink splatters. When that was done as well Chikako rinsed the towel with cold water and hung it up to dry, which meant she'd run out of things to do and Jiraiya still hadn't arrived.

"You could fluff my pillows," Shikamaru offered dryly and then continued with a heavy does of sarcasm, "oh no wait, then you'd have to look at me. So maybe-"

"Just say it," Chikako snapped, cutting him off. Her gaze collided with his, but she couldn't read anything in his expression. She might as well have been looking at the photo of his ninja registration, neutral with a side of boredom.

"And what exactly would you have me say?" He drawled.

"I don't know, that ..." he didn't mind that she'd had a demon root around in his head after forcing him to do something he clearly hadn't wanted to? That didn't seem very reasonable. She knew perfectly well what she wanted to do to Madara, or whoever the intruder really was, and it involved a lot more blood and far less forgiveness.

In all honesty she wasn't too surprised that Shikamaru had come to make sure she was alright. Even if she'd royally pissed him off, he just wasn't the kind of person to abandon anyone. That he'd stayed around afterwards though - she didn't know what to do with that. He'd said it didn't matter, but obviously she'd barely been able to concentrate on anything outside of her own thoughts at the time. That might very well have been a lie to keep her calm and cooperative.

Things were different now and as he'd rightly pointed out, she had a hard time even looking at him. Chikako always did what she thought was right, rules be damned, but that didn't mean she wasn't aware of the possible consequences, and this time he was the judge, jury and possibly executioner.

"Forget it," she finished after a long pause, turning on the spot to leave the room. It wouldn't kill Jiraiya to search for her a little. Before she could take a single step though, Shikamaru's shadow wrapped around her wrist, tugging her away from the door.

"Why do you think I was pretending to be asleep?"

"What?" The seemingly unrelated question threw her for a loop and she turned back to face him.

"See there's this girl I know," he continued as if Chikako hadn't said anything. His tone was quiet, kind of sad, but also fond. "She'll face down bijuu and all manner of dangerous people for her friends, throwing herself in harms way without a second thought, but as soon as the fighting is over she'll disappear."

"I don't-"

"Yes, you do. You get things done, even play the villain if you have to, so that the rest of us can keep our hands clean and pretend we're more than murderers for hire. Then you leave, usually injured and without saying goodbye.

"My father had to trick you into eating a meal with your friends Chikako, by turning it into a strategy meeting and springing it on you without warning."

"So your not ... angry?" She asked carefully. His answering smirk made her want to take the question back immediately. Snatch the words out of the air, bury them six feet under and pretend she'd never spoken them.

"Oh, I'm angry alright," Shikamaru told her smugly. "Which is why, for as long as you're staying in Konoha, you'll be eating dinner with Ibiki every other day, help Hinata with her herb garden twice a week, take at least one mission with Naruto and come train with the rookie ANBU."

"You can't be serious," Chikako sputtered. "I don't have time to-"

"In addition you will also let all of us help with whatever you're trying to do and I'm sure-"

"Okay, stop. I get it." She held her hands up in surrender. "I'll do whatever you want, so long as-"

"No, limitations. I'm the smart one remember?" Shikamaru asked with a grin. He still looked tired, but she couldn't help smiling in response. "I let you do things your way and look where that got us."

"Oh come on," Chikako whined. "I'm here because some lunatic snuck into the village and used the fucking Mangekyo Sharingan on me. That was hardly a predictable outcome and most certainly not contingent on whether I eat my meals alone."

"I don't know, I think ..."

They kept squabbling like that, throwing reason out of the window until the kind of food she'd been eating had become part of a demonic bad luck ritual overseen by the deer lord Rikumaru himself. It was rather silly and entirely unproductive.

Jiraiya's expression changed from somewhat incensed to completely baffled in a manner of seconds after he'd stormed into the room, which caused Chikako to break down in a fit of giggles.

Maybe Shikamaru had a point.


	77. XVI - Letter of the Law

**A/N:**

As always, thank you to everyone who took the time to review.

There are temporary teams mentioned in this chapter. Who is in who's team might get a little confusing and while it's not super important that you remember, I thought I'd list it here for convenience's sake:

Hound (Kakashi), Crow (Shikamaru), Lion

Raccoon (a Hyuga), Badger (Neji), Mouse

Cat, Sparrow, Lizard

Chikako, Coyote (an Inuzuka), Blue (his wolf)

. . .

 **XVI - Letter of the Law**

"You don't have to-" Hinata said carefully, but then thought better of it.

"I'm afraid I do," Chikako grunted, lugging three bags of fertilizer over to the patch of land the heiress had claimed for herself. Apparently it was frowned upon that she did such a menial task as gardening, but so far her father was willing to indulge the hobby - directly defying the clan elders' wishes - so Hinata had decided to make the most of it while she could. It seemed her internship in T&I had earned her respect and derision in equal parts.

Since Chikako knew nothing about plants beyond which were edible, she'd been carrying tools, stones and bags of dirt around all day. She'd also learned that Hinata liked to use some of the more poisonous flowers in very small doses to make her medicine - because the girl found delight in the fact that even deadly things could heal - and that humiliating a Hyuga was worse than killing them. The latter courtesy of Raccoon who had been hanging around to glare at her, for once not in ANBU uniform.

"I know Shikamaru asked you to do this-"

"There was no asking involved."

"-but you can leave if my family makes you uncomfortable."

Chikako sighed, plopping down on the grass to watch Hinata sort seeds for a while. In an effort to broker peace Bat, who was on guard duty, had explained that Raccoon was angry because Chikako didn't value their protection. However, seeing as they hadn't actually done any protecting, she hadn't felt the need to apologize. In fact she thought ignoring Raccoon instead of calling him out on being both unprofessional and annoying was pretty generous of her.

"It's fine, I have to go meet the rookie ANBU in half an hour, so this will probably be the most peaceful part of my day."

Hinata paused for a moment to glance at her.

"What exactly did you agree to anyway?"

"I think Ibiki is a bad influence on you, maybe the elders are right and you should find a more-"

"Stop deflecting," Hinata chided. This new, more assertive version of the girl was still kind of a novelty to Chikako, even after having spent several hours in her company. She still remembered how horrified Hinata used to be whenever she thought she might have accidentally insulted someone or been rude.

The girl's personality hadn't changed all that much. She was still polite, shy around strangers and preferred if everyone got along, but she also wasn't afraid to stand her ground and speak her mind if she felt it was necessary.

"Fine, fine," Chikako groaned, letting herself fall backwards so she could watch the clouds. "Shikamaru kind of guilt tripped me into letting him decide how I spend my time while I'm in Konoha. Naturally he immediately used his new powers of evil to ensure I don't shut myself away to work on my project alone."

"You must have done something pretty bad then. I don't see you agreeing to something like that without putting up a fight."

"Yeah. I mean I would do it again, albeit differently, but even then it would still be bad. You know what they say about good intentions."

"I know that you would never do something to hurt your friends unless it is to protect them form something worse," Hinata stated with the kind of unshakable confidence that made Chikako wonder what she'd ever done to deserve that kind of faith.

"Doesn't really matter. He has every right to be angry and I knew what I was getting myself into."

"Well, seeing as the tasks he made you agree to are for your own good, he has either already forgiven you or you just haven't figured out what kind of trap he's luring you into."

"You're such a fount of joy," Chikako muttered. That was probably the biggest change. Hinata didn't just speak her mind more freely, she was also blunt about it. No more hiding hard truths behind pretty words. Chikako was just paranoid enough to have considered that second option and hearing someone else say it, even in jest, did so not help.

It didn't seem like something Shikamaru would do, but then neither did smoking or hunting S-rank nukenin. And really, what the hell did she know? Chikako hadn't been in Konoha for the better part of three years, while that not-so-lazy Nara had managed to fool everyone into thinking he was a chunin.

Hinata shrugged.

"If Ibiki-sensei taught me one thing it's that lies are lies, no matter their purpose. I could tell you that everything will be fine and that Shikamaru could never hate you, but we both know there are no certainties and as your friend I won't do you the disservice of pretending otherwise."

"You should come visit Kiri some time," Chikako mused. "I think you'd get along nicely with Haku and there are no elders to tell you that you can't play around in the dirt."

"Maybe I will."

. . .

"How?" Cat demanded on a hiss as Kakashi held a hand out, gesturing for her to fork over a wad of cash.

"A magician never reveals his secrets," he told her, voice slightly distorted because of his ANBU mask. The grin was still clearly audible though and drew a huff from Cat.

"If you start barking I'm leaving," Chikako said, appearing seemingly out of thin air as she let the Camouflage dissipate. Raccoon had left the Hyuga compound before her, but since he'd had to go change into his uniform she'd only arrived a few seconds after him.

"Don't worry pup, we have-"

"How did he get you to help?" Cat interrupted. Kakashi held up both hands.

"Come now that's hardly-"

"He didn't," Chikako said with a smirk. Her sensei groaned and Cat made a triumphant noise, snatching her money back. Cheating and lying to win a bet was perfectly acceptable, as long as you didn't get caught.

"Traitor," Kakashi muttered under his breath.

Chikako shrugged.

"If I have to suffer so do you. What game are we playing anyway and which side am I on?"

"Capture the flag," Cat chirped, happily counting her money as Kakashi added, "You're obviously with the teachers."

"Neat. Can I get Badger and Crow?"

Raccoon scoffed and Chikako shot him a glare.

"What now?"

"You can't put two short-range fighters on the same team and a Hyuga should be trained by a Hyuga," he told her as if her request was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard.

"It's just a game and they're the only two I like, but fine if you know so much better impress me with your wisdom."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Chikako grinned at him.

"Pick my team for me. I don't want you to have an excuse when I beat you."

Predictably Raccoon bristled, which made her grin even wider. She probably shouldn't rile him up like that, but it was just so easy - also very entertaining. Kakashi shook his head at her antics, but he didn't interfere. In fact, she was pretty sure he was already signing behind Raccoon's back to make another bet with Cat.

"You can have Coyote," Raccoon said after a minute, sounding smug.

"And?"

"His dog."

"That's a wolf and seriously?"

"There are only seven recruits," Kakashi said reasonably. The ass had probably bet against her.

"Yeah, yeah, I can count," Chikako grumbled. "I'm just making sure you can all appreciate how awesome I am when I win."

"Keep dreaming," the Hyuga scoffed. "This is about strategy, not brute force. You don't stand a chance."

Chikako just blinked at him, but Cat made a weird high pitched noise and started giggling like a lunatic before telling Kakashi to double her bet. Then she walked over to the rookies, who were lined up in front of the fence that separated the Fourty-Fourth Training Ground, otherwise known as the Forest of Death, from the rest of the world.

"You two," she commanded, pointing at Sparrow and Lizard before marching over to one of the many gates. They were both genjutsu types and the only female recruits, but that was pretty much all Chikako knew about them. Cat herself was an infiltrator though and she'd strategize accordingly.

Raccoon naturally picked Neji, or Badger while he was wearing the mask, and Mouse, one of the long-range Fire users, to balance his team. Then he headed for a gate six to the right of the one Cat had chosen.

That left Lion, the other Fire user, and Shikamaru for Kakashi.

"Flag's directly outside of the tower at the center. Whoever has it at midnight wins the game. You have thirty minutes to talk to your rookie, then we meet at the tower to watch the game," he instructed. Chikako figured that the others hadn't waited for an explanation because they'd already played like this at least once, which put her at an even bigger disadvantage.

"Is Raccoon really such a stickler for balanced teams that he'd leave you with a Nara?" She asked before her sensei could leave as well. Having two close-range fighters on the same team might be exploitable in theory, but Neji and Shikamaru were both smart and fast enough that it wouldn't have been much of a problem. They were also the two most promising recruits as far as she could tell.

"It's more that he couldn't pick the exact team you wanted after reprimanding you for it. I think he was hoping Cat would pick Crow instead."

"Which she of course didn't do for that exact reason."

"What can I say, you women are rather mean spirited creatures."

Chikako rolled her eyes, but send him off with a friendly wave before she went to pick up her temporary charge.

. . .

"Why am I stuck with you?" The Inuzuka immediately complained.

"Do you want to win or spend your thirty minutes whining?"

"Wha-"

"Good," Chikako cut him off mid-syllable. "Then shut the fuck up and listen. The second you walk through that gate you're in the middle of a war zone. The only thing you know for a fact is that you're on your own. You're at a disadvantage, because two of the other teams can easily beat you and while the third isn't as combat oriented, Lizard and Sparrow still have you outnumbered."

The wolf growled and Chikako shot it a glare.

"Can you use genjutsu?" She asked. "Ever dressed a wound or prepared traps?"

The wolf whined, lowering it's gaze and flattening it's ears against it's head.

"Yeah, I didn't think so. You are far from useless, but you can't replace a human partner. If you forget that you're going to get Coyote killed." Chikako looked back at the Inuzuka. "What's his name anyway?"

"Her name and it's Blue." He sounded a little sullen, but he'd answered without making a fuzz and that was all she needed.

"Good. Now as I said, you are in a really bad starting position. How do you win?"

"Uhm," he blinked at her, apparently not having expected to be included in the strategiszing. "Capture the flag?"

Chikako resisted the urge to slam her head against the nearest tree and took a deep breath instead. It would be really embarrassing to lose after the way she'd bragged earlier. The Inuzuka couldn't be completely hopeless though or he wouldn't have been made a rookie in the first place.

"How?"

"Tracking the others shouldn't be too hard and we're a good team. Blue and I can beat 'em."

"Just for the sake of argument, let's assume that's true, then what?"

"What do you mean? If we get the flag we win ...?" He trailed off at the end, sounding so unsure that his statement became a question instead.

"Even if you could beat one of the other teams and take the flag from them, you won't be able to defend it afterwards. The winner is whoever has the thing at midnight, which means before then it doesn't matter who is in possession of it. You don't get any points for lugging it around for a few hours. In fact, all that will do is paint a target on your back, so it's really something you actively want to avoid."

"Okay," he said slowly. "Then we find whoever has it and challenge them to a fight right before the time is up."

"Are you willing to kill?" Chikako asked coldly and continued without acknowledging his horrified reaction to the rather simple question, "Because if you're not, engaging in combat isn't worth it. You have no way to effectively restrain an enemy, so if killing is out as well, all fighting is going to do is waste time. Not something you can afford if you're cutting things close."

"So what am I supposed to do then?" Coyote growled.

"Your idea isn't bad, but instead of challenging whoever has the flag to a fight, just steal it. All you have to do is hold it when the time is up, what happens before and after doesn't matter."

"That doesn't sound very fair, and isn't this about proving we can defend an objective?"

Chikako shook her head at him.

"This is a game, not a realistic scenario. It's less about tactics you would actually use and more about gathering experience. Also, if you want fair ANBU isn't the job for you. You'll operate in the shadows and do whatever is necessary to protect the village. Nobody will celebrate you for saving the day, if they ever find out at all. The only thing honor will do for you in this line of work is get you or your teammates killed.

"If your enemy looses his weapon in a fight you don't throw yours away as well, you take him out. And when it's one against six you don't challenge a team that's stronger than you to a fight. The purpose of this isn't for you to impress anyone. You're here to learn.

"No matter what happens, do not get overconfident. I don't care if everything goes exactly according to plan and it seems as if there is a shortcut for you to take. I don't give a shit if all of the other teams are defeated and you can pick up the flag an hour before time is up either. You don't touch the thing until the very last moment and most importantly, the game isn't over until I tell you it is. Clear?"

"Uh, yeah? Why though? I mean if I can win early why not do it?"

"First of all, because you can't. The winner is decided at midnight, period. And secondly, because that's how people like me make our kills. We wait for our prey to feel safe and then we strike when they least expect it. Anything, and I mean anything, that happens in that forest could potentially be a trap. There is absolutely no reason at all for you to risk a safe victory just so you can say you held the stupid flag for five minutes longer than you had to."

Chikako used every last second to coach Coyote, going over what he knew about the other recruits, how to use that to his advantage and what he should do during the five and a half hours until midnight. He absolutely hated her additional rules, but he hated even more that he was considered the weakest of all the rookies and how easily she'd taken him out when she'd fought all of them. So he listened attentively, nodding along and keeping the interruptions to a minimum.

"You're not even gonna wish me good luck?" He asked annoyed when it was time for her to leave. She sighed in exasperation.

"Don't be silly. You have a plan and if you need to rely on luck at any point you're doing something wrong."

She couldn't see him grin in answer, but the "Hell yeah!" he shouted after her sounded a lot more confident than he'd seemed during the past twenty minutes of their strategy session. Apparently some of the other rookies had given him shit for the way Chikako had baited him in their fight. Which was fair enough, because it had been really stupid, but they didn't seem to value his abilities at all.

Teammates ribbing each other was one thing, bullying was quite another. The rookies weren't even in competition with each other. It wasn't as if only a limited number of them could become ANBU after the training was over. In fact, Tsunade wanted as many as she could get, so it would really be in their best interest to help one another as much as possible. After all, the ones that did pass would end up working together sooner or later. Instead they'd singled him out, shoving all of the blame for their defeat on him, as if that one mistake had thrown the fight.

Coyote might be loud and he certainly had a big mouth, but under that he wasn't the most confident guy. The Inuzuka clan was pretty harsh with it's members. They taught loyalty, but they also expected everyone to be a fighter. Being insecure didn't do you any favors among wolves, or dogs as the case may be.

As a general rule they also didn't think much of underhanded tactics. After all, if you were strong you had no use for tricks. It had been difficult to convince Coyote that there were no rules when it came to survival and that he should treat this game like a war, because in the end no enemy would let him make a mistake in the field and not try to capitalize on it.

The one thing she really liked about Coyote was that he wanted to prove himself, because it meant he would follow her instructions exactly despite hating them. Also, he wasn't as much of an idiot as she'd first thought, he'd just never been taught anything beyond how to brawl and hunt. He was a few years older than her and had failed the test his jonin sensei had given his team. Afterwards he'd taken missions with his clan members from time to time and someone higher up in the ranks had realized that he was an exceptional tracker. There had been no specialized training though, only what he'd been able to pick up and teach himself, which made his skills seem much more impressive and the lack of discipline appeared to be a bad habit that could be corrected, rather than a fatal personality flaw.

He'd entered the Chunin Exams not too long after that, with a temporary team made up of two genin that had failed the previous year. One of them had been killed and the other badly injured during the exam, but he made it through and got a promotion for his efforts.

Then, about three months ago he'd been given a choice, either try for jonin or ANBU. Whoever had made that offer had told him that he couldn't have both, at least not right now, because if he wanted to become an ANBU, they needed to make sure nobody knew what exactly he could do, so showing off for the Jonin Exam was out of the question.

Chikako was sure there was a lot more to his story, but they hadn't exactly had time to go over all of it. The only reason she'd asked for that much was to better understand him and get an idea of how he was most likely to react to certain situations. His impulsiveness and need to prove himself for example could very easily be used against him. He'd been defensive when she'd pointed the flaw out, but that had quickly changed once she'd outlined how he could use his opponents' expectations against them instead.

. . .

"Already planning your excuses for when you lose?" Raccoon asked, sitting down in the chair next to hers. She'd arrived at the tower a few minutes ago, but so far nothing interesting had happened. The flag was still lightly fluttering in the breeze and none of the camera's pointed in it's direction showed any movement at all.

"No," she drawled lazily, "I'm just regretting that I didn't bet on my win. You still owe me a million ryo by the way."

"The money has been added to your account three days ago," Raccoon informed her primly.

"I have an account?"

"Ibiki opened it when your payment for helping out with the mission to recover Sasuke came in," Kakashi said absentmindedly, then hesitated for a moment, glancing sideways at Chikako. "Technically it's an anonymous T&I account and there is probably some paperwork detailing what it is supposedly for, but except for that first deposit only two others have been made and those roughly coincide with the time Wind got invaded and Akatsuki's attack on Suna."

"This is because of some bureaucratic nonsense isn't it?"

"More or less. Since you haven't been declared a nukenin you still have a right to mission pay. If Sasuke were to do anything obviously in service of the village, like helping out an allied nation for example, they'd have to pay him too, but so far our wayward Uchiha has stayed pretty quiet."

"What the hell?" Raccoon demanded, interrupting the conversation. At first Chikako thought he was objecting to the payment issue, but his gaze moved between several of the monitors.

One showed Neji and his temporary partner Mouse. They'd snatched the flag at some point and were apparently arguing about something. Well, Mouse was anyway. He gesticulated wildly, while Neji pretended he didn't exist.

The second monitor showed Lion, nimbly jumping from branch to branch as he followed the other two. He kept at least a hundred meters between them at all times, which was about twice the distance the average Hyuga could clearly see with their Byakugan. They could focus on things significantly farther away if they wanted to, but if they weren't actively searching for something, anything beyond that range started to blur together.

On a third monitor another Mouse was visibly, sneaking from brush to brush and occasionally sniffing the trunks of trees as he tracked Crow's and a different Lion's path, while staying well out of sight.

"Really?" Kakashi laughed, having immediately grasped what was going on. Chikako mock bowed, not even bothering to stand up first.

"Why play the game when you can play the players instead?"

Cat made an inquiring noise, stopping to shuffle the deck of cards she'd found in some random cupboard, to take a look as well.

"I've told Coyote to treat this like an assassination with the flag as his target," Chikako explained. "He and the wolf transformed into Mouse and Lion, then split up to track down and follow the other teams around."

"Why?"

"Step one," she said, holding up a finger, "eliminate the weakest link first. In this case that's him. Obviously with a Hyuga and a Nara he can't hide the traditional way, so instead he becomes someone else. Since he is the weakest, everyone will expect that one of the other teams has taken him out of the game and won't question why they haven't come across him."

A second finger joined the first. "Step two, use the enemies' strengths against them. In this case teamwork. Konoha insists on working together to the point that none of them will even consider splitting up. So if Coyote or his wolf get discovered, whoever finds them will see Mouse or Lion and assume that Badger or Crow respectively are laying in wait somewhere nearby. Meaning they can easily escape or even lead whoever found them towards one of the other teams. After all the shinobi you don't see is always the most dangerous."

"Any more steps to this plan?" Cat asked amused as she leaned forward. Chikako grinned at her.

"Sure. Steps three and four, wait until the last second and then go all in."

The female ANBU let out a surprised laugh, then shook her head.

"Well, I guess that's game then."

"You're just giving up?" Raccoon demanded, equal parts incredulous and angry. Cat didn't even glance at him in response. She just resumed shuffling her cards and then began dealing them.

"It's not like you can do anything about it at this point," Chikako said. "Crow's the only one who could stop an unexpected assassination attempt, but I'd bet whatever is in that anonymous T&I account that Hound didn't bother giving his team any instructions at all. The chance that Crow realizes what's going on fast enough to stop it are rather slim."

"Coyote still has to pull it off though." Kakashi picked up his cards, glanced at them once and then put them back face down.

. . .

After nearly five and a half hours Raccoon's and Cat's teams were mentally and physically exhausted from their cat and mouse game. Lizard and Sparrow had used an elaborate series of genjutsu at some point, managing to separate Mouse from Neji. Then Lizard had ensured he stayed trapped in the illusion, doomed to wander the forest aimlessly, while Sparrow had transformed into Mouse and joined Neji. She'd done a marvelous job of imitating his mannerisms and even gotten her hands on the flag, but the Hyuga prodigy had caught on at the last second and taken her hostage instead, to get his partner back.

Raccoon had puffed up his chest, telling everyone about the greatness of his clan, but the praise got stuck in his throat half an hour later, when it became clear that the Mouse Neji had traded for was actually a transformed Lizard. Chikako had laughed so hard, she'd toppled her chair.

In the end Neji beat Sparrow and Lizard almost single-handedly, while a rather embarrassed Mouse - the real one this time - provided ranged support, but it had still been fun to watch him fall for the same trick twice in a row.

Afterwards Raccoon's team had moved a lot more cautiously, making sure they remained in each other's direct line of sight as much as possible.

Chikako knew exactly how demanding it was to stay on high alert for several hours. Every noise, every movement in your peripheral vision, even funny smells or slight changes in temperature became immediately suspicious. It was incredibly hard to keep a balance between being ready to act at the slightest sign of danger and not jumping at your own shadow.

She might have empathized, but it was their own fault for taking the flag so early in the game. Also, it made Coyote's life much easier and he seemed to enjoy luring some of the forest's oversized animals their way, or occasionally making noise just to be an asshole.

Shikamaru for his part had done a fantastic job of predicting the other teams' movements and staying away from them. Pretty boring to watch, but undeniably smart. Now that time was nearly up though, he had no choice but to engage.

Since neither he nor Lion were trackers it took them a while to find Neji's exact location, but the fact that they not only managed with relative accuracy and hadn't even tried to look for either of the other two teams spoke volumes. Shikamaru had probably spent most of his time going through likely scenarios for this game to play out.

He and his partner had wandered around seemingly aimlessly, but on several occasions they arrived at a spot only minutes after one of the other teams had come past. Once or twice and Chikako might have called it coincidence, but it happened so often that it quickly became clear, that Shikamaru was making sure his predictions were correct, while at the same time staying out of harms way.

Having been to the Fourty-Fourth Training Ground before, he obviously knew the terrain and Lion could tell him about the other rookies, but that didn't make the whole thing any less impressive. He wasn't bluffing when he claimed he was always at least a dozen steps ahead of the enemy. Even Cat, who had only eyes for her cards and barely glanced at the monitors had noted that they'd overlooked the Nara heir for far too long.

Chikako wondered how he'd deal with her four steps. Sometimes simple plans were the best and despite being exceptionally smart, she didn't think he was in the right mindset to see through her game in time. After all, when they were given rules, people tended to subconsciously operate within their boundaries and while the way Chikako had instructed Coyote to act didn't break any rules, it did deliberately go against their intended purpose.

She perked up when all groups seemed to converge not too far from the tower. Lion approached Neji's team openly, while two Earth Clones flanked him and Shikamaru stayed at a distance. They Hyuga didn't waste any time questioning, why the ranged fighter went in first. He handed the flag over to his partner and attacked, making sure to stay in well-lit patches of forest floor.

The fourth and fifth Lion that appeared on the scene as soon as combat started seemed to throw everyone off. They approached from opposite directions and both only attacked Neji and Mouse, weaving in and out of the fight until it was hard to tell who was who. Despite that though, neither Shikamaru nor his partner seemed to have expected them.

The real Lion could keep track of his clones of course and Neji would be able to tell anything but a Shadow Clone from an actual person, but it all looked extra confusing when seen through a monitor.

Chikako barely caught a sixth Lion joining the fray and snatching the flag from Mouse. He was clipped by a stray ball of fire shortly afterwards and revealed to be Coyote as his concentration broke and the transformation followed suit. Then one of the other Lions grabbed the flag at the same time as Shikamaru's shadow spread across the ground in all directions, immobilizing everyone.

They stood frozen like statues, unable to escape the black tendrils rooting them in place and a second later an alarm started beeping in the tower. It was repeated with a slight delay, echoing from various loudspeakers throughout the Forest of Death. Midnight. Cat turned it off without looking and placed her cards on the table.

"Royal Flush," she declared smugly, taking the pot.

Meanwhile the monitor everyone but her had been watching showed two Earth Clones dissolving, and Lizard and Sparrow letting go of their transformations. Shikamaru's shadow released them a moment later, followed by Neji, Mouse and Lion, who was still holding the flag.

"I don't get how you win without even trying," Raccoon complained, but it wasn't clear whether he was talking to Cat, who'd taken nearly every hand, or Kakashi, the only one who hadn't bothered instructing his team in any way. Not that either answered him.

. . .

Chikako was the first who reached the rookies. They all still stood more or less exactly where they'd been when the alarm had sounded, but now that she could sense their chakra she had a hard time keeping her expression neutral.

The other three arrived a moment later and of course Raccoon couldn't help adding a condescending, "at least I lost to someone who actually deserves respect."

"Why, thank you," she said brightly, putting as much cheerfulness into those three words as she could manage, even though they both knew he'd been talking about her sensei. She couldn't have planned this better if she'd tried.

"Cut it out you little-" the Hyuga started to snarl at her, but she interrupted in the same bubbly tone.

"Notice anything?"

"What?"

Chikako gestured at the rookies, but he still didn't seem to get it.

"Game's over," she said loud enough for the words to carry. Coyote's form wavered for a moment and so did Lion's, revealing a happily panting Blue and the real Coyote respectively.

Raccoon blinked at the scene before him, shook his head as if that would somehow make it change and then clenched his hands into fists. Chikako gave him a friendly pat on the back.

"That's what you get for forgetting about man's best friend," she told him, which Blue punctuated with a victorious howl. Coyote for his part waved the flag around triumphantly, first shoving it into Neji's and then everyone else's face as prove that he'd really won.

Blue watched her human partner for a moment before she trotted into the underbrush and came back pulling a bound and gagged Lion with her. Chikako hadn't seen Coyote take his place, but he must have used the chaos during the fight and thanks to Blue's quick thinking, who had first transformed into Lion and then pretended to be her partner when she'd been hit, nobody had noticed. Those two really were an impressive team when they didn't just charge in.

Kakashi cocked his head, rummaging around in his pockets and handed Cat another wad of cash.

"I probably should have expected that," he said sullenly, then disappeared in a cloud of leaves and chakra smoke. Raccoon followed right on his heels and so did Cat after waving the money in farewell.

Chikako just stared at the empty spots for a moment, but when the rookies began marching off as well she had enough.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" She demanded loud enough for everyone to hear.

They stopped dead in their tracks, turning around to look at her, chakra wavering in confusion. Was this normal? No wonder they were hopeless. She shook her head, then motioned for them to follow her back to the tower.

"Come on, this way. You aren't done yet."

Neji was by her side in an instant, followed by Coyote and Blue. Shikamaru meanwhile walked at a snail's pace, but that was apparently enough for the rest to fall in step as well.

There was some whispering and grumbling, because it was after midnight and they had no idea what she wanted, but since nobody outright asked, Chikako kept her silence. She led them to the monitoring room, then told everyone to find a place to sit and restarted the recordings. It was more cramped than cozy, with one table and only four chairs, but they made it work.

Chikako had them watch any decisions that had been made as well as encounters and near misses, then talk about those and make suggestions as to what they could have done differently and why they'd acted the way they had. What risks had been taken? Why? Who had been too careful? Who should have paid more attention to their surrounding? What were their strategies going in and how did they have to be adapted during the past hours? If they could restart the game with this new information what would they do differently?

She skipped quite a bit, so they didn't have to go over the full five hours, but the whole process still took a lot of time. When they were finally done it was a quarter to three and everyone, including herself, had yawned at least twice. Surprisingly enough the rookies suddenly weren't in a hurry to leave anymore, instead discussing things among themselves and asking her to rewind to one part or another of the recording.

Chikako had to laugh when Neji asked her whether this was how ANBU were trained in Kiri.

"Not just ANBU. Zabuza revamped the whole education system, to make sure everyone has access to whatever they need, including mentors. It's really nice, especially compared to the way Konoha deals with her genin. I kind of expected ANBU training to be a little more helpful though. Is it always like this or was today different because we were playing a game?"

Mouse shrugged.

"Usually Cat does stealth practice. She handed out instructions for different techniques at the beginning and now she just orders us to hide from her and then gives us some kind of punishment when she finds us."

"Yeah," Lion piped in, nodding eagerly. "Supposedly we get a price if anyone manages to stay hidden for at least an hour, but so far nobody has managed and Hound is even worse. He always demands we get to some place that's hard to reach and then summons a bunch of dogs to hunt us. No one's gotten away from them either though."

"And Raccoon does combat training," Mouse added. "He's kinda mean about it too. Always pairs people so that one is at a huge disadvantage or makes some arbitrary rules that we can't use certain techniques or weapons."

Chikako blinked at them, dumbfounded. She'd been able to hide from Kakashi as well as run with the ninken before she'd graduated the Academy. Who the hell picked these recruits and what did they think being an ANBU entailed?

The tasks were far from impossible, even for someone who didn't have her chakra control and sensor abilities. All that was needed was a little bit of creativity, like bribing the ninken with meat and belly rubs. Chikako was pretty sure Naruto would have gotten the hang of things after a week or two, and he was neither stealthy nor a tracker.

"No wonder they aren't bothering with real training," she muttered, then her gaze fixed on Neji. "You seriously haven't figured out how to do either?"

He froze up, probably hadn't expected to be singled out. Chikako didn't wait for an answer, dismissing all of them instead.

This time they booked it out out of the tower as fast as they could, not lingering for any questions or to finish interrupted discussions. Well, all of them except for Shikamaru. The Nara got up slowly and stretched, in no hurry whatsoever as Chikako deleted the recording of the game.

"So, how was your first day out of the hospital?" He asked idly.

"Involved a lot more dirt and glaring than I think I deserved." Sune might have added to Chikako's summoning tattoo, by binding herself into a contract, but she'd refused to talk about it beyond stating that it was a debt paid. Chikako hoped Kit would be more willing to clear things up once he got back. He'd made good time, but from what the bond felt like, reaching Suna would take him at least a few more days and then he'd still have to broker a deal with Kankuro.

"How was your first day of ANBU training?" She asked in return as they walked out.

"A little underwhelming if I'm honest. From what the others have said it seems to me as if the teachers hardly bother with them at all."

"You won't have that problem."

"And why is that?" He sounded almost interested, a kind of reluctant excitement. As if he could already tell how much of a drag real training would be, but was actually motivated for once.

Chikako smiled even though she was a little angry at her sensei. Neji was more of an acquaintance than a friend, but he should have received proper mentoring and despite her initial impression of Coyote, he definitely had potential.

She knew what they were doing of course, waiting for that special something. For a recruit to finally stop blindly following orders and start thinking for him- or herself. They wanted people who would see beneath the underneath in all situations, so that they could make their own decisions when it counted, but Chikako thought they were wasting potential.

Not everyone was the same. Some people needed to be taught by example, others needed to figure things out for themselves to really understand them, and some just required a rule book and the experience to know when ignoring protocol was appropriate and when it would get them killed.

"You'll pass the tests. At worst you'll need two tries, but I doubt it. In fact, I'd be surprised if they don't get a little overeager with your training. I'm more interested in why you decided to hand in the real report after downplaying your progress for so long."

Shikamaru sighed, letting his shoulders slump for a moment before he rolled them back.

"I already told you, because you were right. I'm not protecting Ino or Choji by holding back, I'm just giving them an excuse not to work harder themselves."

Chikako tipped her head back, looking at the night sky as they exited the tower. The moon was hidden behind clouds and it was relatively dark, but neither of them had a problem navigating their surroundings in low light.

"I was hoping for the real reason. You had to have known that for a long time and ..." She trailed off, unsure how to voice her thoughts without pouring salt on a fresh wound, but of course Shikamaru knew exactly what she'd been about to say, so he finished the sentence for her.

"And Asuma-sensei's death wasn't what changed my mind."

She nodded, watching him out of the corner of her eye. It was odd to see him in ANBU gear. Chikako knew that he was taller than her, but because of the way he slouched most of the time it wasn't usually obvious. Right then his posture was perfect and he seemed alert rather than bored. If she'd encountered him on a battlefield she would have immediately singled him out as a threat.

There was this subtle air of danger around him now, no matter what he did. It reminded her of a sated or sleeping predator. Not an immediate threat, but not something you just forgot about either. Then again, maybe confidence was a better term to describe it. He didn't make her feel like she needed to be on her guard in his presence, quite the opposite really. Shikamaru was safety in the same way Kakashi or Kisame were, not just willing but able to watch her back and keep her secrets.

She wasn't the only one who'd noticed either. He didn't quite fit in with the other recruits, because they too could tell on an instinctive level that he was different from them. They didn't yet seem to grasp that joining ANBU wasn't just a step on the career ladder, not even Neji who'd watched her torture people without quite knowing why. The Nara knew though, and it showed in the way he held himself, in the way they treated him more like they did the teachers than they would a fellow rookie. Mouse had argued with Neji, but Lion had followed Shikamaru's instructions without question, even though they'd never worked together before.

"Earlier you asked what we would have done differently if we had the chance to start the game over," Shikamaru said eventually. "I would have let you take the lead when we were hunting Kakuzu and Hidan."

"That's stupid. You're a far better strategist and-"

"I don't have your instincts. You warned me about Kakuzu and even though I could see that you were uneasy I gave the signal to go ahead with the plan. Then Hidan-"

"Don't start with that again," Chikako interrupted. "I swear I'm going to slap that mask right off your face and tell Ino about your secret training sessions if you keep bringing that up. You couldn't have known and if you hadn't been there I'd be dead now, because I tend to let my enemies get a hit in if it means they'll leave themselves open to an attack."

Shikamaru chuckled quietly.

"Duly noted, and I was going to say that you were right about killing them. They both escaped and as far as I know the interrogations didn't yield any useful information, which means they now have a reason to hold a personal grudge against everyone who was involved and are aware of our abilities."

"Oh." She ducked her head in embarrassment, but her gaze found his when he dangled a very familiar necklace in front of her.

"Family isn't something you can just hand back when things become difficult."

"Family huh?"

"Is that not what you mean when you call Hinata or me pack?"

"No, it is. Just ... the necklace is more than that. You and me, that makes sense, I get that. We we watch out for each other, but you're dragging your clan in, Ino's and Choji's too. They're expected to protect me as if I were one of theirs. They had no choice in the matter and you didn't even tell me."

Shikamaru took her wrist, then pressed the necklace into her palm and closed her fingers around it.

"You would protect them simply because I care about them, the same way you're putting up with your guards because they are part of Hinata's family, and the same way you risked your life to avenge Asuma-sensei because he was Kakashi's friend and my teacher. If we care about something, that's all the reason you need to care as well. Don't expect anything less in return."

He hesitated for a moment, then continued a little more quietly.

"Dad told me that he was the one who asked for your help and I know you wouldn't have agreed unless you thought it was the best option. I don't like it, but I get why the two of you thought it was necessary.

"What I don't get is why you gave the necklace back. I'm not trying to put a leash on you Chikako, but since you won't let me watch your back, this is the only protection I can provide. At least hold on to it while you're in the village."

She looked down, pretending to inspect the shogi piece and winding the string it was attached to around her fingers. She could have really used one of those white ANBU masks right about now. Death and destruction she could deal with, but all this touchy-feely stuff did weird things to her stomach and made her eyes want to leak. She was pretty sure she'd start crying if he continued talking and she wouldn't even be able to explain why.

Confrontation was so much easier to deal with, or running, she was good at that too. Too bad Shikamaru had insisted that she wasn't allowed to avoid her friends. That limited her options quite a bit, because screaming at him for being nicer than she thought she deserved seemed insane.

In the end she settled for hugging him, so she could hide her face against his shoulder.

"Thank you."

. . .

The next morning came a lot sooner than Chikako would have liked. She'd barely gotten three hours of sleep when someone tripped her chakra net, but after the last attack she wasn't about to stay in bed to wait for Ren to announce his intentions. Instead she used Camouflage to disappear from sight and deactivated one of the wards on the first floor, so she could sneak out.

Bat was on her post by the entrance to the compound, but it didn't seem as if she'd noticed the ROOT operative yet. His chakra was muted, but he'd stopped several meters in front of the building, waiting in plain sight.

Chikako circled the place twice and used her chakra sight to make sure that there wasn't anyone she couldn't sense hiding nearby. Ren really was alone though, not that that made a visit before the sun had even risen any less suspicious.

She debated whether to just go back to sleep for roughly forty-five seconds before curiosity got the better of her. That he'd deviated from his normal schedule, namely staying out of the compound and approaching her before she went to sleep, or not at all if he couldn't find her, meant that something must have changed.

So in the end Chikako did the same thing she'd done last time. She closed in slowly, but refrained from leaking killing intent as not to alert Bat. When she stood right behind him she used her left to hold a kunai to his stomach and the right to place her wakizashi at his throat in a parody of an embrace.

He didn't freeze up, but that was most likely because he'd already been stiff as a board and not because he was any more comfortable around her now than he had been two weeks ago.

"Yes?" Chikako asked, not bothering to hide how annoyed she was that her sleep had been interrupted.

"I was instructed to inform you that Jiraiya has left the village several hours ago. It is very unlikely that he will be back before your three months are up. Danzo-sama is aware that neither of the Sanin have been willing to answer your questions about the intruder and has offered to trade the information you seek."

Did that mean he knew who the Uchiha really was? Jiraiya had agreed with her that Madara should be dead by now or at least an old man. She hadn't told the Sannin that his Mangekyo Sharingan had the same pattern as Kakashi's though, because he'd lied to her at least once during the second round of questioning.

Chikako had described the way the intruder had fought to him, the chains and the ability to become incorporeal. He'd been genuinely surprised and claimed to have never heard of someone like that, only there'd also been a twinge of nervousness and his chakra had jumped in recognition. He might not have expected whoever it was to attack, but he also clearly knew more about the intruder than he was willing to share with her.

She'd planned to ask Kakashi about the specifics of how he'd come by his Sharingan and whether he knew about duplicate Mangekyo patterns. There wasn't exactly a lot of information on the Uchiha's dojutsu, so Chikako didn't actually know if patterns were unique. Itachi might, but she hadn't heard from him or seen Yata for months. At this point Danzo might actually be her best option, provided he actually knew something of course. There was still the possibility that he merely wanted to lure her into a trap.

"What do you think I should do?" Chikako asked out of the blue, concentrating on every minute change in Ren's chakra. There was the expected surprise at having been asked for his opinion, confusion as well. The lingering fear ebbed away a little, making space for something she couldn't quite interpret. It was warm, but not in a friendly or welcoming way, closer to relief. Hope maybe?

"I am not aware of any plans to harm you and Danzo-sama has agreed to let you choose the meeting place. His only stipulation is that it remain secret," Ren told her. Chikako couldn't detect a trace of malice in his chakra or even just anticipation. It would be smart not to tell him if he was leading her into a trap. After all, he couldn't give away what he didn't know. She might not like Danzo, but the man didn't strike her as stupid and something like this seemed right up his alley.

"Are you still under orders to provide assistance to me?"

"Yes," Ren answered immediately and she got the feeling he would have saluted if he could have moved without risking his life. Eager to please. Like a dog that had been trained to follow commands, but didn't care who gave them.

Might just be his personality, or maybe Danzo didn't understand that obedience without loyalty was a double-edged sword.

Chikako stepped back, letting her wakizashi vanish and storing the kunai in it's pouch. She slowly walked around Ren, thinking back to what he'd said when they'd met. Something along the lines of providing assistance meant adhering to the instructions of the person he was supposed to support.

She could work with that. If Danzo hadn't rescinded that order yet, and as far as she could tell Ren hadn't lied about that, then chances were he'd forgotten about it or assumed Ren would only apply it to that one mission.

"Do not leave my side until after the meeting," she started, then went on to list several more orders that would hopefully keep her safe or at least provide some warning in case this whole thing went south.


	78. XVI - Not so Bad

**A/N:**

Thanks for the reviews everyone. I hope you aren't sick of Konoha yet.

 _Homarid_

Danzo's agenda will soon be revealed (not quite yet though). Now Imagine I said that in an ominous voice and add some evil cackling. I mean it's probably not going to be that dramatic, but you know ...

 _cassianaswindell123_

Because I am evil. Well, Danzo is. I mean he initially named the poor kid Sai, so it's clearly his fault and you should use any burning pitchforks you might come across on him.

In theory Edo Tensei can bring back anyone, provided the user has access to their remains. Sai's body was burned though, so no. And in case you were wondering: Chikako asks Gaara what he did to the body in chapter 30.

Technically, having some of the target's DNA would be enough, meaning if I really wanted to shoehorn it in I could always say Danzo has DNA samples of all his operatives or something, but as of right now I have no plans of doing that.

 _ladeste_

Thanks.

 _PixelatedLights_

Thank you, I hope your midterms don't suffer too much.

. . .

 **XVI - Not so Bad**

Ren was frozen in place like a statue. As per Chikako's instructions, he'd not left her side and instead told another ROOT operative where she wanted to meet, so that that one could deliver the message to Danzo. Now she knew another face.

At the moment they both stood in the middle of the Pit. Chikako had never thought she'd one day be glad for how familiar she was with Orochimaru's old lab, but for this it was perfect. Well, almost. She could have done without the corpses that nobody had seen fit to clean up and the cloying stench of decay that clung to everything like a sickness.

Ren likely felt the same and unlike her, he was blind in the complete darkness that surrounded them. When the lab had still been operational Orochimaru had gotten electricity from somewhere, but something must have damaged his source during the invasion three years ago. Not that Chikako was complaining. She had her chakra sense and sight to guide her and she'd take any advantage she could get over Danzo.

Which was also why she'd positioned Ren between herself and the obvious entrance the councilman entered through. At her back were two more exits, one directly behind and one to the right, hidden beyond the false back-panel of a broom closet.

The councilman's gait was slow, every tap of his cane echoed loudly from the tiled walls. His chakra was still as disgusting as the last time she'd seen him. Not in the same way as Kakuzu's, but close. It made her skin crawl the same, too many different signatures forced into one body. She wouldn't put collecting hearts past him, it was probably something different though. She couldn't even distinguish the signatures enough to count them and they weren't pulsing with a heartbeat of their own either.

"Hiding in the dark?" Danzo said in greeting. It sounded like an insult, probably meant to goad her. The two guards he'd brought fanned out in front of him, clearly unable to tell where she was. Chikako chose to take it as a compliment instead

"Seemed appropriate," she told him, then immediately changed position, careful not to step over the line of seals she'd burned into the ground in front of Ren. He had orders to push chakra into it as soon as anyone but her came within a meter of his location.

"A little dramatic for my taste, but I did give you the choice of venue," the councilman intoned magnanimously, as if he was doing her some grand favor. "I am a busy man so you'll have to excuse me for getting straight to business. I have information you want, in exchange you will complete a task for me."

A task sure. Like painting a fence or buying groceries. It wasn't even a question. He was so sure she'd agree.

"And I assume I'm to receive my reward afterwards?" Chikako changed position again.

"I think you've earned a measure of trust," Danzo said rather unexpectedly. "Your past actions lead me to believe that you mean Konoha no harm and your dislike of Tsunade shows good judgment. You see her irrational decisions for what they are."

Ah, now that made more sense. Chikako tuned out a little as he went on, commending her for having informants in the Nara and Hyuga clan as well as using Jiraiya without allowing him power over her actions. It was a load of bullshit meant to flatter. He was appealing to her ego and doing it badly at that. Whatever information he'd collected about her character obviously wasn't all that accurate, but of course the easiest way to find out what he was up to was to play along and she did want the information he'd promised.

. . .

Chikako left Ren behind when she exited through one of the back entrances. No doubt Danzo would realize that his odd behavior meant she'd given him orders and then command him to disregard all of them. She might have some fun with that later, depending on how and why Ren obeyed the councilman.

For now she needed to speak to Shikaku though. The old warmonger had only given her half an hour to prepare and meet his people outside of the village.

She didn't waste any time, rushing over to the clan head's house to pound on his door despite the early hour. The sun had just started it's slow ascent, bathing everything in hues of red and gold. Not that Yoshino Nara seemed very appreciative of that fact as she opened the door.

The woman's greeting was rather disgruntled, but her face changed immediately when she saw Chikako. The lines on her forehead smoothed out and her eyes widened minutely, glancing behind her visitor as if to check whether they were alone. She didn't ask any questions, just stepped back and gestured for Chikako to wait in the kitchen as she went down the corridor, presumably to wake her husband.

Chikako knew she was being rude, no apology, no explanation. She didn't have time for pleasantries though, even if this probably wasn't a life or death situation. Then again, it was hard to tell with the councilman involved.

"Danzo wants me to break into a research facility and steal something called drug 47A-3," she announced bluntly as soon as Shikaku joined her. His expression remained impassive, but the flicker of confused recognition in his chakra stood in stark contrast to his physical lack of reaction.

"And you agreed to this?"

"He's got information I want, but it's your call. That's why I came here first. If you want me to call it off, capture the operatives I'm supposed to meet with or hand over something else I will. Anything really, I just need orders."

"Why?"

"I have no idea what that drug is, so I can't judge the consequences of getting it for Danzo. Also, whatever he tells me - if he holds to his end of the bargain at all - will most likely be a lie or at least twisted to serve his purposes. I want that information, but it's not worth much more than a rumor. Just something to point me in the right direction, so I can start digging for more reliable sources.

"I met with him mostly because that one operative keeps hanging around and he broke his pattern this morning, so I thought something had changed. Also it was really only a matter of time before Danzo would force the issue, might as well do things on my terms."

There was a bang from somewhere deeper in the house. If Chikako had to guess she'd say Yoshino had tried to wake her son and he'd reflexively tried to defend himself or the woman had thrown something. It was hard to tell with how close together their chakra signatures were to each other. Either way, Shikamaru was awake and didn't seem particularly happy about it, whereas his mother's chakra held a note of smug satisfaction.

Shikaku didn't even glance in the direction of the noise, merely leaned forward in his chair a little and crossed his arms on the table.

"Why not go to Tsunade with this? She _is_ the Hokage and also an exceptional medic."

"I don't trust that woman as far as I can throw her and I don't have time to argue about why I met with Danzo at all. I know this is a little out of the blue, but apparently Jiraiya left again and this seems closer to your area of expertise than Kakashi's."

Something about that statement took Shikaku by surprise. He cocked his head slightly, giving her an inquisitive look.

"You don't trust Jiraiya either. Why would you have gone to him first? How do you even know he's gone? That was supposed to be secret."

Chikako shrugged, getting slightly annoyed. She understood the questions, but time was short and if he didn't make a decision soon she'd have to guess at the best course of action.

"I've spent enough time with the asshole to know he's pragmatic and will do whatever is best for Konoha and her people. Also, while I can't stand him, it's comparatively unlikely that he'll double cross me, if only because he still needs me." She nodded at Shikamaru as he entered the kitchen as well, then turned back to his father. "My ROOT stalker said that Jiraiya left the village, which I'm assuming means he got the information from Danzo. Ergo whatever you did to keep things secret needs some work. Now, I have about fifteen minutes left, so I need orders."

"Did Danzo try to blackmail you?"

"No, he was almost nice actually. Tried to appeal to my ego, made it seem like this was something his people couldn't do. Praised my mistrust of Tsunade as well, that sort of thing."

"I see." Shikaku let his eyes wander around the room for a moment. His expression was grim when he looked back at her, but his posture remained relaxed. "The drug is completely harmless. The research facility it is kept in is well protected and holds a number of dangerous substances, but this particular drug is from a failed batch of tests and has approximately the same effect as drinking two or three cups of strong coffee.

"From what you've said I assume this is a test to see whether you can break in unnoticed and are willing to do so, in which case he will likely promise you more information for another task later. There is, however, also the possibility that he is merely trying to lure you out.

"The research facility isn't far from the village, but it isn't exactly in a location you'd come across by accident either. Danzo's men could easily wait until after you've stolen the drug, then attack and either kill you or drag you in front of Tsunade and the Godaime would be forced to commend them for it."

Shikamaru's gaze darted from his father to Chikako, suddenly a lot more alert than he had been a few seconds ago. All she had to offer was another shrug. She'd been on guard since she'd entered the village and was constantly expecting to be attacked or betrayed, so Shikaku's warning didn't surprise her in the least.

"I know," she said evenly, then got up. "So I'm playing along for now?"

"That's it?" Shikamaru demanded at the same time as his father nodded a confirmation. "You're just going to walk right into a trap without backup? For information that you admitted yourself probably isn't worth it?"

Chikako blinked at him. If he'd heard that he had to have been up before his mother had gone to wake him. That he'd pretended at the hospital made sense, but why at home? Or maybe it was an exercise?

"I don't really have time to alert anyone and chances are Danzo will find out anyway. Coming here first was already a risk. Also, I can always summon Sune if I need help."

Shikamaru muttered something under his breath that sounded vaguely like a curse, but even though she could see that he didn't like this one bit, he only reminded her not to be late for training. She nodded at both Nara and then left the house, oddly pleased that nobody had told her to be careful.

As she ran to the meeting place she wondered at Yoshino's behavior. The woman wasn't an active duty shinobi anymore, but Chikako was pretty sure she held the rank of chunin. She certainly moved like it, fluent and silent. The reflexes she displayed when dodging around other people in the house, even when carrying plates of food, were impressive as well and so was the fact that she somehow still managed to look like nothing more than an overbearing housewife.

Despite her competence as well as the fact that no one had tried to exclude her from the conversation, just now and during that group meeting her husband had roped Chikako into, she still took care to be anywhere else. It was weird. The woman had to put work into staying in shape, otherwise her reflexes at least would have dulled, yet it seemed she wanted as little to do with shinobi life as possible.

Chikako slowed down as she neared the meeting place, putting thoughts of Yoshino out of her head. Maybe she could just ask the woman next time she saw her.

Three people were waiting for her, Ren, the one he'd sent to Danzo in his stead and a woman she'd never seen before. They all looked equally bland and the expressions on their faces were so empty they might as well have been wearing blank masks.

What the hell was Chikako supposed to do with them? Danzo had implied that there would be more than one, but this wasn't really a job for a full team.

She shook her head, then walked in front of them and let Camouflage fall, happy to note their chakra jumped slightly. It was always fun to mess with people, but she especially like to make ROOT operatives react in ways they weren't supposed to. It proved that Danzo's approach was flawed. Reminded her that Sai had been different, better.

"What exactly are you supposed to do on this mission?" Chikako asked, one eyebrow arched to make clear what she thought of their presence. They'd probably report that back, so that the councilman could update her file.

"Provide assistance," the woman supplied, completely unaffected by Chikako's disdain.

Chikako wrinkled her nose, then crouched down to pick up four stones. She burned three tiny seals into one of them and one seal each into the other three. The first one she kept for herself and the rest she handed over to her temporary minions.

As soon as all of them held one, she pushed chakra through hers, so that they could feel their own heat up in response.

"Two short pulses mean I need help, come and find me. Short, long, short means I need a distraction, go make some noise, but try not to kill anyone. Three long pulses mean mission accomplished, meet back up here, then destroy the stones.

"For now all I need you to do is fan out and stay out of sight."

They saluted as one and vanished into the trees without a word, like a well oiled machine. She'd expected at least one would stick around to keep an eye on her, but they hadn't even hesitated to follow her instructions. God, how she hated it when things went smoothly. It always made her think something horrible would happen to compensate.

Chikako used Camouflage again as she neared the research facility, taking her time to watch the people on the premises. She recognized the signatures of a few Nara and the occasional Yamanaka. The Hokage's assistant was there as well and at least four ANBU guards hid around the property. Not a single Hyuga though.

The Nara guard she could easily get around. As long as her Camouflage was active she had no shadow for him to detect. The Aburame guard was a little more tricky because she had to dodge his patrolling kikaichu, but ultimately that too wasn't much of a challenge because she could sense the insects. The other two guards didn't belong to any family she recognized, so Chikako stayed away from them just in case, but since neither seemed to actively be using chakra she didn't think they were able to detect her.

One was most likely a sensor and the other a combat specialist. Maybe Danzo hadn't been lying when he'd tried to butter her up claiming that his people couldn't get in. Ren would have been able to avoid detection by the Nara guard and maybe a sensor as well, but the kikaichu would have gotten him sooner or later.

Chikako on the other hand could almost literally walk in through the front door with no one being the wiser. All she had to do was dodge around people, take care to move slowly enough so that holding Camouflage wasn't a problem and be quiet while she did it.

She wasn't really in the mood for a fight, but as she walked the tiled corridors, wrinkling her nose at the smell of antiseptic, it became quite apparent that her biggest problem would be locating the drug. This place distinctly reminded her of one of Orochimaru's compounds, the one in River that had been so sterile and empty that looking at the blank walls made her sleepy.

Chikako blinked slowly, stopping to yawn and lean her forehead against the cold metal railing of a staircase for a moment, hoping that it might alleviate her headache. She barely managed to pull away again before the hand of a descending researcher brushed her arm. A spike of adrenalin shot through her at the near miss and she silently cursed herself for being an idiot as she looked after the man and nausea swept through her.

His lab coat was open, fluttering behind him with each brisk step. He was also wearing a surgical mask, just like every other person she'd come across so far. Chikako had thought it was just part of the work they did here, to keep things hygienic. After all, Shikaku had said some of the substances they handled were dangerous.

That was probably part of it, but now she had to wonder if her unnatural tiredness wasn't caused by some kind of gas. She was positive that it wasn't a genjutsu, but a slow acting chemical she could have easily missed. Maybe the masks contained some kind of compound that neutralized the chemical. If it was strong enough her near immunity might not be able to keep up on it's own.

Chikako pushed chakra through her system in an attempt to burn away foreign substances, but nothing happened. She narrowed her eyes, trying to remember if she'd seen or sensed the medics do anything special. They mostly just spent time in their labs and she recalled the one she'd come in with had seemed in a rush when he'd opened the door to the entrance, but then hesitated almost a full minute in the small room between that door and the lobby before he'd actually entered. Otherwise she hadn't noticed any unexpected behavior.

Not a genjutsu, not poison or illness. What else could make a person feel sick? It had to be easy to get around as well or people wouldn't be able to work here.

She'd assumed the odd behavior she'd witnessed earlier had something to do with keeping germs out, sterilizing the air or something. She'd heard a hissing sound and her ears had popped, signifying a change in pressure. Her headache had started shortly afterwards, but she hadn't paid it much attention until the nausea had set in and by that point she'd been so sleepy that her mind kept wandering. Now that she was paying attention though she also noticed a shortness of breath that made no sense at all, considering that she was standing still and had done nothing more strenuous than walk around until a minute ago.

If it wasn't something in the air, maybe it was the air itself? She'd felt similar when the damned Sanbi had swallowed her and that had been because of a lack of oxygen. That didn't explain the change in pressure she'd experienced though. Unless ... was there simply less air? Filtering oxygen out had to be complicated, but pumping some air out of a building couldn't be too hard. It had to be sealed anyway so nothing could escape out of the labs.

That would probably have the same effect as the thinner air on mountains and while people that climbed high without acclimatizing got altitude sickness, the ones that did give their bodies time to adapt had no problem living in such environments. Was that what this was then?

It didn't sound so bad, but this was a shinobi facility. They wouldn't be content with making an intruder a little sleepy. Chikako was pretty sure altitude sickness could kill. The initial symptoms were comparable to a hangover, but the shortness of breath she was experiencing could be a sign of fluid in her lungs.

The worst form had something to do with the brain, she'd never bothered to look into it in detail, but anything affecting her brain was something she wanted as little to do with as possible, especially if it could end with her death.

Opening a window would most likely cause some kind of alarm. If they were really pumping air or of the building they had to monitor the pressure somehow. Hell, even if they weren't, it was just common sense to have some kind of electronic alarm system in addition to the shinobi guards.

Chikako hurried back to the front entrance as fast as she could manage without loosing Camouflage, then nearly fell over herself to slip out with the woman ahead of her. She couldn't help holding the inner door for a second. If she hadn't it would have shut right in her face.

Luckily the woman didn't seem to notice the slight delay, too distracted by the report she was reading. She looked a little frazzled, her black hair sticking out wildly from the mess that was her ponytail. Chikako couldn't have cared any less though. She was just glad that the woman was apparently a smoker judging by the pack in her left hand. Smoke breaks also seemed to be a frequent occurrence if all the squished cigarette butts by the front door were any indication.

She had to suppress a relieved sigh when the pressure in the little room between entrance and lobby changed. She still felt a little nauseous and had a headache, but breathing immediately became so much easier that she couldn't fathom how she hadn't noticed earlier how difficult it had been inside of the building.

The woman didn't seem to share the sentiment. She scrunched her nose at the smell of fresh air as if she preferred the antiseptic tang that seemed to cling to everything inside. Her skin was pale to the point of being almost translucent and Chikako had to wonder if she would have ever left the labs if smoking had been allowed inside.

It only took her five minutes to finish her cigarette and once she'd ground what was left of the thing into the dirt next to it's fallen comrades, she immediately headed back in. The change in pressure didn't seem to affect her at all, but this time Chikako was much more aware of it.

She waited in the lobby for the woman to leave, then placed a few chakra strings, reminiscent of the ones she'd used for the net around the Uchiha compound. They were weak enough that even a sensor shouldn't be able to notice them, at least not by accident, but they'd alert her if someone crossed them. That way she should have enough time to head to the front door and leave with whoever was on their way out to take a break.

This stupid place was as much a labyrinth as T&I's lower levels and at the rate she was going it would take her ages to find that stupid drug. She'd be damned if she capitulated to air though.

. . .

Ages turned out to be close to five hours, interrupted by increasingly more frequent trips outside. Properly acclimatizing to the low air pressure would most likely take several days. Chikako was pretty sure that she would have had to give up her search without her accelerated healing.

She still wouldn't call the facility safe though. It was a sneaky kind of deathtrap, but having a Hyuga guard or two would be advisable to keep people such as herself out and if one of the ANBU was a sensor as she suspected, that one should be positioned by the front door. Hiding was nice and all, but not if it interfered with the job.

If she'd know where exactly that drug had been stored Chikako could have gotten it easily and probably wouldn't have even noticed that there was something different about the air inside. The rather oppressive smell of antiseptic had effectively served as both a distraction and explanation for the initial symptoms. She wondered who'd designed that defensive measure. The Hunter-nin would just love something like that.

Chikako, having made her way back to the initial meeting place, took a deep breath and then gulped down two more lungfuls of fresh air before she pulled the little stone out of a pocket. She traced a finger over the seals, marveling at how useful Jiraiya's little trick was. Her pure chakra seals were a lot less obvious, but holding them stable was difficult, especially over distances larger than a few meters. She preferred them for combat purposes because of their versatility, but she had to admit that being able to burn seals into things was both fast and useful.

She wasted another five minutes or so, enjoying the silence, then pushed chakra through the stone in three long pulses to signal that she'd completed the mission.

It didn't take long for the three ROOT operatives to join her. Their expressions were still blank, but she thought it was funny that they dutifully destroyed their marked stones so she could see. Truthfully, she wouldn't have cared if they'd kept them. The seal wasn't some great secret, even if the way she'd used it was a little unusual. She also had no doubt that they'd report everything to Danzo regardless.

"Tell him he can set the next meeting," she instructed and then added as an afterthought, "it better not be in the tunnels though."

Another round of salutes later she was alone again. Her head still hurt and she was pretty sure if she were to eat something or just smell any food she'd throw up. Great, she hadn't wanted to go to training hungry and a few more hours of sleep wouldn't have hurt either, but she supposed there was no helping that now.

 _Should have told him to stuff it_ , Chikako thought angrily. The stupid task had taken far longer than she'd expected, but then if she was honest with herself she wouldn't actually have done anything differently even had she known in advance. Playing along was the best way to get information from the councilman, also she was too curious for her own good.

Since none of the ROOT operatives had attacked her, it seemed more and more likely that this assignment was really some kind of test. Breaking into the research facility had turned out to be surprisingly difficult. Of course maybe Danzo had known exactly what kind of security measures were in place and had hoped she'd just pass out in one of those empty corridors. That way he wouldn't have had to get involved at all.

Shikaku had clearly know about the facility and the drug, but if he'd been aware of that part he would have warned her. The councilman more often than not knew things he shouldn't though, so it wasn't impossible that that had indeed been his plan. Or maybe he was fine with either option.

Chikako cursed. She needed to meet back up with Kisame before this stupid place drove her insane. Traveling with the sharkman was so much simpler, no games, no hidden agendas. The most underhanded thing that happened when they were together was that one of the yokai played a trick on them.

She also missed Sho. The kid had actually grown on her even though she generally didn't like children. They seemed so weak and helpless, which she supposed was true for him as well, but the boy already knew that the world was a cruel and dangerous place. He'd seen and experienced his fair share of bad things, but instead of curling up into a ball he'd developed a thick hide as well as a willingness to fight back.

He'd be fine, Kisame would make sure of that. Given a few more years he might even be dangerous.

. . .

"You look like shit," Kakashi informed her when she appeared next to him. He stood on the edge of a cliff, a few kilometers outside of the village. Cat sat two meters to his right, leaning over to better watch the rookies running laps below. Either this was warm-up or Raccoon just enjoyed shouting at them. He definitely looked right in his element at the head of the pack, running backwards just to make sure they all knew he was better than them.

"Feel like it too," Chikako grunted, which earned her a concerned look from her sensei, so she added, "Don't worry. I'll be fine in a few hours, just need some rest when this is over."

He held her gaze for a moment longer, but then gave a curt not, turning back around.

The rookies ran two more laps before the sparring started and Chikako could see why they'd complained about this part so much. Raccoon clearly played favorites and he seemed to have it in for Shikamaru especially. He paired the Nara with each of the other rookies, barely giving him any time to breathe between matches.

To his credit, Shikamaru ended the fights fast and it looked like he didn't offer a single word of protest either. That probably incensed Raccoon more, but then she got the feeling the guy was a bully at heart. She'd pissed him off and because he couldn't take it out on her he'd chosen the next best victim.

When Shikamaru wouldn't be cowed, even after he'd been forbidden from using any ninjutsu, the man's efforts shifted to Coyote. Blue didn't even get up from her spot under a bush when her master was called on, which made Chikako think the wolf was routinely excluded from the fights.

"Why is that guy an ANBU again?" She all but sneered. Cat shrugged.

"He's old guard, survived all three world wars, but got stuck in the first I think. He's usually not so bad, you just rub him the wrong way because of that whole nukenin business, your affiliation with Suna and Kiri, and most of all because of your disrespect towards Tsunade-sama. When he grew up things had just started to change from absolute loyalty to the head of clan to the village's kage. As far as he's concerned you're probably one step removed from an enemy combatant."

Chikako squinted a little to see better, shielding her eyes against the sun. She hadn't known he was that old. If he'd been alive during the First Shinobi World War he had to be at least fifty, probably older if he actually remembered it.

Half a century was a respectable age for shinobi. At almost seventy the Sandaime Hokage had practically been ancient. Chikako had already been on the defending side during two invasions and helped kill a kage, and she wasn't even considered an adult in civilian terms yet. There was no telling what kind of stories Raccoon might have to tell. Not that that made her like him or the way he trained the rookies any better.

"Do you ever regret that Weasel isn't here to do this? He's a fantastic teacher and I think he actually likes it too," Chikako mused. Both Cat and Kakashi stiffened at her casual mention of the infamous Uchiha and neither said a word for a few very long moments.

"I know you still consider him a friend pup, but he's dangerous."

"Name one shinobi worth their salt that isn't," she shot back unapologetically. Kakashi didn't argue the point, but Cat turned around to face her.

"You're probably right, but unless he gets a pardon he's the enemy. Better not mention it where Raccoon can hear or this is gonna turn into a really bad day."

Chikako sighed, but nodded. She was in no condition for a shouting match and the sooner this was over the sooner she could fall into her bed.

Watching Neji fight was kind of hypnotizing. She still thought it was stupid that he insisted on using his clan's style almost exclusively, but just from an aesthetic point of view it had a calming quality. It was also kind of funny how the other rookies didn't seem to know what to do in the face of that perfect defense and of course Raccoon never told him that he couldn't use it.

That kind of training was most definitely not particularly helpful for Neji though, so she had a valid reason besides blatant favoritism to grin when Shikamaru stopped him dead in his tracks with a Shadow Bind and casually walked up to hold a kunai to his throat.

"You know, I think if he were to catch me a few more times with that jutsu I might not be able to break free either. It's like every time I disrupt it he adapts, so that the same trick won't work again," Chikako said, plopping down next to where Kakashi was standing so that she could lean against his leg. Her head still hurt a little, but the nausea at least was slowly making way to hunger, which wasn't any more pleasant, but probably healthier.

Her sensei only hummed non-committally, but Cat shuffled a little closer.

"He's so much better than the others. I wish we'd found him sooner, maybe then Godaime-sama wouldn't have forced us to deal with the rest of them."

Chikako still thought it was weird to hear Cat speak in actual sentences, especially because of how expressive her voice could be. The last part of that statement had somehow managed to convey deep respect for Tsunade, while at the same time sounding like an insult to the rookies.

"Badger would probably be a lot better if you just got him away from Raccoon. All this elite Hyuga bullshit isn't helping him. He already mastered the Gentle Fist, now he needs to learn when not to use it.

"Coyote could be really good too. He'd need someone patient to train him and actual step by step instructions, but I think once he's gained some experience in the field he'd make a wonderful operative. Just maybe don't let him lead any teams or put Blue in charge instead."

"Maybe you should do the teaching," Kakashi teased, patting Chikako's head absentmindedly as if she were one of his dogs. She glowered up at him.

"Stop trying to make other people do your job you lazy bastard."

"You used to be so cute," he lamented dramatically as she batted his fingers away to redo her braid. Cat stopped her shortly after, having caught a glimpse of the ninja wire in her hair.

"Clever," she commented, then moved to sit behind Chikako and took over.

Raccoon joined them just as Cat finished the braid.

"You can do this kind of nonsense in your free time," he said gruffly before looking at Kakashi, "Your turn."

Chikako barely managed to thank Cat before she was surrounded by a pack of dogs. The woman immediately abandoned her, just in time to escape getting drooled on. Chikako let the dogs do as they pleased for a while, but gently pushed them away before she could end up at the bottom of a literal dog pile. Pakkun she wouldn't have minded, but Bull easily weighed more than her.

"Been a while," the surly pug observed. She scratched behind his ears in answer until one of his hind paws started to tap the ground involuntarily.

Kakashi made an expectant noise after a while and Pakkun grumbled something about horrid working conditions and finding another summoner, but all of the dogs obediently made their way down the cliff, getting ready to hunt the rookies.

"You too," Raccoon commanded, giving Chikako a pointed look. "You think you're actually good enough to act as a teacher, you show them how it's done."

She considered arguing, but figured doing as he'd said would ultimately be less trouble. That way she also wouldn't have to spend any time in his general vicinity, which was a definite plus.

"How the mighty have fallen," Coyote cheered as she joined the rookies, but he seemed genuinely happy to see her. "Got any pointers?"

"Run," she told him blandly. If he of all people couldn't figure out how to shake a pack of dogs then there was no helping him.

 _Okay_ , Shikamaru signed at her in Konoha Standard. She raised an eyebrow at him, then nodded. His shoulders sagged the tiniest bit in response, but somehow his whole body suddenly looked more relaxed.

A whistle sounded from up on the cliff, marking the start of the race and Chikako made sure to stay next to him.

"At the risk of repeating myself," she told him quietly, "I'm not a civilian. I don't break that easily."

"Doesn't mean I can't be worried, especially when you look like you lost three days of sleep between this morning and now."

"Did you just call me ugly?" She snapped in her best impression of Ino, but couldn't keep up the act when he stumbled. She burst out laughing while his arms swung wildly as he tried to regain his balance, then waved at him and ran ahead. He might be far better than the other rookies, but he was still Shikamaru.

The rest of the race went pretty much as expected. Chikako stayed ahead of the pack by virtue of speed alone, then ensured they lost the trail at a nearby river. She ran on the water's surface for a while, sometimes picking up random stones or sticks from the riverbank and throwing them into the forest. The ninken were smart enough to know that there were only two ways to run and the pack was large enough that they could just split up, but this way they couldn't be sure where she'd left the river without checking.

It bought her more than enough time to circle back past them and rejoin the other ANBU on the cliff.

"I think this was the slowest you've been since you were twelve," Kakashi informed her. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Leave me alone old man. I'm hungry, tired and have been ignoring a headache for a good six hours now."

Raccoon gave her another one of those pointed looks.

"Whining won't help you on the battlefield."

Chikako ignored him in favor of reclaiming her seat next to Kakashi. She let her legs dangle over the edge and then leaned back, hands behind her head. There were clouds forming in the distance, a thick gray blanket slowly rolling over the sky. It would rain soon, but since Cat's test was the only one left she could just go hide out in some restaurant.

. . .

She hummed happily, savoring the flavor of grilled pork belly when Shikamaru, Neji and Coyote took seats at her secluded corner table. They had all transformed to look forgettable - hair and eyes in various shades of brown, no distinct features, standard chunin uniforms. Chikako hadn't seen Blue yet, but since the wolf was currently residing on a nearby roof she was probably pretending to be a cat.

"Think that'll work?" She asked as she inspected their disguises. Coyote looked a little unsure, even ducked his head slightly as if she'd scolded him, but Neji and Shikamaru both seemed confident in their decision.

"You have been ordered to participate in this test and hiding in plain sight is a good tactic," the Hyuga supplied. Chikako grinned at him.

"Yeah, but unlike some people, I am a sensor and can just go somewhere else when Cat gets too close."

"Which is precisely why we'll be keeping you company," Shikamaru told her. "You wouldn't abandon your fellow shinobi, would you?"

She laughed, throwing her head back.

"You know me better than that."

"Have it your way then," he sighed. "You get to skip out on one of the activities you agreed to if you do this."

That got her attention. He said activity without a qualifier, so in theory she could get out of gardening duty or rookie ANBU training, both of which involved being around Raccoon while he wasn't under orders to be a silent guard. There was one thing she wanted even less though.

"Deal," Chikako agreed almost instantly. Coyote let out a happy whoop, drawing a few curious glances.

The boys ordered some food as well and while they waited Chikako playfully berated Neji for his over-reliance on the Gentle Fist. He didn't take it too well, insisting that he merely needed to train more. It went so far that she flicked a piece of meat at his face to shut him up.

"Will you stop with that nonsense? You're already perfect. Your form is impeccable to the point that I could tell you exactly where you would stand after any given number of actions just by knowing in which position you started. You need something else, something that's yours."

"I am already training with a Fuma Shuriken."

"That's to compensate for your lack of range. You're a close combat specialist. Considering who your jonin sensei is you should know at least one other style."

"It's inferior," Neji sneered. Chikako narrowed her eyes at him.

"My bad, I didn't know you liked loosing easily winnable fights."

"I beat all of the-" he started, but stopped when she flicked her eyes towards Shikamaru and then turned back to raise an eyebrow at him.

"You were saying?"

Neji huffed, crossing his arms in a mixture of defiance and defensiveness. Coyote looked very entertained by the exchange, but Shikamaru was the one who spoke up.

"It's Naruto isn't it? You don't want to go on a mission with him."

The change in topic was a little abrupt, but she'd expected him to figure it out sooner rather than later.

"Yeah, I know you meant well, but he doesn't agree with the way I handle things and his tendency to always see the best in people - even when they are trying to murder him - drives me nuts. I don't have time to waste on C-rank guard or hunting missions and anything higher ranking will inevitably end with him spitting mad because I killed someone he didn't think needed to die."

"That mean you're leaving soon?" Coyote asked between bites. For someone who got beaten up during the sparring matches he was in a pretty good mood and his cheerful tone made Chikako smile as well.

"Soon as I get what I need and hear back from a contact."

"Man that sounds ominous, like some proper spy stuff. Whatcha looking for?"

"Chakra conductive materials."

"Like blood?" He asked, surprising her with how fast he caught on. Chikako had assumed he'd ask for an explanation, because of the way he acted, alternating between insecurity due to his lacking education and false bravado to mask it. Coyote gave her a thumbs ups, seeming very pleased with himself.

"Ya said ta use what people think against 'em," he drawled in a thick accent that made him sound like the simple minded son of some hard-working, but probably not very well-read farmer. "Figured they already think me stupid, so I might a' well play along."

"Keep telling yourself that," Neji mutter, but was drowned out by Chikako's giggling.

"I think that was a little much," she told Coyote once she got her breathing back under control. "You're right though, about the blood, but I need substances that won't just decay. They need to last a few years at least."

"Have you tried bone?" He asked, glancing outside, accent back to normal. "Blue isn't really a sensor, but she can sometimes pick up chakra signatures from bones, so they have to store it really well, don't they?"

Chikako blinked at him, then slapped her palm against her forehead and groaned.

"Shit, yes, bone should work almost as well as blood. It's just not commonly used because of how impractical that would be."

"Hah!" Coyote said loudly, shooting Neji a triumphant look as if coming up with suggestions had been a contest. The Hyuga wrinkled his nose at him, but Chikako could sense his competitive streak taking over when he turned to her.

"What other materials do you already have?"

"Some of the metal used for sealing ink, a mineral and ground kikaichu carapaces."

"There are several types of chakra conductive metal," he observed. He didn't seem surprised when she explained that those wouldn't work because they were too similar though.

"Does a change in state affect the chakra conductivity?" Shikamaru suddenly asked.

"It might, depends on what you have in mind."

"The Yamanaka grow this one flower-"

"Light Catcher."

"-yeah, that. Would it work if you burned it and used the ash? Or maybe just dried it? You could also try making it into a paste and blending it with alcohol to preserve it or maybe another substance that isn't as easily absorbed by the body ..." he trailed of, probably because Chikako had leaned half-way across the table, a brilliant smile on her face.

"Congratulations, you're my new lab partner," she chirped. He raised an eyebrow at her, pushing his cup of tea out of the way so she wouldn't accidentally knock it over.

"Who was the old one?"

"Rikumaru of course. He's wonderful, very pleasant company, polite too and always there when I need him. He doesn't even argue with me about breaks, regular meal times or sleeping schedules."

"You in love with this guy or something?" Coyote asked, before stuffing three pieces of grilled pork belly into his mouth at once. Shikamaru barely managed not to choke on his own food and then said very dryly, "She's talking about a deer."

Coyote just shrugged, swallowed and offered, "Wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've ever heard."

This time Neji was the one who swallowed his food wrong and Coyote took great pleasure in playing concerned bystander, pounding him on the back so hard it would probably bruise. Chikako just shook her head, but she didn't even try not to grin.

This wasn't so bad.


	79. XVII - Number Four Lives

**A/N:**

Thanks for the reviews.

 _PixelatedLights_

I'd love to say there was some good reason for the name confusion, but it was actually just me being a dumbass and forgetting that I named the twins Ren and Rei. So for clarification: that incident with the Mine was the one time Hunter-nin Ren appeared since the ROOT operative has chosen the name Ren for himself. Any time Chikako refers to Ren - except for that - she means the ROOT operative.

 _HelpfulNudge_

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I think the next story I'm writing will feature multiple POVs. There have been quite a few situations in which I've wanted to highlight things from a different perspective or simply show something the MC didn't know/wasn't part of. I'll also have to organize my notes better. It's surprisingly hard for me to get a handle on what conclusions a character could and would realistically come to, because as the author I already know the correct answer.

 _Peruna_

Welcome back. I'm glad you still enjoy the story.

. . .

 **XVII - Number Four Lives**

Chikako groaned, rolling over in bed. The sheets were soft and smelled freshly washed, but a faint scent of dog clung to them anyway. She kept her eyes closed, listening as Kakashi disarmed the traps on his front door. She wasn't quite sure why she'd come here after meeting with Danzo and handing over the drug or whether to regret it now.

It had all been very anticlimactic. He'd wanted her to come to his house, in secret of course. There she'd given him the drug she'd stolen and he'd informed her that the masked man had been in Konoha once before, during the Kyubi attack. Supposedly he'd used the Sharingan to gain control over the Tailed Beast in an attempt to destroy the village, but the Yondaime had stopped him. Of course the only witness was a ROOT operative who had since conveniently died in action and could therefore not be questioned.

Or in other words there most likely weren't any written records for her to look up, so all she really had was the councilman's word, which wasn't worth much. Chikako hadn't even bothered asking how Danzo could be sure it was the same guy. The story didn't sound impossible, but without any background information on the intruder she couldn't say whether it was a load of bullshit or not.

The councilman might have made the whole thing up or he might have told her the truth in the knowledge that it would be useless. So if she was honest with herself she knew exactly why she'd come to Kakashi's place.

Sasuke's house felt empty, dead and cold, and now that the masked man had proven just how useless her defenses were it didn't even feel safe anymore. Kakashi's bed in contrast was at least familiar. She'd spent enough time watching over him in this tiny flat he called home to not feel like an intruder. The real reason, however, was that she needed answers and with Jiraiya gone again her sensei was the only person who might be able to help with that.

"Hear you had fun this morning before training," Kakashi said, not skipping a beat when he found her tangled in his sheets. She squinted at him. He looked kind of ominous in the low light of late afternoon and the way he leaned against the door jamb kept his face in shadow.

"Not the word I would use," she mumbled, stretching out like a cat. Her head felt a little fuzzy from having slept too much for once, but at least it didn't hurt anymore.

Chikako crawled out from under the covers slowly, fighting the blanket until it was a bunched up mess at her feet. She vaguely registered that Kakashi turned his back to her, so that she could get dressed, but didn't really pay attention to the movement. Shinobi rarely got the luxury of privacy on missions and she couldn't care less whether he saw her in her underwear. It was a considerate gesture though.

"The research facility north-east of the village is comparatively new, Tsunade-sama's pet project if you will," Kakashi said as if he always stated random facts about Konoha without being prompted to. Of course this wasn't random at all and Chikako could already tell that wherever he was going with this wouldn't be good. "See, she thought it was too dangerous to do certain kinds of research in the hospital, for fear that especially deadly diseases and the like might get out. So the facility was designed with security as the first priority and deemed safe by the Godaime herself.

"Approximately six hours ago the council decided that a surprise inspection was in order. It was far from the first, because they'd disapproved of the whole project from the get go. This was was a little odd though, seeing as the previous on had only been last week."

"Shit," Chikako cursed, letting herself fall back onto the bed. Kakashi turned slowly, making sure she was clothed before settling back in his original position. "Let me guess, Danzo just so happened to notice that something was missing from the inventory even though there is no record of any incidents?"

"Something like that."

"What happened?"

"Nothing much. Verbal reprimands mostly, council-approved guards, lots of paperwork. It's more about how it makes the Godaime look. No matter how she handles this, she'll either seem incompetent because the breach hadn't even been noticed, weak for bowing to the council or unreasonable for refusing the council's measures."

"I'm guessing it's too late for me to come out and claim she sent me in to test security?"

Kakashi chuckled dryly, shaking his head.

"Don't think it'd make much of a difference at this point. Danzo's been undermining her for months. He'll spin this in one way or another to use in his favor." He paused, fixed her with a sharp look. "Did you at least get what you were hoping for?"

"Not really. Do you know if Mangekyo patterns are unique?"

Kakashi's right hand twitched at the unexpected change in topic. He didn't answer immediately, instead walking over to the window in a clear attempt to gain some time. Chikako knew very well how much he disliked talking about the Sharingan, but she wasn't clear on the reason. Maybe because of Sasuke, or Itachi, or because of how he'd come by his. Probably all of those.

"I don't," he said curtly.

She didn't usually pry. He shared what he wanted to on those rare occasions that he felt like it. Most of the time though she'd ask a wrong question, he'd growl at her and she'd back off. This was her warning, the line that shouldn't be crossed.

If the masked guy had just gotten past her wards and beaten her up she might have let it go. She already knew he was dangerous and having a name to associate with him wouldn't change that. He'd done more than that though, much more, much worse and she needed answers.

"The intruder's mask only had a hole for his right eye Kakashi," she said slowly, trying to gauge his reaction. Chikako could see by the was his posture tensed that he caught the implication immediately, drew the parallel from this new bit of information to the question she'd asked before. Still she hammered the nail in. "The pattern is the same as yours."

Silence reigned, sharp and cold and angry.

She didn't break it, didn't move, barely even breathed. Her words rang in her ears and the longer he remained quiet the more they sounded like an accusation to her. As if it had somehow been his fault that she'd been attacked. It wasn't how she'd meant them, but she was afraid he'd throw her out if she said anything else.

Kakashi kept staring out of the window until the streetlight below it flickered to life, replacing the golden glow of the setting sun with harsh electrical light. It wasn't very bright, but it made everything look sharper, less welcoming.

"That's not possible," he finally ground out. Not unfriendly exactly, but far from kind. She'd overstayed her welcome.

"I know what I saw and I know that he knows you - hates you," Chikako couldn't keep from saying. It was unfair of her she knew that, but she was angry too. She'd seen that red and black eye, the familiar pattern that should have meant safety, but now she wasn't even sure how far to trust her own mind.

Kakashi's gaze fixed on her again, black and fathomless. She couldn't read it anymore than his chakra, both deliberately closed off from her. That had gotten his attention though, so she continued. "Do you want to know how? Because I feel it. Every time I look at you. It's like mud crawling through my veins, like ice in my stomach and fire in my lungs. He doesn't like Konoha very much, but you, you he hates with a passion. Kakashi the Friend-Killer, the man that can't be trusted. It echoes in my head and it's far clearer than everything else he tried to make me think and feel.

"Tell me again what's possible."

He didn't say a word, just blankly stared into the middle distance and she nearly screamed at him, because she needed answers.

"Who is he? What does he want?"

Chikako got up in a rush, confusion, fear and anger surging through her like poison. Ignoring things was better. As long as she didn't have to think about it it wasn't so bad, or at least she liked telling herself that when the buzz in the back of her head became too insistent. Now she'd opened the door though and if he didn't explain soon she didn't know what she'd do.

Because of Ino she'd gotten past that blockade of nothing in her memories, had seen the fight and figured out the aftermath. What she hadn't seen was the time during which that masked bastard had kept her in an illusion. There was no telling what he'd done, only echoes.

Madara Uchiha - or whoever he was - trickster, liar, thief and dangerous, oh so fucking dangerous.

She knew about the thoughts that weren't hers, because they were too different, but what about things she hadn't had strong opinions on? What if his were just subtly different from hers? Would she have cared more or less about Tsunade's situation with Danzo before the intruder had gotten his claws into her mind? Would his resentment and rage fester in her like a wound until she too hated her sensei or would it fade over time?

She didn't know, couldn't tell and nobody had any fucking answers for her.

Chikako marched towards Kakashi, gripped his collar and yanked it down until they were eye to eye. She wasn't quite sure what she'd intended to do. Maybe slap him. The faint sheen on his cheek stopped her short though, frozen mid-motion, mind reeling.

He was crying.

She'd made him cry.

It was incongruous, impossible, but the evidence was right there in front of her. He was family and she'd pushed him too far. Not because he needed her to, but for her own selfish reasons.

Chikako let go, staggering backwards half a step, but his hand shot out to clamp down on her shoulder. Kakashi pulled her close, squeezing too tightly. She didn't complain, welcomed the pressure that was just on the edge of pain. It kept her grounded, kept her present.

"Obito," he said, voice full of gravel. "Obito Uchiha. We didn't get along. He was a punk, incompetent, always late and much too loud. At least that was what I thought at the time. We were a little like Sasuke and Naruto." Kakashi paused to take a deep breath and held it for a moment before releasing the air again with a harsh sound.

"I became a chunin years before my two teammates even graduated from the Academy, so naturally I thought I was better than them. I didn't much care for teamwork back then either, having been Minato-sensei's sole student for so long. Obito was very competitive, treated me like the person he needed to beat to become Hokage and of course I was a dick about it and dismissed him out of hand. We never really became friends, not until it was already too late.

"During the Third Shinobi World War my team was sent to destroy Kannabi-Bridge. I followed the rules, put my teammates in danger and Obito died for it. The right half of his body got crushed by a boulder and we had to leave him behind. Whoever you saw, whoever attacked you, it was not him."

Chikako waited for him to add anything else, but when he didn't she asked quietly, "Did you retrieve the body?"

Kakashi's grip tightened painfully before he shoved her backwards. She'd expected the reaction, didn't even stumble, instead spun around him so he wasn't between her and the door. He wouldn't attack her, she knew that, but that didn't mean she wanted to be trapped in a room with him.

Chikako didn't remind him of protocol on her way out. If there was no body, no witness to confirm Obito Uchiha's death beyond a shadow of a doubt, then he might very well still be alive. Whether he was also the masked man Danzo had told her about or the intruder that had attacked her was a different question. One that Kakashi couldn't answer.

By the looks of it the best she could do for her sensei right now was to leave him alone. She'd already pushed too far and he was done talking. She'd keep watch from a nearby roof until his chakra settled down again. It wasn't much as far as apologies went.

. . .

Chikako learned a few things over the next few days, chief among them that Shikamaru was at least as infuriating as he was brilliant. While they'd experimented with ways to make Light Catcher, the Yamanaka plant, work for her ink, he'd asked a number of seemingly innocuous questions. They were all centered around what kind of properties a substance needed to have to work for her experiment, so she hadn't thought much off it. Being a genius didn't come with inherent knowledge after all and as far as she knew he'd never bothered learning anything about sealing.

She only realized her mistake when he, rather pointedly, asked where exactly she planned on getting the bone. Of course by then he'd already figured out what the answer was, so he really only made the inquiry to let her know what he thought of it.

As was the case with blood, she could take an animal's, but that was far less potent than a human's, which again was far less potent than her own would be. That was also why blood was only used for sealing in emergency and bone wasn't at all. Taking someone else's would unnecessarily weaken the seal and using one's own was impractical to say the least. She didn't think no one had ever used bone, but since it should roughly have the same effects as blood there wasn't really a reason that would justify loosing a finger or something.

Well, unless someone needed five kinds of ink for a tattoo of course.

"It's really not that bad," Chikako muttered for what felt like the tenth time, "I'm reasonably certain they'll grow back anyway and it's not like missing a rib or two is going to be a problem."

"Oh, you're pretty sure? Well in that case." Shikamaru threw his hands up, the gesture only emphasizing the biting sarcasm in his tone. He'd been angry earlier, but now he was only annoyed with her refusal to see reason, as he put it. She hadn't decided yet which one was ultimately worse.

"I don't get why you're making such a big deal out of this."

"No, of course you don't." He shook his head and sat back down to sort through some of her notes. They were spread out on that stump in the Nara Forest that served as a table, but it was barely big enough to hold them all and a few had to have been relocated to the ground already. Chikako's research was a little chaotic. She'd meticulously recorded every experiment, which meant there was a whole lot of paper and very little order, and the fact that she'd had to decode some of her notes for him had only exacerbated the problem further.

"You're immune to poisons," Shikamaru stated eventually. It was kind of out of the blue, but he looked at her as if he wanted an answer, so Chikako paused working for a moment to nod at him.

"Yes?"

"That means sedatives won't work on you either."

"Obviously, where are you going with this?"

"Do you realize how painful it's going to be to be awake while someone removes two of your ribs?"

"Can't be worse than Orochimaru rooting around in my guts," Chikako said absentmindedly, already having turned back to her notes. She really didn't see what his problem was. It would hurt yes and she'd probably curse a lot, but she wasn't about to hack off a finger or a few toes. Not only would that also be painful, it would be inconvenient and with her luck they'd probably not even grow back despite what Kit had said. Ribs were a much better option all around.

Shikamaru paced for a while, his chakra rolling around like waves in the ocean, but since he didn't say anything else she didn't pay it any mind. She did note that he left at some point, instructing Rikumaru to keep an eye on her, which the deer acknowledged with a flick of it's ear that could have meant anything or nothing at all.

The next time Chikako payed attention to her surroundings was when Shikamaru came back, Naruto in tow.

"Uhm, Chikako-chan?" The blond asked hesitantly, as if she might run off if he made any loud noises. She didn't look up until she'd finished the seal she'd been working on, only then realizing that there were streaks of ink all over her hands and arms, her face too most likely.

"I'm not changing my mind."

He scratched the back of his head, grinning a little sheepish.

"I was just gonna ask if you wanted to come eat some ramen at old man Ichiraku's?"

She blinked at him, confused by the question, then glanced over at Shikamaru, who stood slightly behind the blond, arms crossed.

"If you insist on torturing yourself, at least try not to skip meals," he told her in a tone that heavily implied getting Naruto had been the nice option and she didn't want to know what would happen if she refused. He probably had a point too. Chikako couldn't even remember what she'd eaten last, only that it had definitely not been within the past twenty-four hours.

Still, she was suspicious.

"That's it?"

"I'll take what I can get for the moment. Now go eat something."

"You're not coming?"

He shrugged.

"It's almost eleven. I've had three meals while you were glued to that stump and refused to move."

"Oh, well, goodnight then I guess."

Shikamaru huffed a laugh, shaking his head at how utterly distracted she was. In her defense, the experiments had been very promising. The pig bones she'd used for testing lacked potency, but she'd compared pig's blood with her own and if the difference was roughly proportional her ribs would do the job just fine.

Thanks to the Nara, getting the plant matter into a usable state had also worked out, meaning she finally had her five types of ink. Or at least she would, as soon as she convinced Tsunade to operate out her two lowest ribs.

. . .

Eating with Naruto was a surprisingly quiet affair. He talked the whole time of course, barely letting two bites of food pass his mouth without saying something, but there were no shouts of boisterous laughter or loud exclamations of triumph or confusion. He seemed rather introspective in fact, recounting memories of their time as Team 7 or telling her stories about his travels with Jiraiya.

With anyone else Chikako would have assumed it was a sign of growing up, but with Naruto it worried her. He looked older than when she'd left the village, but his hair was still a spiky, golden mess. His eyes were still huge and blue as the summer sky, filled with warmth and wonder despite everything he'd seen and learned over the years.

He was impossibly annoying at times and idealistic to a fault, but the day Naruto Uzumaki lost his spark would be a very depressing one indeed.

"Do you think we'll get Sasuke back?" He asked after his third bowl of ramen. Chikako had just managed to empty her first and order a second.

"You might," she said, carefully choosing her words, but of course her former teammate was always especially observant when it was least convenient.

"You don't want him home?" Naruto asked, looking at her with those wide, blue eyes. She'd hoped he'd misunderstand, had formulated in a way that could mean he was the only one able to get Sasuke back. No such luck.

"It's been nearly three years. Either the snake will take over his body or he'll kill Orochimaru and then go after his brother, in which case I will murder him. Well, unless he manages to take me out instead. Then you might be able to convince him to come home."

"Don't say that!" Naruto bristled, raising his voice for the first time that night. "We're supposed to be a team. That means we don't turn on each other."

Chikako left her second bowl half-finished as she got up, put enough money on the counter to cover both of them and then turned to go.

"This was always going to happen Naruto. His purpose in life is to avenge his family and mine is to protect my friends. There's no middle ground here."

"I'll make it right," the blond vowed as she walked away. "I'll bring both of you home."

It was a nice idea, but she didn't think it was going to happen. Unlike Naruto, Chikako didn't believe in good prevailing over everything else. She didn't think people were fundamentally nice and friendly and helpful at heart.

Sasuke used to be her teammate and even if she didn't exactly like him as a person, he could be good company. They might have become really good friends if things had been different, but as it was they hadn't known each other for long and neither was likely to change their mind about Itachi.

. . .

The next morning Chikako tried to get an appointment to see the Hokage, then snuck into the office early instead, after being told by a surly desk chunin that she'd have to wait at least two days for an open spot.

The place looked much the same as last time. Stacks of papers everywhere and a few empty and not so empty bottles of sake hidden between them. Chikako was pretty sure one of the shelves had been replaced though and there were two spots on the walls that still needed to be painted once the fresh plaster had dried. Made her wonder whether there would be more patched holes than original wall once Tsunade was out of office.

"Absolutely not!" The Godaime shouted once Chikako had explained her request. The woman's glare was furious, which wasn't surprising considering that she'd already been angry that her office had been broken into. It wasn't particularly impressive though, mostly because she looked extremely hungover. Also, as long as no furniture was being destroyed or got thrown at people's heads she couldn't be that mad.

"Why?"

"Because that's a ludicrous thing to ask and I won't help you mutilate yourself without even knowing the reason."

Chikako frowned at her.

"I think mutilation is a little harsh, especially considering that they'll probably grow back within a few months. I'd do it myself, but reaching those ribs without help is kind of hard and I'd probably end up doing a whole lot of unnecessary damage."

"Do I look like Orochimaru to you?" The Godaime snarled. "Give me one good reason to operate on a perfectly healthy person."

"I asked nicely?"

Tsunade crossed her arms and continued to glare at Chikako, not at all convinced that rather flimsy argument. In fact she looked as if she was contemplating throwing her into a cell, probably chained to the wall or wrapped up in one of those jackets that restricted movement to prevent self-harm.

Chikako sighed, loudly, and leaned back in her chair.

"Fine, I need bone as an ingredient for sealing ink and when it comes to blood that of the user is always far more potent than anyone else's, so I'm assuming the same is true for bone. I could hack off a finger or something, but as I said I'm not sure exactly whether that would grow back and how long it would take, so I'd rather not mutilate myself as you put it. The two lowest ribs wouldn't be much off a loss in any case."

"Human's cannot grow back bones," Tsunade said flatly, prompting Chikako to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Stop fishing. You know about my eyes and I'm not telling you anything else. Now I want you to do this because you are the best, but if you won't I'll wave money at civilian doctors until I find one willing to do the job."

"I want something in return."

Of course she did. Chikako had never expected the Godaime would just agree to help, so she merely looked at the woman expectantly.

"Make Momochi agree to an alliance. Having Suna allied to both villages, while Konoha and Kiri can potentially become enemies is not a sustainable situation."

"Not happening."

"Excuse me?" Tsunade sounded almost outraged, as if she'd no more anticipated a flat out refusal than Chikako had the request.

"I mean I'm not in charge so feel free to propose an alliance to Zabuza, but chances are he won't even consider it unless the negotiations involve you getting rid of Danzo and probably the other two geezers you call your council as well."

There was a crack as the armrest of Tsunade's chair gave out under the force she was gripping it with. It didn't completely break, but two gashes ran the length of the wood. It would no doubt split the rest of the way if she tried to put some weight on it.

"So what you're saying is that you poisoned the Mizukage against your home?"

"To be fair," Chikako said, enjoying the woman's pissed off mood far too much for someone who was asking for help, "I do actually have a room in Kiri. Also, Zabuza isn't an idiot and Mist doesn't need any allies. Suna was convenient, because Gaara and I are friends, but he didn't particularly care about those negotiations and he's never thought much of Leaf nin regardless."

"Kiri doesn't need allies?" The Godaime repeated, blinking owlishly. Chikako shrugged, smiling in a way that said nothing at all.

"Yagura's isolationist policies have ensured that the Mist has neither close friends nor bitter enemies and Zabuza has no intention of starting a war anytime soon. No one has enough information to even make an educated guess as to how they'd fare in combat against Kiri, especially now that it is allied with Suna. Geographically Lightning and Fire are the only countries that could reasonably attack and not only does neither have a reason to, you'd also be at a massive disadvantage, because of the ocean. So yes, Kiri doesn't need allies."

"Did you know what councilman Danzo was planning when you agreed to help him?" Tsunade suddenly asked, throwing Chikako off with the change in topic.

"What? No, of course not. I thought he was going to try to recruit me or have me killed."

"You don't seem to value your health very much," the Godaime observed, flipping through a file that Chikako began to suspect was her own. "Any suicidal thoughts? Depression? Anxieties?"

"No, no and nothing I can't handle. Does this mean you're going to operate?"

"Yes, but in turn I want your help with a seal. Jiraiya says he doesn't have the necessary control to undo it, but you might."

Great, so much for not letting the Hokage fish for information. What she'd said about Kiri wasn't secret, but it was still more than Tsunade had known for certain. Worse, because she'd taken the demand seriously she'd confirmed that Zabuza did actually listen to her advice.

Chikako scrunched up her nose at the smug look on the Godaime's face, but held out a hand anyway.

"Deal."

. . .

The seal, as it turned out, was the very one Danzo used to keep his operatives quiet. Well, mostly at least. Apparently additions had been made since Sai had defected, or maybe there had always been different variations. In any case, this one seemed to focus far more on control.

Chikako deactivated her chakra sight, handing the ostensibly empty piece of paper she'd held back to Tsunade. She couldn't interpret more than the basics of what that seal could supposedly do, so Jiraiya's notes were all she had to go on.

The Sannin had come to the conclusion that any order Danzo gave had to be obeyed to the best of the operative's understanding. Which, if it was true, would mean that even if the councilman formulated his command badly, as long as the operatives knew what he'd really meant they'd still not be able to use it against him.

Jiraiya also suspected that the seal stimulated the brain to release endorphins whenever an order was obeyed, creating a connection between happiness and subservience to Danzo. To Chikako that positively reeked of Orochimaru, a conclusion the sealmaster and Tsunade had also come to. It was hard to tell if or how involved the snake really was, but he certainly had the skills to come up with something like that and he'd probably take any chance to undermine the Hokage.

There were several other intricacies, fail-safe redundancies and the like. At least three triggers that would cause brain death if tripped and even one array that Jiraiya hadn't understood himself - hadn't even been able to guess at in fact.

"There's a pretty good chance I'll kill him if I try removing this," Chikako said, looking around the small concrete room the Godaime had led her to. The man in front of her, chained to the ground, table and even his chair didn't react to that prognosis. She'd say he looked resigned after having spent who knew how long in the deepest levels of T&I, but since he was ROOT that might just be the way he always looked.

"If you want my help you'll do your best not to," Tsunade commanded, as if she'd be able to tell the difference. Chikako was pretty sure she could just stand around for a while before liquefying the man's brain with her chakra and the woman would never find out.

Instead of voicing her thoughts though, she walked up to him and positioned herself at his back, placing a hand on either side of his jaw. Directly touching the seal would have made her job easier, but she didn't want her fingers in his mouth while she worked.

"Say something you aren't supposed to," Chikako instructed on a whim, reactivating her chakra sight. Of course he remained quiet, lowering his chances of survival by at least fifty percent. If she couldn't see the seal in action she'd have to guess at the correct order to trace it in reverse, which was fine with inanimate objects, but would cause a lot of pain for a human.

He convulsed at her first wrong start, again after the second and by the third he'd cracked a tooth from clenching his jaw too hard. Tsunade watched the whole thing with a grim expression on her face, clearly not enjoying a second of it, but not stopping it either. Chikako, for her part, was mostly annoyed.

"You realize that cooperating would make this a whole lot less agonizing for you?"

He turned his head as far in her direction as it would go and spat. The saliva didn't come anywhere near her, but he'd made his point. Either Tsunade had managed to capture the one ROOT agent who didn't need any help to keep his mouth shut, or this version of the seal inspired loyalty via endorphins were Danzo could not.

"Have it your way then," she told him and tried pushing her chakra through the seal again. She got farther than on any of the previous attempts, but just when she thought she'd finally found the correct order something that really shouldn't have shifted did just that, pulling her chakra through a path adjacent to the one she'd intended it to go.

Energy raced back towards her, zapping her hands like electric currents. Chikako instinctively drew back, but the damage was already done. She grimaced at the way her fingers twitched with involuntary muscle spasms. Not only did it hurt like a bitch, if she'd been most anyone else she'd probably have ended up with permanent nerve damage.

Tsunade stepped forward, giving Chikako a cursory glance, but her attention was on the ROOT operative. The inspection didn't take long. Her mouth twisted in distaste and she declared him dead, then she turned to Chikako.

"Can you continue?"

"Not on a corpse. Far as I can tell and judging by Jiraiya's notes the triggers as well as some of the functionality are directly tied to the nervous system, so-"

"Bring the next one," Tsunade called towards the door, interrupting the explanation halfway through.

There was some shuffling in the corridor. Seconds later the heavy, metal door swung open, silent on well oiled hinges. Raccoon stepped in behind an older woman. Bat followed right on his heels.

The female Hyuga freed the dead ROOT agent from his chains, dragged him out of the room and then handed him over to someone else before returning. Meanwhile Raccoon pushed the woman onto the chair, holding her in place until Bat had chained her up the same way as the previous occupant. That done they both nodded at the Godaime and left without ever saying a word.

Chikako eyed the woman curiously.

"How many of these do you have?"

"They are people," Tsunade ground out, apparently taking offense to her tone.

Chikako shrugged at her. Orochimaru was a person too, didn't mean she had to have any sympathy for him. Also, thinking of someone she was most likely about to kill, whether it be on purpose or not, as a living, breathing person with hopes and dreams didn't seem like a smart idea in any case.

"Sure, whatever. How many?"

"Not enough for you to keep failing."

That drew a snort from Chikako. Tsunade was free to try herself if she thought she could do a better job. She didn't say that either though. The Hokage was already mad and there wasn't much room to dodge in the tiny interrogation room.

"Be a dear and say something you're not supposed to share," she repeated her earlier isntruction. There was a rattling cough and Tsunade's chakra hitched in response, but Chikako was too distracted by the way the seal flared up to pay either any mind.

Energy curled through it from three sides, snaking inwards in coils that wound around each other before combining at the center. There they split again, only into two streams this time. One spiraled outwards in clockwise direction, while the other completed the path in reverse. In the end both terminated in the part of the seal that Jiraiya hadn't been able to interpret, and now Chikako knew why.

The Sannin had expected a working seal, but that last array was - most likely deliberately - left unfinished and half-broken. It was a little like free hanging wires, harmless right up until they were flooded by energy and then they suddenly became deadly.

If the seal was activated as it was supposed to be the amount of chakra flowing through that part was small enough that it only caused the muscles at the back of the throat to spasm, thereby preventing the operative from speaking. When she'd tripped one of the triggers earlier though far more energy had been involved and the backlash had killed the first guy.

"Well, I think you just saved your life," Chikako informed the old woman. There was no way she would have thought to try activating three different parts of the seal simultaneously without that demonstration.

The woman made a noise that could have been anything from a scoff to a laugh. She remained perfectly still when Chikako placed her hands on her jaw, seemed almost relaxed really.

Tsunade took half a step forward.

"Be careful, there is no one else." The Godaime sounded nervous and Chikako could tell by the way her chakra moved in restless circles that she wanted to do something. Anything probably. Were those two friends? That would explain why the old woman was willing to cooperate. She looked far better than the other guy had too. Cleaner, well fed and without so much as a bruise on her pale skin.

Maybe she'd been treated the way Chikako had been when she was younger. T&I had rooms with actual beds for a reason and Ibiki knew exactly when the carrot was more effective than the stick.

"Give me some space," Chikako muttered. She needed to concentrate if she was going to get this right and Tsunade's hovering didn't help.

The Hokage hesitated for a moment, but then she not only left the room but also commanded the ANBU outside to back up a little.

Chikako felt more at ease immediately, only now realizing that Raccoon had drenched the whole place in low-key killing intent. Fucking asshole.

"He doesn't like me very much," the woman said idly, probably also having sensed the change. Her voice was quiet, but it sounded strong and pleasantly melodic. "I killed his wife and children you see."

"I ... okay?"

She chuckled, ignoring Chikako's confusion as she went on.

"It was war of course and I believed in the cause. I was an original member of," she frowned in annoyance, rattled her chains, "well, you know what I'm talking about. I've changed my mind since, but spending two decades undercover takes a toll and anyway Hyuga never forget a slight, real or imagined."

Chikako blinked at her. She'd killed a lot of people for reasons as innocuous as bad timing, but even she wouldn't call murder a slight.

"Will you stop babbling?" She snapped. "I'm trying to work here."

The woman quietly laughed in embarrassment, looking contrite, but her chakra remained completely neutral. She was a perfect liar. Her expression seemed genuine down to the slight blush tinging her cheeks pink.

Chikako had no idea whether that woman could feel real emotions, but she could most certainly portray them. Those impressive acting skill also meant believing a word that came out of her mouth was pure folly, but then Tsunade probably knew that. The woman might be in far better shape than the other prisoner had been, but she was also in chains and locked behind a steel door underground.

Either way, Chikako's job was the seal. Nothing else.

She widened her stance a little, squared her shoulders and focused on the task at hand. Thin trails of chakra emanated from her hands until they touched the unfinished array she now knew was the endpoint. The trails wound together like rope, twisting around each other tightly before splitting in two and following the spiral paths backwards to the center. There they curled around one another again, this time splitting into three.

A bead of sweat trickled down Chikako's forehead and she bit her lip in concentration. Holding the whole damn construct stable would have been hard no matter what, but doing it while trying not to irreparably damage the woman's throat or tripping the triggers in the seal was hell.

The woman barely moved, the only indication of how much pain she was in the tight grip she had on the chains wound around her hands. Her breathing was a little shallow as well, but it wasn't unreasonably fast, so Chikako wasn't too worried about her passing out.

The whole process took forever, an hour at least, possibly two. Time was hard to tell with nothing more than the hum of electric lights and the staleness of air to go on.

Relief hit Chikako's system like the first breath of dawn when she was finally done and the seal nothing more than an ugly mark. It took her a few moments longer to realize that the woman had stopped breathing.

"You gotta be kidding me," she growled at no one in particular, turning around to kick the metal door with the help of enough chakra to leave a dent. "Tsunade!"

The bellowed word echoed in the tiny room and judging by the sound of hasty steps it must have been loud enough to be heard several corridors over as well.

Raccoon ripped the door open less than a minute later, only to be shoved to the side by the Hokage herself.

"What happened?"

"Well, it worked. Not sure how much use that's going to be though," Chikako told her, gesturing at the old woman.

Tsunade rushed over immediately, checking pulse and breathing while Bat unchained the woman, likely in preparation for chest compressions. Raccoon on the other hand stayed exactly where he was, blocking the door, which turned out to be a good call.

As soon as the last chain had fallen the woman's eyes snapped open and a massive surge of chakra pulsed through her body. She moved so fast that Chikako lost sight of her for a moment, nearly managing to bowl Raccoon over on her way out. The Hyuga just barely kept a grip on one of her ankles as she attempted to jump over him and both ended up on the floor.

Chikako created two barriers to block off the corridor in either direction and then conjured a dozen smaller ones to pin the woman where she'd landed. Raccoon grunted something that may or may not have meant 'thank you', then gestured for Bat to chain the woman's hands and feet together.

"Are we done here?" Chikako asked, letting the barriers dissolve again and rubbing her fingers to get rid of the last tremors.

"You are," Tsunade confirmed. "Raccoon will get you sometime in the next couple of days, so I can fulfill my end of our deal. Needless to say, this never happened."

. . .

Chikako would swear to her dying day that Shikamaru was an idiot if anyone ever asked her about the surgery, but she wasn't childish enough to lie so blatantly to herself. As was his habit, he'd been right about how painful exactly it would be and her only consolation was that Tsunade had been the only one in the room to witness her squirm against the restrains that had held her in place, while she'd cursed a blue streak. Surprisingly enough the Godaime had too much sympathy to gloat outright, but that didn't keep her from sending a runner to inform everyone Chikako knew in which hospital room she'd ended up.

Ibiki had actually marched in less than twenty minutes later, coat billowing behind him, to inform her in no uncertain terms that she was grounded - for life. Of course instead of arguing that she had already suffered more than enough to not require any further punishment and was still in pain, she'd told him he was being dramatic, which had earned her the evil eye and a lecture on self-preservation.

Hinata's visit hadn't been much better and Kakashi had gone through his whole 'I'm not angry, I'm disappointed' routine without saying a single word in the process. In contrast Naruto had brought her a ton of instant ramen and only eaten half of it while peppering her with questions. He'd even promised to help break her out if she really needed him to, because he knew better than anyone that healing fast did not shorten your hospital sentence.

In contrast Ino's visit had been very short, but not nearly as awkward as it could have been. The girl just inquired about her health and asked whether she needed anything once Chikako assured her that she understood why Ino had complied with the Godaime's orders to root around in her mind.

Choji had accompanied his blond teammate at the time, but stayed behind her to listen quietly. He returned a day later with Shikamaru and a basket of cookies that smelled delicious. Still remained mostly mute though as he watched the Nara grind bone to dust with mortar and pestle while Chikako gave instructions. She also mixed ink and drew seals, because nobody else could do that part, but they wouldn't even let her take notes herself. Doctor's orders or some bullshit.

They also kept grimacing at the ground bone as if it was the most disgusting thing they'd ever seen instead of boring, dry powder. Choji especially had a hard time with that, not that that had any impact on the speed with which he demolished his cookies.

In his defense, they were exceptionally tasty and he frequently handed one over to her. Chikako was just about to take a bite out of the latest, when she felt a tug on the bond and Kit's presence vanished, announcing that he'd gone back to the Void. She assumed the tug meant he wanted to be summoned back right away, so she quickly ate her cookie and then pushed chakra through the tattoo on her arm. It felt a little different than she was used to, easier somehow.

A moment later Kit appeared on the foot of her bed in his semi-human form. A little boy with cute fox ears and tails as well as eyes far too old for his youthful face. His expression was already stormy, but then his gaze snapped to the ink on her arm and it turned positively thunderous.

"You bound my sister!" He snarled at her, putting four very pointy canines on display. His chakra crackled in the air around him and the electricity made his fur stand on end.

Chikako immediately held both hands up in a placating gesture and summoned Sune as well.

"She bound herself and has since refused to talk about it, so don't kill the messenger."

"Bullshit," Kit snapped, but was cut off by his sister before he could really start ranting.

"I'm old enough to make my own decisions," Sune told him, looking like an angry little girl, arms akimbo. "I owed a life debt and unlike a certain tanuki I have honor enough to pay it in full."

"Are you an idiot?" Kit shot back. "This has nothing to do with honor. She never demands Jiro pay his debts, because they are friends. You just made yourself a slave to a human for no reason whatsoever."

"You are bound," Sune whined. "She never forces you to do anything either and you can draw directly on her chakra and stay out as long as you want and go as far as you want."

Chikako waved her arms around as much as her aching back would allow, which wasn't much at all, but at least it got the summons' attention.

"She is present and would appreciate not being talked about in third person. Anyone mind explaining what is going on?"

Kit shot her a look, then grabbed both of Sune's shoulders and shoved her backwards. Chakra spread from his hands, enveloping his sister as she tried to regain her balance and a moment later she vanished in a puff of white smoke.

"Did you just force her back to the Void?" Chikako asked perplexed. His answer was an annoyed huff.

"Yes to both questions and she is grounded, so don't summon her again."

"Well, that makes two of us then."

"What the hell did you do now?"

"Eh, nothing much," Chikako started, but didn't get any further because Choji chose that moment to finally say something that involved more than a single syllable.

"She convinced Hokage-sama to remove two of her ribs and is now recovering from surgery." He sounded kind of smug, probably expecting Kit to lecture her or something. The kitsune didn't even look at him though, as if regular humans were beneath his notice. He only raised an eyebrow at Chikako.

"Is that all?"

She shrugged.

"No, I spent a few hours in a low pressure environment without preparation as well, which is a bitch by the way. There was also an incident involving nerve damage. It's all healing nicely though."

"Well, of course it is," Kit sneered. "The ribs will grow back in time, no point whining about that either. You even managed not to call Anwei and end up blind again. I'm almost proud."

"And clearly in a mood."

Kit made a derisive noise, then jumped from the bed and stole a handful of cookies from Choji's basket. Next he grabbed the stack of notes to Shikamaru's right and leafed through them, feigning interest.

"The puppeteer is delighted to do the work you requested and will be in Konoha shortly," Kit informed her. He didn't sound pleased at all. In fact, his tone wouldn't have been out of place if he'd instead been complaining about his pristine white fur being matted with grease and dirt.

"And that's a bad thing how?"

He threw his hands up, letting go of the notes, so that the formerly neat stack ended up as a fluttering mess of loose papers.

"It was too easy! If you send a yokai prince to negotiate there should at least be actual negotiation. I understand that my glory-"

"Whoa, hold up there. Since when are you a prince?"

"That's besides the point. You promised me negotiation human and all I got was a guy with a painted face so eager to do the job that he agreed before I was even done laying out the terms."

Chikako blinked at him, barely stifling a giggle at the theatrics.

"I did no such thing," she said as earnestly as she could manage. "I just wasn't sure whether Kankuro was still angry at me for how the whole thing with Suna and his brother went down."

"Oh please," the kitsune scoffed, but the biting tone was undermined by the fact that he looked like a hamster, mouth full of cookies. "Family always comes first, you know that. The human might have been irate at the time, but you saved him as well as one of his siblings and ensured the other was in power, then left one of your people there as protection and sent more to help rebuild. You naked apes might be simple, but no one is so stupid as to hold a grudge over being helped just because it wasn't in the way they expected."

"Okay then, why is Kankuro coming here?"

"How should I know? I did my job, so if you'll excuse me, I have a foolish little sister to reprimand." Kit snatched another handful of cookies and then he too vanished in a puff of chakra smoke.

Chikako wrinkled her nose at his exit. She'd expected more bragging and fewer insults, but she supposed it didn't matter. He'd done as she'd asked and she hadn't even been lectured for ending up in a hospital bed. Of course that might change as soon as Sune told him about the intruder, but she could just not summon either of them for a while.

She should probably also insist that someone explain this whole bond business to her in detail. With Kit's she'd had to agree to terms, but Sune had created a bond without any input from Chikako. The argument the two kitsune had had sounded as if Sune's bond was payment, which would mean Chikako had no obligations to her because of it.

She found it curious that summoning Kit had been easier though. He'd also immediately known to look at her arm, so he must have felt the change as well. There was definitely more to it than they were telling her. Not to mention the whole prince thing. Had that been a joke or not?

"Chikako?" Choji's question pulled her out of her thoughts and she ducked her head, embarrassed that she'd zoned out.

"What? Sorry, ah and sorry about your cookies as well."

"It's fine. I brought them to share." He smiled at her, holding out another one. "Who was that though?"

"Two of my summons. The female is Sune and the male is Kit. They're not usually ... actually, no, they're always like this."

"Kit-Sune?" Shikamaru asked amused. He'd gathered the papers from the floor and was halfway through sorting them back into an orderly stack of notes.

"Yeah, maybe don't make fun of their names where they can hear though. They like to play with their food and things usually get messy."

"Why am I not surprised that your summons are crazy?"

"Not crazy, just ... eccentric?"

Shikamaru didn't look very impressed with that assessment, but Chikako was in no mood to argue. Instead she leaned back into her pillows and munched on another cookie.

. . .

True to his word, Naruto did help her break out of the hospital two days later. It wasn't that she couldn't have vanished on her own, but suddenly disappearing would have been too obvious and the blond made for a fantastic distraction.

While he kept the hospital staff and anyone trying to visit her busy, Chikako painted the whole five-layered seal on the trunk of a tree deep in the Nara Forest. Rikumaru dutifully accompanied her, keeping watch as she worked and occasionally snorted when she asked him a question or complained about how hard it was to correctly draw the seal on bark. She still had no idea how to properly interpret his body language, but she appreciated his company regardless.

Even with all the practice she'd gotten since starting her experiments, drawing the whole seal took hours. That the nerve damage in her hands hadn't completely healed yet didn't help either, but at least by now the tremors were few and far between. They thankfully also weren't bad enough to impact her work. She almost wished they had been though when she activated the seal.

As predicted, with the five different layers of ink, it remained stable and didn't burn away. The problem was that the tree didn't survive the test. With all the chakra conductive materials in the ink, her seal pulled so much energy that the wood cracked and splintered, half-singed and half-petrified.

Rikumaru gave the result a sniff and then looked at her in what might very well have been the deer version of a glare. He didn't throw her out of the forest though and, just like last time, helped hide the evidence. In this case that meant he dug holes while she felled and chopped up the tree with her swords. Afterwards they stuffed the holes full of the damaged wood before closing them up again and and throwing dead leaves all around the scene of the crime to hide the evidence.

"Well, that could have gone better," Chikako commented, wiping her forehead and likely smearing dirt all over her face.

Rikumaru snorted in agreement and then led her back in the direction they'd come from.

. . .

Chikako spent the next four days adjusting the seal. Inspired by the one Danzo used on his operatives, she added a myriad of redundancies and paths that could split and reconnect in multiple places. In theory those changes would allow her to regulate the amount of energy that could flow through the seal at any given time.

The next test, for which Naruto again provided the distraction, only melted the tree's bark instead of killing the whole thing. Not that Rikumaru thought that was any better. The deer didn't have any appreciation for delicate sealwork.

Test number three left no mark on the wood once she'd washed the ink off, but the dead pig she tested it on next ended up mildly cooked. Rikumaru, as it turned out, was strictly against burying pig carcasses in the forest, so she had to make a detour through the Forty-Fourth Training Ground to feed it to a tiger before she could sneak back into her hospital bed.

Kakashi didn't even look up from his book when she entered through the window Naruto had left open for exactly that purpose, but his chakra danced in amusement.

Dead pig number two looked pristine even after having been under the effect of her seal for half an hour, but she tried with a third one just in case before testing it out on a live animal.

Pig four enjoyed getting drawn on with sealing ink. Mostly, Chikako suspected, because she'd bribed it with fresh apples the whole time. It squeaked in alarm when she activated the seal, but seemed fine otherwise and got back to eating apples after about ten minutes or so.

She did note that it's skin turned a little red around the ink after a while though, and ended the experiment prematurely. The pig didn't seem particularly bothered, neither before nor after she washed it clean and Hana Inuzuka, the veterinarian she brought it to, informed her that it merely had a mild case of sunburn but was otherwise healthy.

That effectively concluded her pig experiments, but left her with the task of finding a new home for Number Four. Chikako felt that he deserved some credit for helping out and ending up as bacon on someone's plate seemed rather ungrateful, which made the search significantly harder.

Naruto offered to help with that task as well, but he was too trusting and almost handed the pig over to Kiba. The Inuzuka were very good with dogs, but Chikako had already asked Hana about taking in the animal and been informed that it wouldn't last a week among the clan of enthusiastic meat eaters.

Kiba had of course claimed the opposite and Naruto had believed him without question. Once he'd learned the truth though, namely that when Kiba said he loved pigs, he meant he loved eating them, Naruto got rather paranoid. He actually interrogated several farmers about pig health and safety, which got them a not so friendly invitation to the Hokage's office, where they were scolded like little children.

Weirdly enough Tsunade didn't seem all that upset with them annoying the farmers. In fact, she actually commended Naruto on being thorough before she threw a paperweight at his head. Chikako only got a glare, but her hospital sentence was upped by another two days. Which was probably fair, because she'd completely forgotten that the Godaime already had a little pet pig and should have been the first person to ask, so maybe she did need the rest.


	80. XVII - Like Minds and Minds Alike

**A/N:**

 **WARNING:** This chapter ends on a cliffhanger and since I may not have access to a computer/internet for the next 2-3 weeks you might not want to read it until the next chapter has been posted.

 _Gremlin Jack_

Thank you. May Number Four live long and prosperous.

 _Articfox2_

Thanks, although there is probably less planning involved than you think. Mostly there are a few specific things I want to happen and I try to draw logical connections between those event, which at times results in chapters that turn out entirely different than I initially thought they would.

 _kisskisskill_

Thank you. You're right, timeline wise we are close to Pain's attack in cannon. 'Fraid that's all I can say on the matter without spoiling anything though.

 _Peruna_

I kind of regret not having named the pig Mr. Piglington (don't ask me why, I have no idea). As for the seals, I usually get so hung up on how magic systems in fantasy work that I get really annoyed when there are no rules at all. Of course on the other hand I'm afraid to just throw a million rules into a chapter like a huge info dump, so it's fantastic to read that someone enjoys the seals.

The closest real world equivalent I can think of would be either logic circuits (you know with things like 'and', 'or', etc.) or an actual programming language.

 _Kushina101_

Thanks. Pigs are fairly similar too humans in many ways. For example both are omnivores and the fat distribution in a pig's body is comparable to that in a human. Accordingly test results (medical research) can be translated from one to the other. Obviously there are some major differences as well, seeing as we're talking about two different species and all, but in general the effects something has on a pig will give you a good idea of those it will have on a human.

 _Risika42tg_

Thank you.

. . .

 **XVII - Like Minds and Minds Alike**

Chikako's plan had been to get what she needed in Konoha and then travel to Suna. That would have kept her busy. Would have meant her stay in Leaf would have been much shorter too. She'd never intended to remain for more than a month at worst. Her unplanned sleepovers in the hospital had already cost her too much time, but now she suddenly had nothing to do but wait for Kankuro to arrive and she was itching to move, travel, hunt.

Despite how painful surgery had been, Tsunade had done a marvelous job and Chikako's wounds weren't much more than faint red spots and a dull ache in her bones that was barely noticeable at this point. Not that any of the medics cared. She was supposed to spend another week in her hospital room, for observation or some such bullshit.

Since she was more or less healed up she could just leave, only she had absolutely no reason to other than disliking hospitals. Hinata wouldn't let her anywhere near the garden until Chikako was cleared for active duty and while it was kind of relaxing, gardening was also very boring, so that wasn't on the top of her priority list regardless. There was no way Ibiki would give her a task either and she really didn't want to accidentally remind him that he'd grounded her. Knowing him he might very well come up with an idea to effectively lock her up if she didn't play nice and that was the last thing Chikako needed.

The same was probably true for Naruto as well. Tsunade had played his protective instincts masterfully, making it seem as if he'd endangered Chikako by granting her a few hours of freedom. She snorted, remembering his horrified look. The moron had actually apologized to her, as if her health was in any way his responsibility.

If this visit to Konoha had done anything - besides forcing her to spend far more time than could possibly be healthy in hospital rooms - it was making her aware of how many people actually gave a shit about her, which was heartwarming and all, but at times like this it was also damn inconvenient. She needed a valid excuse to get out of this room, because she would absolutely go mad if she had to stare at the fucking white walls for another seven days. There were nowhere near enough distractions here to help her drown out the buzzing of the intruder's manipulation attempt.

Shikamaru could have probably come up with something, but she already knew that he'd refuse if she asked. In fact, if he hadn't known full well that she'd find a way to do it on her own he most likely wouldn't have assisted with her research after the surgery either.

The only other thing she could think of was rookie ANBU training. Except for Raccoon, everyone seemed to at least tolerate or even welcome her presence. Then again, she wasn't actually needed. There was nothing she could teach them that Kakashi or Cat couldn't and while her sensei loathed hospitals, he had no problem letting her rot away in one.

It was so fucking weird to not have anything to do. In Kiri someone would have snuck past the medics to ask for her help with something after about ten minutes. Zabuza because Kisame didn't even pretend to listen to his orders most of the time, Kisame because he hated dealing with Mei, Mei to complain about her Hunters, one of the Hunter-nin because they needed orders, or really just any random shinobi. In Konoha though, she wasn't part of anything. Just some unimportant chunin.

Chikako winced as resentment bubbled up, sudden and unexpected. It was followed by anger that was equally hollow, but not any weaker for it. Those weren't her emotions, weren't even a reflection at this particular point in time. She didn't resent her friends for wanting her safe and healthy, and she wasn't angry at Tsunade for ordering a hospital stay that was way too long. It wasn't as if she was missing out on anything important. She was merely bored out of her mind and felt strangely useless even though none of the things she was contemplating were news to her.

She'd always just been one of many in Konoha. Not even a prodigy or clan heir, just slightly ahead of the curve because of how she'd grown up and a little different because of her chakra. She was special when compared to a civilian, but in the world of shinobi she was a curiosity at best, especially next to the Copy-Ninja, the wrongly titled last Uchiha or the boisterous, blond troublemaker Naruto, who was not only well known for his pranks, but also a jinchuriki as well as the Yondaime's son and had been one of the Sandaime's favorites. Besides that, he was also apparently the only person who could get away with calling the Godaime old, and had spent more than two years traveling with Jiraiya.

In that lineup Chikako's status as not-quite-nukenin didn't even warrant mentioning and wearing a Konoha uniform seemed to blind most people to her tattoos. Well, that or Leaf shinobi didn't think much of studying Bingo Books. Either way, ANBU, who were notoriously bad conversationalists, were the only people that sometimes recognized her as Wraith and anybody else just saw a random girl.

She'd expected to miss Kiri for many reasons, but not for standing out. She was an assassin after all, meant to do her best work from the shadows. In fact, she usually got annoyed that seemingly everyone in Kiri knew who she was, or at least thought they did. Being recognized was something that fit far better with Naruto's goal of becoming Hokage than it did with hers. The only time Chikako ever wanted to be identified on sight was when she planned to intimidate someone.

Well, at least that was how it used to be, apparently now it felt weird when strangers treated her like they did everyone else. The medic that, rather unnecessarily, changed her bandages once a day barely looked at her face as he worked. Not out of fear, but because he simply didn't care. He asked how she was because that was policy, had no desire to hear her say anything other than 'fine' or nothing at all.

The nurses that brought her food and changed the sheets were the same. They weren't rude or anything, just efficient. She was merely another patient and while they'd most likely do whatever it took to keep her alive, none of them cared about her personally. If they knew her name at all it was because it was scrawled on a piece of paper listing the reason for her stay.

It took Chikako a ridiculous amount of time to figure out that she was lonely, which was ludicrous to say the least. A minimum of two different people came to visit her every day. It wasn't just those five-minute visits to make sure she was still alive either. Shikamaru and Hinata both took hours out of their days with the sole purpose of keeping her entertained.

There were also her two guards, one of whom was right outside of the room at all times. If anything she should want a little space, time for herself. In reality though she welcomed anyone who stepped through that plain, white door into her plain, white room and brought a little speck of color with them. Bonus points if they carried smells that didn't belong in the hospital or were willing to share news of the outside world. Double bonus points if they brought edible food.

Chikako was used to eating whatever was available while she traveled, but hospital food, no matter what it was supposed to be, always tasted like soggy cardboard and had the consistency of old leather.

 _If you're that miserable, just leave_ , a voice said and Chikako answered without even thinking about it, informing it that she could not, in fact, do that unless she found a viable excuse that would hold up in a court with Ibiki as judge, jury and possibly executioner.

A heartbeat later she sat bolt upright, eyes bleeding to full black and wildly scanning the room for anyone hidden from her other senses. It was just her though, as she'd know it would be, because she hadn't actually heard the voice. The words hadn't been spoken out loud, they'd drifted through her mind the same way as they did when Kit used his telepathy genjutsu trick.

She'd recognized it too. The same playful, friendly tenor that had so casually implied Shikamaru's death if she failed to cooperate.

 _We could play another game_ , it suggested, as if in answer to her thoughts. This time she kept her mouth shut, lips pressed into a thin line and eyes trained on the white walls. She tried to blank her mind, unsure whether he could read it. Not an easy task, with disjointed images of red, black and white trying to gain her attention.

The voice didn't seem to care one way or another. She could hear the faint echoes of chuckling, then feel the distant sensation of someone else shrugging. It was intimate in a way and at the same time removed so far as to be surreal. Just enough space between them that she only felt alarmed, but not threatened. As if he was in her mind again, yet not.

Was it a real connection or just aftereffects of what he'd done? A lingering genjutsu maybe?

 _We could be friends you know?_ The voice purred. _I'll even ensure nobody spills blood before you come home._

She clenched her hands into fists, nails digging into her skin, very nearly breaking it. If ignoring him didn't work, maybe force would. Chakra coiled in her gut, twisting, winding snakes waiting to strike and then it washed through her body like a tidal wave.

Chikako gasped at the stinging pain as it burned her from the inside out, but her lips curled into a smirk. Her mind was her own again, at least for the time being. If her natural defenses and earlier attempts hadn't unraveled his genjutsu yet, then this wouldn't have either. And if he was actually still around, well then hearing a voice was probably the least of her problems. Or maybe she was going mad after all. That might actually not be the worst possibility all things considered.

She didn't believe for a second that he wanted to be friends, had seen a glimpse of the creature that lurked behind his friendly act and that stupid orange mask. For some reason he wanted her on his side or maybe it was just a game to pass the time. Whatever the case, his words had struck a nerve and now the panic she hadn't felt earlier made itself known.

What the hell had he meant when he'd referred to her coming home? Sasuke's house where he'd ripped her out of her sleep? Or maybe Kiri? At the moment he was her prime suspect when it came to the genjutsu the Sanbi had been under. If it really had been under one that was.

More importantly, what the hell would happen once she got home? If it involved spilling blood it couldn't possibly be good. And who was everyone? Her friends or more S-rank nukenin?

Suddenly the hospital room seemed like the perfect place for her to be. Far away from everything that might be construed as 'home'.

. . .

"Bat?" Chikako called once she was sure that Raccoon was out of hearing range. The woman was much friendlier and far more inclined to be helpful than her older colleague. She was also surprisingly non-confrontational for an ANBU, not that that said anything about her skills as a fighter.

Bat opened the door a moment later, just barely sticking her head into the room, and waited.

"I need a book about rope making," Chikako informed her. Raccoon would have told her that that wasn't his problem and shut the door, but Bat merely canted her head sideways, silently inquiring whether that was all. When Chikako nodded she stepped back, closed the door without a sound and produced a Shadow Clone. It ran off in the general direction of the library and returned with three books. One about natural and synthetic fibers, which was pretty thin, a thicker one that contained traditional methods as well as a number of sketches to make twisted, braided and plated rope and a third that, at first glance, seemed to be a history book about the evolution of machinery, which happened to use rope making as one of its examples for how technological progress had made life easier.

The clone put the books down on the bed and then poofed out of existence before Chikako got a chance to thank it, so she shouted through the door instead. Predictably Bat didn't react, but her chakra did hum a little. Obedience was expected of ANBU and Hyuga both and since she was more than likely from the branch house she probably didn't get thanked often.

Chikako made a point of being polite to the female ANBU after that, greeting her, saying please when she needed something and expressing gratitude when she got it. Just simple things she usually half-assed or outright didn't do. It was definitely manipulative and for entirely selfish reasons too, because she asked for quite a few more books in the following hours and days, but she figured she wasn't hurting anyone. Bat wasn't paying for anything after all and she seemed quite pleased with herself whenever she managed to anticipate Chikako's next request, including books with similar knowledge used in a different context or ones that contained interesting information on related topics.

In the end Chikako had enough books to build a fort, which she did out of sheer boredom. The medics and nurses didn't seem too happy with her creative redecorating efforts, but since Kakashi had casually mentioned that, as her sensei, he was very disappointed in her adherence to hospital etiquette while a nurse was about to reprimand her, they seemed to have decided it wasn't worth the potential trouble. That was incidentally also his last visit, either because he'd been banned for scaring the staff or because he'd decided he'd done his duty and was no longer responsible for her sanity.

Maybe she should have tried bargaining no visits at all in exchange for freedom. He probably wouldn't have gone head to head with Tsunade just because she'd been bored though. Then again, he might have, had he known what would happen instead.

Initially Chikako had just been planning to keep her mind busy, so as to distract herself from the masked man's voice. She still had no idea how he did it, whether what he said were predetermined statements, part of the genjutsu and triggered by her thoughts, or whether he was still around. For all she knew it could be something entirely different. Whatever the case though, working on something kept him quiet and nobody questioned a shinobi doing research on their safety measures, so she could be as paranoid as she wanted to be without raising suspicion.

Despite her original reasons for starting this new project, it had also turned out to be quite interesting. She'd only meant to keep her mind occupied, maybe improve on her chakra net in the process. The strings she'd been using so far really weren't strings at all. They were merely very long, very thin wards without any elastic properties. Calling them chakra rods would have probably been more accurate, seeing as they didn't bend in the slightest.

In fact, none of her constructs did. They all behaved like ice, either breaking or dissolving if they couldn't withstand an attack. She knew that it was possible to make ones that could bend and stretch though. The chakra strings that puppeteers used acted almost the same as any regular rope would, which was why she'd started with the theory of rope making.

Her first attempts looked really good, provided looking was all one tried to do. They were also hard as rocks - well, or glass, depending on how much chakra she used. She attempted to make the individual strings thinner at first. until they felt more like paper. They even bent a little before they ripped, but twisting them into thicker ropes didn't work at all.

Next she tried forming them solid and then keeping the chakra flow variable, so that she could fix a tear as soon as it appeared. That actually looked almost right, if slightly stiff. The problem was that it required a lot of chakra and concentration. It also didn't always behave in predictable ways, often forming angles instead of curves or simply folding over.

Five days into her prolonged confinement to the hospital room Shikamaru found her after one of her more spectacular failures, right in the middle of a shouting match with Raccoon. The Hyuga did not approve of her book fortress and he approved even less of the way she threw chakra around constantly, apparently it gave him a headache. More likely he was trying to snoop and the bright flashes of chakra she pulsed in reaction to him activating his Byakugan were the problem. Admittedly there was also the possibility that he was simply trying to do his job and she was being a major pain in the ass for no good reason whatsoever, but she really didn't care.

"Clean this mess up. This is a hospital, not your personal workstation," the ANBU growled.

"Leave me the hell alone. Your job is to stand in front of the door and keep people out, not give lectures," Chikako snarled right back. This wasn't the first time they'd had this particular argument and it most likely wouldn't be the last. The Hyuga had somehow gotten it into his head to teach her manners or some bullshit. He snapped at her every goddamned time she didn't use the proper honorifics, which was all the time really, also when she ignored the perfunctory greetings of hospital staff and for just about everything else she did or didn't do.

"Were you raised by wolves? This is common courtesy."

"Fuck you asshole, you know damn well who raised me and unless you want me to share some of those lessons you keep your damn mouth shut." She didn't raise her voice, but her tone was cold and sharp enough to cut. It effectively kept Shikamaru from actually entering the room, but Raccoon didn't care at all. He took a step closer, bathing her in a healthy dose of potent killing intent. It crept in like smoke, thick and suffocating. If he'd expected her to back down that easily though he was sorely mistaken.

"Share away," he invited. The challenge hung in the air for a heartbeat, just long enough for the meaning to register and then Chikako moved.

She was behind him before he got the chance to regret opening his mouth. Her palm hit him in the back, right over his left kidney, but she refrained from using any chakra. It would still bruise though, and so would her shoulder where his elbow collided with it.

He tried to kick her in the side next, but she was gone before his foot made contact, turning the tables on him instead. Since all of his weight was balanced on one leg, she kicked the back of his knee hard enough to force the joint to bend. If she'd aimed for the side she would have dislocated it, instead he just had to throw his arms up to protect his head from colliding with the wall.

Chikako grabbed his throat, spun him around and slammed his back into the door frame. Her own chakra spread out, a fine mist neutralizing his killing intent.

"Appreciate the offer," she told him with an arrogant smirk, "but fighting you isn't actually a challenge for me. I could kill you every time I touch you and unless you've been holding back, you have nothing in your skillset to keep me at range. Not that that would help you."

"Didn't seem to bother you last time," he grunted, tapping her arm twice to indicate that he gave up. She loosened her grip on his neck and stepped back, crossed her arms defensively.

"Last time wasn't a spar."

"I remember. So if it isn't that, what the hell is wrong with you this time?"

Her eyes fixed on him, searching, but the mask hid his face and all she could read from his posture were pain and annoyance. His tone had been gruff, definitely not friendly, but unlike the medics he almost sounded as if the answer mattered.

"Careful or I might start to think you actually care," she warned, brushing the question off. His chakra spiked in irritation when she nodded towards the door, blatantly dismissing him, he left without another word though. He'd probably get her back for that later, but for now his job was to protect her.

"Getting cabin fever?" Shikamaru asked, shutting the door behind himself as he passed the Hyuga. He sounded amused, but his expression was also sympathetic so she quashed the urge to lash out at him as well. He had come to keep her company after all, even if it was in the form of beating her at shogi.

She'd long given up on trying to win. At this point her only goal was to make him pay for every piece he took from her. So while she still lost every round, she usually was left with more pieces, which was victory of a different kind. At least it would have been on a real battlefield.

If you can't outright beat your enemy, make them question whether victory is really worth the price. If you can't destroy the army, break its spirit and grind its morale to dust.

Her mind itched every time she acted on those rules, sacrificed one of her own pieces to maximize casualties. The strategy sounded reasonable, but she had to wonder if that wasn't more the intruder's kind of logic than hers. Chikako would put her own life on the line whenever necessary, but she was more careful with those of her friends and allies, whereas the masked man didn't even seem to understand the concept. As far as he was concerned friends were the people in the best position to betray you. He wasn't wrong, but at the same time he disregarded that they were also the ones in the best position to watch your back. Most certainly not pawns to be thrown into the fire for the sole purpose of causing pain, even the strategic kind.

"I don't like the way you play," Shikamaru told her after the third game, clearing the board to reset the pieces. He placed them in their correct spots with quiet clacks, not looking in her direction even though that was clearly where his attention was focused.

"I'll admit it doesn't make a lot of sense for this game, but I can't help wondering if it wouldn't be a valid tactic on the battlefield," she confessed, feeling inexplicably guilty even as the words left her mouth. "I also keep wondering how much control he really had when he pushed his thoughts into my mind. Either it's all part of whatever he tried to do and he's even more dangerous than I think, or he fucked up."

"What do you mean? It's clearly affecting you, even if he likely didn't think you'd be able to resist at all."

She leaned back, fingers curled around one of the pawns. It had a different texture than the one on her necklace, simple wood instead of polished deer antlers.

"Means I know him now. Got an idea of what he hates and what he's willing to give up to destroy it, how he thinks too. Guy like that isn't loyal to anyone, as dangerous to his allies as he is to his enemies. I'm not sure he even bothers to make the distinction."

"You are not going after him," Shikamaru ordered, immediately catching her train of thought. He put his last piece down much more forcefully than the others and glared at her. Chikako merely smiled in return.

"'course I am. He threatened my family. The second I think I'm strong enough I'll hunt the fucker down and tear him limb from limb."

"He toyed with you, beat you without even having to try and then let you live just because he could," the Nara insisted. She shrugged, still wearing that smile.

"His mistake. I can wait. Haven't gone after Orochimaru or Danzo yet, have I? Killing him myself would be more satisfying, but if I can get someone else to do it I'll be happy with that too."

Shikamaru didn't answer, not with words at least. He played that round differently though, placed all his focus on keeping his pieces safe. Beat her soundly too. It was a devastating loss the likes of which she hadn't suffered in quite some time.

He packed the board away afterwards, but instead of leaving her to stew alone in her thoughts he told her to move over so he could lie down as well. Chikako obliged without question, more than happy to keep him around a little bit longer. She'd thought she'd finally figured out how to make proper chakra ropes that day, but then the whole thing had turned out to be a failure and now she felt like one as well. Chakra manipulation usually came to her so easily, she barely had to think about it anymore. Consequently not being able to understand what the hell she was doing wrong and how to fix it ate away at her confidence.

"You gotta stop thinking so much," Shikamaru told her on a yawn, nudging her knee with his own as he moved around to find a more comfortable position. The bed wasn't really big enough for two people, but she didn't mind sharing it for a while. As she'd noted back in Bird, Shikamaru made for an excellent pillow, so she rolled over onto her stomach and put her head on his shoulder.

"That's rich coming from a Nara."

"Have you tried meditating?"

She had, hadn't worked out too well. The voice hadn't bothered her much, mostly just idle comments here and there that were more or less related to her thoughts. It got more chatty the calmer her mind was though, which meant meditation was to be avoided until further notice.

"I can hear him whisper sometimes. It's worse when there's nothing to drown him out," she said, opening and closing one of the pockets of Shikamaru's flak jacket repeatedly to keep her fingers busy. The quiet clack of the buckle was the only sound for a moment. "It's nothing bad. Least I think it isn't, but then I think I might be wrong and it drives me nuts. I need to be able to trust my own mind and that asshole hasn't just kicked down the door and ransacked the place, he's fucking made himself at home and won't leave."

Her fingers curled into the sturdy fabric of the flak jacket, pulling as if she were trying to rip the pockets off. Chikako didn't even realize until Shikamaru's hand wrapped around hers, stilling it in a silent gesture of comfort.

She hated feeling defenseless and scared. Hated even more that she couldn't help drawing parallels between what the intruder had done to her and what she'd had Sune do to Shikamaru. He shouldn't be here. Shouldn't-

"You're doing it again," the Nara groused, then put the arm that had been trapped between them around her, so she couldn't sit up to get a look at his face.

"Doing what?"

"Thinking. Clearly it's bad for your health. Do you need me to call a nurse?"

Chikako huffed, poked him in the ribs in retaliation for that jibe and a second time after she'd tilted her head upwards and seen the smirk curling the corner of his mouth. He let go of her hand to grab the only pillow, then let it fall on her head, apparently too lazy to throw it properly.

She brushed it off, not caring where it landed as she snuggled a little closer to her friend. His mere presence was calming somehow. He was like shelter in a storm, safe and warm. She didn't like the hint of smoke that mingled with his scent these days, but that was part of him now and if anyone wasn't in a position to throw stones it was her. So instead of complaining about the cigarette he might only have lighted and not even smoked, she said, "I'm sorry."

"Gotta stop doing that too," he told her after a long pause. His voice was quiet, a little rough too and he sounded tired. "You and me both. We do our best, do what we think is right. Mistakes happen, only way to avoid that is to not try at all, so we'll just have to start getting over shit. I don't need an apology. I need you to fucking stop trying to die on me all the time."

Chikako had to giggle at hearing him swear. She didn't even know why, it wasn't like he never did.

"It's getting late, you plan on staying?" It wasn't actually that late yet, but she felt drained and the longer she lay curled into his side the harder it was to keep her eyes open.

"Depends, are you going to quit overthinking everything and let me sleep?"

She hummed something vaguely affirmative, but it was swallowed by a yawn halfway through and Chikako couldn't be arsed to try again.

. . .

She woke in the middle of the night, the feeling of warm, dripping wet blood on her hands. Chikako's eyes flew open, immediately fixing on her fingers, but all she could see was pale skin, not even a hint of crimson.

She blinked, once, twice to clear her vision, rolling onto her back with a groan and nearly falling out of bed. The smell was still in her nose, the metallic taste on her tongue. Her nightmares used to be almost clear, depicting one event or a particular fear. Always somewhat distorted, inflated, twisted, but essentially accurate. Now they were a mess, as if someone had shredded them until nothing but confetti was left, and decided to throw it at her. Just random bits and pieces. Sometimes the result was worse than she thought reality could ever be, but mostly it was just confusing.

This time she'd been swimming in a burning sea of blood, but the fire hadn't hurt and only her hands had gotten wet. She remembered ravens and white smoke, also a howling, raging wind that hadn't made any noise at all and been deafening at the same time, a man's laughter on its currents. It was just too weird. She wasn't even sure whether to call it a nightmare at this point. Her heartbeat was barely elevated and except for the fact that she could have slept for another hour or two she felt perfectly fine.

 _I believe the word you're looking for is thank you_ , the voice in her head said cheerfully.

"Go fuck yourself," Chikako muttered under her breath, "also, learn to count."

She stretched, careful not to wake Shikamaru, and then relocated to the floor. She still couldn't tell whether the voice was actually talking to her or just at her. It never engaged in conversation, no matter what she did, which was an indication for the latter. Of course that could also be on purpose, so she'd assume the masked man was gone and let her guard down. Not that being on guard would help her much against him.

He'd surprised her last time by getting through her wards without trouble, but she'd surprised him too and it hadn't done her a lick of good. He had the Sharingan to see any attack coming and with that stupid jutsu that made him incorporeal or whatever, he didn't even need to be fast enough to dodge. It took him a fraction of a second to activate and then apparently nothing could touch him. No physical object and no chakra either.

If Danzo was to be believed the Yondaime had beaten him, so it was possible. Hell, she'd figured out a way to do it. She just couldn't, not yet at least. That asshole had almost killed Sune, threatened to kill Shikamaru. Intruder, masked man, Madara or Obito Uchiha, whoever he was he needed to be dealt with, better sooner than later.

Hopefully her seal was as good as she thought it was.

. . .

Shikamaru didn't sleep over at the hospital again, had probably gotten an earful from his mother. He still came to visit though, and so did Hinata. Ibiki tried to make an appearance once a day to bring her some decent food, but more often than not he didn't have time and sent Kotetsu and Izumo instead.

The two career chunin made for good guinea pigs. They were like little kids in that regard, always willing to test something new. Chikako had them try to destroy her chakra strings on the regular once she'd finally figured out how to make the stupid things behave more like rubber than glass.

Fucking chakra frequency, or maybe viscosity was more accurate. It was hard to explain. She could sense it and change it by feel, but she wouldn't know how to describe it to someone who wasn't a sensor in the same way that she wouldn't know how to tell a person that had always been blind what colors were.

Whatever property of chakra decided how flexible constructs were, it wasn't described in the books she'd read on the matter. Maybe there were some in Suna that mentioned it, after all their puppeteers had to learn how to do it somehow. Then again, all of the Nara's shadow related jutsu seemed to do something similar, but Shikamaru had had no idea what she'd been talking about when she'd tried to describe the viscosity thing. Maybe they just perceived it as part of a technique and not something that could be done independently.

In any case, a week after she'd been released from the hospital Chikako could spin chakra strings and weave them into patterns with a mere thought. It required more concentration than her shields though and the strings still ripped easily.

It took her another week to make the equivalent of spider silk, seemingly delicate and nearly imperceptible in thin strands, even to the Byakugan, but stronger than steel cables of comparable thickness. Yet another week later she'd managed to find a way to quickly regulate the chakra flow without ripping whatever she'd created to shreds in the process. That more or less allowed her to change the width, length and shape of the strings after she'd formed them.

None of that would be all that useful in combat, but at least she could finally create nets of strings without having to carve or burn seals into dozens of objects. With a little more practice she could most likely use it to create traps as well, but for now she was happy with the invisible hammock she'd spanned between one of the main gate's open doors and the wall.

It was almost noon and Suna had sent word that Kankuro and Temari should arrive in Konoha that day. Accordingly Chikako, absolutely sick of waiting and more than a little impatient, had taken her post, just out of sight but close enough to sense the siblings long before they'd actually reach the gate.

Curiously, Shikamaru had been waiting as well, albeit only for half an hour so far. He was down on the ground, sitting in the shade, most likely watching clouds. He hadn't said anything to her about the Suna team, but the timing would fit and she didn't know who else he'd be greeting at the gate, seeing as, as far as she knew, all of his friends were in the village.

Sure enough, when the two Suna nin and Kiri ANBU escort finally came into view the he made his way over to them. Temari was dressed in a short-sleeved, black kimono fastened with a red sash. It fell to halfway down her shins, but slits from the bottom to mid-thigh on each side ensured that her movement wasn't restricted. She looked fierce in the attire, but the grin she sported at Shikamaru's greeting softened the effect significantly.

Next to her Kankuro wore the same black attire and cat-eared hood he almost always did as well as his customary face paint. Unlike his sister he'd already seemed in a good mood long before they'd come into sight, his chakra bubbling with excitement. Now though his mood was slowly cooling down as he looked around, searching the crowds around the gate.

"I believe he is looking for you Wraith-sama," Takehito opined quietly. The white-haired archer had escorted the two Suna nin, but left their side the second she'd let her chakra flare to call him over. His partner, an ANBU from the regular forces, on the other hand had stayed behind, blending into the crowds, but well within reach to interfere if anyone were to attack.

"Anything interesting happen in Suna or on the way here?"

"No, Mei-san has taken great care to ensure the safety of the Kazekage and his family. I believe he is slightly annoyed with all the precautionary measures she has insisted on."

"That's all?"

"It seems without the Ichibi to sustain him, the Kazekage is no longer able to go entirely without sleep. He is plagued by nightmares most nights, so he still tries, but his body always wins out in the end. He manages to hide it well enough that his siblings have not yet noticed and Mei-san has deemed it not a cause for concern so far.

"She has also helped him get rid of the council to ensure he could have his people elect new representatives. The new council is much more reasonable and for the time being the old council is too terrified of whatever Mei-san has used to blackmail and threaten them to be a problem."

Chikako thanked him, then let the chakra strings her hammock was made out of dissolve beneath her. She landed on the ground silently and a Body Flicker later she stood right in front of Kankuro.

He startled badly, jumping backwards with a surprised yelp. His sister on the other hand smoothly shifted into a fighting stance and had her monstrous fan half unfolded before she realized that they weren't under attack. Not that either of them had reacted fast enough regardless. Had she meant them harm the ANBU guard, who'd only remained in place because Takehito had warned him, would have been the only thing between them and certain death.

The same couldn't be said about Shikamaru though. His shadow had latched onto hers in a heartbeat, restraining any further movement completely. He let her go again almost as fast and since they were close enough to each other no one had noticed, making it seem as if he hadn't done anything at all.

"I knew you were slow, but this is just pathetic Nara," Temari mocked. There was no bite in her words though and her smirk was closer to a genuine smile. Shikamaru muttered something under his breath in response, most likely insulting the female population, but the blond had already turned back to Chikako. "What exactly did you promise my brother? He's been behaving like an eager puppy the whole damn way."

Chikako cocked her head at the other girl, or young woman she supposed. The tone had been slightly accusatory, but only in the same friendly way as her previous statement. It seemed the blond was willing to pretend they'd parted on good terms the last time they'd seen each other, which suited Chikako just fine.

"Whatever he wants, but I've been told he didn't ask for anything in return."

"Whatever he wants?" Temari repeated, slightly dumbfounded. Chikako shrugged, as if that wasn't a big deal and she made the offer all the time.

"Well, within reason of course. I wouldn't really have wanted to start a war, but otherwise, yes."

"That must be some favor." The blond gave her brother, who looked rather disgruntled by then, a speculative look. Chikako got the impression there was some sort of silent communication going on between the siblings, but he didn't seem too interested in whatever Temari had to say. Instead he took a step forward, grabbed Chikako's wrist and pulled her along towards the gate and past his sister.

"I'm hungry and I have about a million questions before we get started, so I'm taking you out to lunch," he declared. Chikako blinked at him in confusion at the abrupt shift. Apparently she didn't get a choice in the matter, which was okay since she was hungry too, but now she was curious why he wanted to get away from Temari this badly.

She looked over her shoulder to see both the blond and Shikamaru watch them, the former grinning wildly and the latter with a neutral expression that bordered on surprise. She waved back at them a little helplessly, but didn't struggle to escape her kidnapper.

"So, why exactly did you come to Konoha? And what about Temari? Is it a good idea to leave Gaara alone?"

"Thank you for coming here Kankuro, I'm so glad you agreed to my request," he said in a very bad imitation of her voice, completely ignoring the questions.

She tugged on his hand so that he'd let go of her wrist, then took his arm instead. He glanced down at her and Chikako batted her lashes, telling him in a sugary sweet tone, "I did promise you whatever you wanted honey, it's not my fault you didn't take the offer."

Kankuro sputtered, stumbled, would have probably fallen if she hadn't still been holding onto his arm. She managed to keep her expression genuine despite his hilarious reaction, but when he cleared his throat and started to dust himself off she couldn't hold the laughter back anymore.

"You want me to answer your questions or not?" He glared at her. It took Chikako three attempts to stop laughing and when she finally did she made a production of pretending to zip up her mouth, lock it and throw away the key.

Kankuro didn't seem too impressed. He waited for a few seconds, still glaring, to make sure that she'd actually stopped.

"Since Temari is no longer interim Kazekage she's back to being Suna's ambassador to Konoha. Shikamaru is usually her babysitter. She keeps complaining about how lazy he is, but I'm pretty sure she likes him. And I'm here because it was on the way."

"To where?"

He stopped, turned slightly so he could grin at her without having to contort himself and said with a considerable measure of pride, "You're looking at the new ambassador to Kiri."

The expression slipped when she started laughing again. Chikako couldn't help it though, he looked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and she just knew Zabuza would treat him like a toddler.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she wheezed. "I just don't want you to be disappointed when you get there. Kiri isn't like Konoha."

"You seem to love it," he grumbled. "The shinobi that came to help us are a little distant, but they're doing good work and follow orders without complaint."

"It's called discipline, I'm sure you heard the term before." Chikako grinned, ducking as he pretended to cuff her ears for the cheeky remark. "What I meant is that most everyone you'll meet inside of the walls will be a shinobi or have at least some basic training. You're an outsider. They don't know you and you'll stick out like a sore thumb, because unlike Konoha, Kiri doesn't open its gates to everyone who comes knocking. They won't be outright hostile, but they'll treat you like a potential threat until you've convinced them that you're trustworthy, so don't expect a cordial welcome."

"Next you're telling me I don't get to do the tattoo either," Kankuro groused, sounding a little dejected.

"Well," Chikako said slowly, but didn't draw the pause out for too long, "I had to make some adjustments here and there, so you'll have to familiarize yourself with the new design. It's not too different though."

"That's fine. Already told you, I have about a million questions anyway."

And he really did. Three dozen about the ink alone and those didn't even include the ones concerning its chakra conductive properties. It was a good thing he'd chosen one of the Akimichi owned restaurants to eat, because they talked for four or five hours and had finished eating after the first. Anywhere else they'd probably have been asked to leave shortly afterwards.

Kankuro insisted on paying for the meal, since he'd invited her. Chikako didn't make a fuss about it, but as soon as he'd turned to leave she left a tip for the same amount on the table.

. . .

"Be careful," Chikako said warily, eyeing Kankuro over her shoulder. They were in the living room of Sasuke's house. Her inks and the puppeteer's tools spread on the table, while Chikako was sitting backwards on a chair. She wasn't wearing much more than pants, because he'd need access to her whole back. He had insisted she couldn't just be half naked though, so she'd fashioned a make-shift cover for her front from a towel and ninja wire.

Chikako thought it was silly, she was far more concerned with what was going to happen to her back than whether he saw her breasts. Of course she hadn't argued. Shinobi were, in general, far less modest than civilians, but she realized that she was a bit of an outlier regardless.

Orochimaru simply hadn't cared about nudity and never treated the children, rather his test subjects, any different. Their state of dress simply had never been a concern, and while the snake was weird and creepy in all sorts of ways, there had never been any sexual connotations to the way he'd treated them. Accordingly Chikako didn't think of nudity as something to be ashamed of, but she understood that Kankuro had grown up differently, so she'd complied and covered up.

It seemed to have eased his mind considerably, but by now her own nerves were frayed for an entirely different reason. He was excited to start tattooing her and all she could think about was what would happen if he messed up even a single symbol. There were so many ways this could go horribly wrong and she might not even realize until it was too late.

Kankuro shuffled a few things around, then put on a pair of gloves and gave her an annoyed look.

"Would it kill you to trust that I know what I'm doing?"

"Just might," she grumbled under her breath, careful not to move around when she felt a needle pierce her skin. The pain was easily tolerable, but she had a hard time relaxing, too afraid she might shift or fall asleep and off her chair.

Kankuro had taken a few days to familiarize himself with the changes she'd made to the design as well as the ink she'd provided him with. She'd missed ANBU training twice, because they'd spent hours talking about her project, his new job as ambassador and how Suna's reconstruction was coming along.

She'd been looking forward to seeing it herself, but hearing Kankuro's exaggerated description of how the village rose back up from the desert was almost as good. The way he told it, it was an epic battle. Man versus nature, freeing remnants of the distant past from the blistering sand's clutches. In reality reconstruction probably involved a lot more sweat, dirt and sore muscles, but the puppeteer made it sound like an adventure.

Shikamaru hadn't yet come knocking to reprimand her for shirking her duties. Chikako figured he had enough on his plate with his own training, especially considering that he was apparently responsible for Temari as well.

There was also Kurenai to consider. He hadn't brought the woman up again, but Chikako knew that he looked in on her frequently, making sure she was alright. He'd vowed to protect her and her child in Asuma's stead and that alone was a huge responsibility.

"Hey, how come Temari gets a bodyguard and I don't?" Kankuro asked about an hour into the session. He'd estimated they'd need at least ten because of the size of the tattoo and multiple layers, so getting the whole thing done would take a few days.

"What makes you think you don't have one?"

"Well, there's only one ANBU and he completely ignores me. Unless you're implying that's some reverse psychology bullshit it seems pretty obvious."

Chikako rolled her eyes with a chuckle, but made sure to stay as still as she could manage despite her amusement.

"What?" He demanded.

"I can't decide whether that's cute or just plain stupid. You're ambassador to Kiri, of course you have a bodyguard."

"Yeah? Then why haven't I seen him yet?" Kankuro sounded equal parts skeptical and curious. He actually leaned back in his own chair a little and paused working for a moment to stretch.

"'Cause that's his job." Chikako turned to watch him, then made a gesture towards a corner with her left hand. Chakra pulsed and a heartbeat later Kankuro nearly toppled his chair in surprise as Takehito appeared from the shadows. "You're off duty during the sessions. Go have some fun."

The Hunter-nin thanked her, bowing deeply and then vanished again. Gone as if he'd never been there at all.

"Shit, that's freaky. Do none of you know how to behave like regular humans?"

"Says the guy with paint smeared all over his face and a hood with cat ears. Oh and did I mention the puppets?"

He chugged a pillow at her head.

"I'm doing you a favor, remember?"

"I remember you almost faceplanting when I offered compensation," she retorted with a grin. Chikako kept the pillow though, placing it on top of her chair's back rest, so she could lean her chin on it more comfortably.

Kankuro called her a brat, but resumed his work with steady hands and the quiet confidence that came from experience. He certainly wasn't an elite shinobi, but for this task she couldn't have chosen better.

The following sessions went much the same, although after the first they'd learned to organize food and water beforehand. Chikako's back always needed some time to recover before she felt comfortable letting it touch anything other than air and Kankuro had made a huge fuss when she'd tried to leave the house wearing only her pants and towel to get something to eat.

He was equally apprehensive about leaving her alone before he'd dressed the tattoo properly. Apparently she couldn't be trusted not to do anything stupid, like smear dirt all over the fresh sections. Chikako had no idea why he thought that. She'd told him as much too, only to receive a lecture on proper wound care and how she regularly disregarded it.

In the end the whole thing took a good sixty-two hours, spaced out over more than a week, because Kankuro didn't care how fast she healed. More importantly though, he checked and double-checked that everything was exactly as it should be, even went so far as to measure line widths and distances between symbols.

Chikako would have been annoyed if it had been a regular tattoo, but as this particular one had the potential to do a lot of harm to her, she was immensely grateful instead. She even insisted on compensating Kankuro for his work, no teasing involved, but he wouldn't change his mind, claiming that he got to tattoo people so rarely it was a treat all it's own.

The best she'd managed was to invite him out for a celebratory dinner, but they didn't even get halfway through their food before Raccoon interrupted them with an urgent summons to Tsunade's office.


	81. XVII - You Gotta be Shitting Me

**A/N:**

Well, this took an age and a half. Sorry about that. I barely have any time to write and I've rewritten this chaper about a million times at this point, because I had to change part of the plot. As some of you have noticed, I deleted the original chapter 81, so lets pretend you never read that okay? Good.

Also, future updates will probably continue to be uploaded at a glacial pace until further notice. On the bright side the story isn't dead yet. So, yay me.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who stuck around and welcome to all new readers. And of course a special thanks to everyone who took the time to review. I love reading what you guys think.

On that note, please don't attack anyone for their opinion. I like reading the good and the bad, whether it be a rant or well-structured. It all helps me get better and understand which things in particular I need to work on.

. . .

 **XVII - You Gotta be Shitting Me**

"Move it brat. Godaime-sama doesn't have all day to wait for you to finish stuffing your face," the Hyuga growled when Chikako didn't immediately abandon her food to follow him.

She heaved a sigh, her stomach rumbling as if to punctuate how inconveniently timed his demand was. She wouldn't even be surprised if he'd purposely waited just long enough for her to start eating. Sometimes he was petty like that. Admittedly, at other times he was disturbingly thoughtful as well, but this was decidedly not one of those.

Raccoon's posture remained relaxed, if not a little smug. For all that he didn't really seem to be in a hurry, he sure sounded annoyed. Chikako was tempted to just ignore him and continue eating. It smelled damn good and even though she'd consume just about anything edible out in the field, she'd really looked forward to dinner. Not just for the foo either, but a summons was a summons and she had agreed to act as a Konoha shinobi while she was in the village.

"Sorry about this," she said, indicating the table and giving Kankuro an apologetic smile as she got up. She left a few bills pinned beneath her tea mug before she snatched a bite from his plate. "Duty calls." For the last time hopefully.

The puppeteer looked rather dejected for a moment, eyes cast downward and posture slumped, but then he squared his shoulders, pasted on a smile of his own and waved her off with a practiced nonchalance that was almost believable. "Don't worry, I'll just make myself at home on your couch. If you're lucky there'll even be some leftovers by the time you get back. You can invite me again tomorrow."

Chikako managed not to wince, barely. He didn't even look surprised that he'd be eating alone. She could practically hear Shikamaru's dry comment that she always left without warning, so nothing unexpected there.

Almost worse was that he'd referred to the Uchiha compound as if it really were her place, because it was most certainly not that, even if she'd lived there for a few weeks. Chikako had no claim to it and wouldn't want it given the choice. Too much blood and not enough good memories to make up for the intruder's shadow that still loomed over it - much less the damn voice in her head.

No, her home was a small room in Kiri, which she shared with a man that was probably sixty percent shark and forty percent nasty grins. It was snarky praise from Ibiki, dog fur on her clothes, the tattoos on her skin and the necklace around her throat as well as kind lavender eyes and annoying, little demons. A myriad of small things that reminded her of the people she fought, bled and killed for. Home was were her pack was, but for all that she'd spent most of her days with Kankuro since he'd arrived, he looked nearly as lonely as she'd felt in the hospital.

Chikako's expression turned soft, a joke about his eating habits on the tip of her tongue to lighten the mood, but Raccoon wasn't feeling particularly patient after all.

"Stop chattering like a teenage girl and get moving!" He snapped, physically placing himself between the two of them and using his body to maneuver her towards the door. Chikako wrinkled her nose at him, yet didn't dodge out of his way. She'd die before she ever told him, but she did appreciate that he wasn't trying to manhandle her. While she could kill him, he was considerably stronger on a purely physical level. Meaning unless she was actually prepared to go that far he'd always have the upper hand and after the way the intruder had gotten past her defenses, toyed with her like a cat batting around its food, she needed to be in control of herself at least.

It was probably a bad sign that he could tell. Raccoon always saw more than she wanted him to. Worse, that he was being considerate made her paranoid, because she refused to believe that there was a decent human being behind that arrogant Hyuga veneer.

"You realize I am a teenage girl, right?" Chikako asked once they'd made it past the entrance and left behind all the curious gazes they'd drawn. Raccoon merely glared at her over his shoulder and sped up a little, not dignifying the question with a verbal response. He had a point of course, it wasn't as if she thought of herself as a child and by now even the civilians would consider her an adult - close enough at least. All she really wanted to know was whether he'd meant it as an insult or a reminder. The man was so inconsistent with his hostility that she couldn't tell half the time.

One would think that reading him should get easier the more time she spent in his presence, but in reality she could guess at his emotions, disgust in this case, and still have no idea what the hell they meant. All she'd learned was that he seemingly couldn't make up his mind about whether he cared about her general well-being or wanted her thrown in a deep, dark cell for treason. Not particularly helpful.

More or less equally annoyed with each other, neither said another word as they made their way across the rooftops, nimbly dodging shinobi and chimneys alike. The silence didn't last long though, as the Hokage Tower was never truly empty or quiet. There were always reports to hand in, papers to file and clients whose missions had to be completed as soon as possible - preferably yesterday.

That day was just like any other. Potential clients on the ground floor, followed by three floors of paper pushers, busy bodies and most likely a few of Danzo's spies. The inane chatter of everyday business hung in the air all the way from the packed reception area and up to Tsunade's office, where they were greeted by a loud thud and an even louder shout of indignation. No guards outside the door, yet six people crammed inside the room.

"Let me go! I need to-" Naruto's words were choked off abruptly, but Chikako wasn't too worried by the commotion. Judging by the positions of their chakra, Kakashi was the one who had stopped whatever he thought he needed to do. So, like the good little soldier she wasn't, she didn't complain about the delay as Raccoon insisted on knocking instead of just waltzing in. He hadn't yet given up on trying to teach her manners, futile as that endeavor was, but he'd also discovered that not giving her the choice to be rude was the path of least resistance. So far she hadn't decided whether going out of her way to disabuse him of that notion was worth the effort.

There was another loud thud from inside the office before Tsunade barked, "What the hell are you waiting for? Come in already!"

Chikako snickered behind Raccoon's back and he nearly hit her with the door in retaliation. She managed to dance around it just in time to avoid contact, but the playful mood evaporated the second she stepped foot inside the office. It was possibly in the worst state she'd seen it in since Tsunade had become Hokage. The desk was split in half, there were several dents in the walls, the shards of at least one ceramic mug lay scattered across the ground amidst a sea of loose papers and various knick-knacks that had probably ended up in their current positions after having been thrown at Naruto's head. On top of that the smell of sake lingered, stubbornly clinging to everything despite the open window.

Chikako knew that Tsunade drank on the job and that the woman wasn't the most organized, but this was beyond unusual and had veered straight into what-the-fuck territory. If Zabuza's office had been in a comparable state someone would have called Haku for an intervention, possibly a medic or three as well just to be on the safe side, most definitely the Jounin and ANBU Commander to take over until it was clear that he was fit to give orders. Here nobody even seemed to notice the mess.

Instead of checking whether his kage was mentally capable of leading a village, Kakashi held Naruto in a choke-hold, while the other occupants of the room looked on as if none of this was their business or even out of the ordinary. The blond struggled like a wild animal, probably only refraining from biting because he couldn't reach flesh with his teeth. Not that her sensei had too much trouble restraining him. He seemed about as impressed by Naruto's escape attempts as her former teammate was by the imminent threat of a - potentially fatal, if the walls were any indication - concussion.

The whole situation might have even been hilarious if it hadn't felt as if Chikako had stumbled into a war zone. She had no idea what was going on or why it required the presence of three fucking ANBU guards in addition to Kakashi and Raccoon. Not to mention that one of them was Yamato. Something was really, really wrong and she wanted absolutely no part in it. Today was supposed to be her last day in the village. Her tattoo was finished and that meant she could go find Kisame and continue their missions for Jiraiya. No Danzo, no intruder and no damn Konoha politics to worry about. This looked like the opposite of that.

Kakashi was tense as a bowstring, part of his attention focused on keeping Naruto, who was practically foaming at the mouth, from storming out of the office. His eye was on her though, as if he expected her to react in a similar manner as soon as she found out why she'd been summoned. Two of the ANBU guards had taken position in front of the window, presumably to block that exit, and Yamato had his hands raised in the Snake seal, ready to interfere at a moment's notice. The only reason he hadn't so far probably that he didn't want to make an even worse mess of the place.

With all of them in there it was already cramped enough and Chikako really didn't need an indoor forest - or whatever the Wood user came up with - on top of everything else, so she channeled chakra into the tips of her fingers and let it stretch outward. Forming the strings still took considerably longer than she would have liked, but then it wasn't as if Naruto noticed them as they slowly wound around his calves and ankles. He was far too busy shouting unintelligible nonsense about having to save someone at Tsunade and trying to get away from Kakashi. His priorities changed rather quickly though once she attached the other end of her strings to the ceiling and yanked him upwards.

Naruto was so surprised by the sudden change in orientation that he actually shut up for a moment, arms dangling at his sides instead of flailing wildly. It gave her just enough time to lengthen the strings that confined him and make them loop around the rest of his body until he was trussed up like a bird.

"What's going on? Let me down!"

Chikako cocked her head at him, not the least bit intimidated by his furious demand. So far he wasn't leaking any demon chakra and if he started she'd roast him with a dose of Fox Fire. She didn't mind him shouting at Tsunade though. In fact, she'd be doing it herself if she'd thought it would help.

Fortunately for Konoha the woman was no sheep. She might be a drunk of questionable competence as a leader, but she didn't buckle in the face of threats, pissed off jinchuriki included.

Another nudge of chakra and the strings moved again, this time winding around Naruto's neck and jaw. This Chikako did with a deliberate slowness so she didn't accidentally cut off his air completely. She didn't want to kill him after all, merely ensure he was quiet for once.

Kakashi frowned at her. He was obviously torn about something, maybe whether to reprimand her, but since he remained silent she turned towards the Hokage instead.

"I will be leaving the village before the end of day, which means I no longer answer to you."

The woman's eyes widened minutely, but except for that only a minor flicker in her chakra gave away that she was surprised. Chikako didn't say anything more, her own expression impassive. She'd planned to announce her departure early the next day as a courtesy to Tsunade for letting her stay in the village. That was all she'd been willing to give though and if it meant getting out of whatever this clusterfuck was she'd gladly move her timeline up by a day. Something that specifically required Team 7 couldn't possibly be good.

The Hokage nodded, waving her hand dismissively, but her voice wasn't as light as she'd probably hoped when she said, "Very well, but you'll want to listen regardless. The fact that Sasuke Uchiha has killed Orochimaru does impact your plans, does it not?"

Chikako blinked at the older woman, stunned into silence. She was vaguely aware of laughter, but it took her several long seconds to realize that she was the one laughing and not just the voice in her head.

"I'm glad you're amused," Tsunade said with a little more bite before she continued to fill them in. The story didn't get any more believable.

Orochimaru was dead.

Dead at the hands of none other than Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke, who had apparently come out of the confrontation with barely a scratch on him. Sasuke, who had then decided to tear down the compound and two others after it. Sasuke, who was as likely to free Orochimaru's experiments as he was to slaughter them.

Chikako didn't know where the information came from, but she did know that at the very least Kakashi believed it was true. Could tell by the twitch of his fingers as he tried not to ball them into fists and the way his gaze didn't quite meet hers. He didn't doubt a word of what Tsunade said and it wasn't the first time he'd heard it either.

And of course Naruto's first demand, once he'd wriggled around enough to loosen the strings and regain the ability to speak, was that they bring Sasuke back, because clearly his actions meant that the Uchiha had to be on their side. That explained the blonds crazy behavior at least, but she had to wonder how Sasuke had earned that kind of faith - or maybe he'd just not lost it yet.

They'd both left at the same time, unlike her though, he'd actively chosen to betray the village. They were both killers, but as far as she knew he hadn't stopped to help out any of their friends and allies in the past few years. On the other hand, Sasuke had remained quiet and out of the spotlight for the most part. That gave Naruto enough room to draw his own conclusions, rose-colored as they seemed to be. Given enough time he might come to look at Sasuke the same way he looked at her, like a dangerous animal that needed to be handled carefully. Safe enough to pet, as long as someone always made sure it wasn't left alone with small children.

Curious that between all of them the one bound to a literal monster was the least monstrous. Naruto was, however, stupendously and willfully naive at times. This time specifically. He kept going on and on about Sasuke's potential intentions, going so far as to claim the Uchiha was trying to redeem himself.

As if.

She had a hard time not to scoff when he told Tsunade, "I bet he thinks you'll be mad if he just comes back, so we gotta go find him and tell him it's okay." That was such a Naruto thing to assume. Disgustingly full of hope and the believe that people really were good at their core. That Sasuke, who was even ruder than Chikako and had almost killed Naruto the day he'd left, was actually concerned with Tsunade's opinion of all things.

The only thing more astonishing was that nobody interrupted his rambling. The ANBU guards, she didn't really expect to do anything. Kakashi remained quiet as well though, and Tsunade ... well she certainly didn't seem like the type to patiently listen or hold back to spare another's feelings. Quite the opposite really.

Chikako had the bizarre thought that the Godaime might be hoping Sasuke wanted to come home as well. Likely for political reasons, but still. It was as if they'd forgotten why he'd left in the first place. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind about Sasuke's plan and Chikako couldn't for the life of her understand why anyone would even feel the need to debate the matter.

As similar as she and the Uchiha were in some respects, there was one key difference. His priority weren't the lives of his friends. He'd thrown his team away the first chance he'd gotten. Chosen to rely on the snake and promises of power instead. While she valued loyalty and was willing to delay any kind of revenge indefinitely to protect her pack, he'd burn every bridge on his path to avenge the dead, consequences be damned.

 _Priorities_ , the voice sneered and she had no choice but to agree. Corpses didn't care anymore. Revenge was for the living, same as graves or funerals. She'd kill Danzo given the opportunity, for herself, in memory of Sai. Not until she knew it wouldn't put the rest of her family in harm's way though. As long as the number and identity of his ROOT agents remained unknown, taking the man out was potentially worse than letting him scheme.

Sasuke on the other hand had just turned himself into an immediate threat. She already knew he wouldn't come back, that question didn't even warrant contemplating. What had Chikako anxious was whether he'd somehow caught up to his brother in skill. Orochimaru was - had been - no easy foe to beat and according to Tsunade's intel Sasuke had easily bested the Sannin in open combat.

Itachi might be willing to beat Sasuke up, but she didn't think he'd ever kill him. Which was at the very least a massive disadvantage in a fight, especially if her former teammate had indeed obliterated Orochimaru without breaking a sweat. She knew Itachi was stronger than the snake had been, but obviously Sasuke was too, so there was really no way for her to be sure of the odds. At this point she knew better than to assume the elder Uchiha was invincible.

 _Wouldn't that be something?_ The voice crooned. This time she wanted to beat it, but of course the damn thing was only in her head. The best she could do was throw some chakra at it and hope it shut up for a while.

By now Chikako was pretty sure it wasn't a mental connection. Only a pale imitation of the intruder that reacted to certain thoughts or emotions, not the real thing. Didn't make it any less annoying though, and only marginally less frightening. She wouldn't even know how to craft a genjutsu that complex, much less one so persistent.

"This is not a rescue mission," Tsunade said sternly, drawing Chikako's attention back to the conversation. "You're to bring him back, but his cooperation is not required."

Naruto nodded like that was the best thing he'd heard all day. Made her question what exactly he thought would happen with the Uchiha back in Konoha. Dragging him back kicking and screaming wasn't in anyone's best interest. Then again, the blond probably still assumed he'd come willingly, only needed reassurance. The edge to Tsunade's smile said she knew better and also that she was too cunning to say so out loud.

Chikako growled under her breath. She hadn't listened during most of their exchange, but now she was sure that the Godaime had just let him prattle on because his delusions suited her goal.

That woman and her stupid capture orders. Go fetch these S-ranked nukenin, run get that wayward Uchiha. What could possibly go wrong? And for what? So the target in question got a chance to escape and cause some mayhem while they were at it?

"Have fun with that," Chikako spat. She didn't wait for anyone to protest, merely gave Kakashi a challenging look to see whether he'd try to keep her form leaving. She did get suspicious when he only inclined his head and held the door for her, but not enough to make her reconsider.

Maybe she should have jumped through the window instead of taking the stairs though.

With all the people on the lower levels and distracted as she was, Chikako didn't sense Shikamaru's presence before his shadow caught hers. He wasn't the only one waiting for her either, but then Temari seemed to be under the impression that this was a chance meeting.

"Aren't you supposed to be having dinner with my baby brother?"

Chikako used what little freedom to move she had left to shrug.

"What can I say? I'm in high demand." As she talked she send a burst of chakra through her feet, but it wasn't nearly enough to escape Shikamaru's hold and anything more than that would alert the guards. She didn't like being caught like this, unable to do much more than breathe and glare at the Nara. It made her itchy, made her want to run or fight - or better yet, hunt.

He returned the look with far less hostility, but about an equal measure of stubbornness. Apparently they weren't moving until she agreed to whatever he wanted. And really, who was she kidding? Kakashi wouldn't have let her walk out like that if he hadn't had a contingency plan and it just so happened to be her favorite Nara. Shikamaru might not even know the whole story, but then all he would have really needed to be told was that she was leaving to do something dangerous involving S-rank nukenin, again. Kakashi knew her more than well enough to guess she wouldn't take the news well.

She should have probably expected something like this.

Too late to make better choices now. No matter whether Shikamaru had all the facts or not, Temari most certainly didn't, which meant discussing anything openly was out. It wasn't as if they actually needed to though. Chikako already knew that she'd have no choice but to find Itachi and make sure he was okay. After all, the elder Uchiha was the reason Kisame and her were helping Jiraiya in the first place, so there would be no point in doing that if he didn't live long enough to benefit from their efforts. She also knew that going alone when she didn't have to would be stupid, especially considering that she'd cross paths with the Konoha team anyway if they went after the same targets. Also, Kakashi was an excellent tracker and there was no time to waste, because Sasuke already had a head start.

She didn't need to be told any of that. Not that Shikamaru had bothered to say a single word so far. He just stood there looking expectant, not even a little bit fazed by her anger. The fact of the matter was he was right. She knew he was right, and of course he knew that she knew he was right. So really all he had to do was wait. Goddamned Nara.

The reason she'd stormed out wasn't that she'd rather do it alone or pretend that it wasn't any of her business. It was because she was pissed.

At Raccoon for one, because he'd ruined the last meal she'd share with Kankuro for a while. The puppeteer had done her an immense favor and refused any kind of real compensation. Now she couldn't even thank him with something as simple as a dinner.

At Tsunade too. Naruto made manipulating him easy, but the woman had played up his hopes so much, he'd inevitably get hurt when they found Sasuke. Also, Chikako resented that she was just supposed to fall in line. She had agreed to act as a Konoha shinobi, but this mission wasn't fit for the temporary rank she'd been given. It wasn't something that would reasonably fall within their agreement either. Tsunade was just using her relationship with Itachi against her. That fucking woman reminded her way too much of Sarutobi.

Kakashi wasn't any better. Raccoon she didn't expect much of, but her sensei should have warned her. She understood logically that the information had to be classified, but he bent the rules whenever it suited him. That he'd chosen to let her run into this unprepared hurt, because it meant he hadn't trusted that she'd be reasonable enough not to run off on her own. Hence the silence and Shikamaru's presence.

Then there was Naruto. He was pack and not. Chikako didn't see him as family the same way she did Ibiki or Hinata, but she couldn't help but be protective of him. Granted, most of the time she thought he was an idiot and wanted to strangle him. She didn't really mind if he was angry at her either. She'd still keep him safe though, because he was good, much better than he should have reasonably turned out considering his childhood.

He made her think that no matter how dark things got, there was always the possibility for light to emerge from the shadows. At the same time she hated it when he stuck his head into the sand like this. Sometimes dark was just dark and no matter how vehemently he refused to see it, reality didn't change.

Above all, however, Chikako was pissed at herself. She'd been caught off guard in the office and then by Shikamaru's jutsu, neither of which should have happened.

It was so easy to dismiss Sasuke as a bratty kid, especially in comparison to his brother, when in truth she had no basis for that assessment. The boy she remembered had left Konoha three years ago and, except for their one encounter in the Land of Swamps, she had no idea what had happened to him since. Despite all she'd said to Naruto, she'd never truly expected this day to come. Sasuke had been a none-issue, because sooner or later Orochimaru would kill him.

Only now the snake was dead, Sasuke was out there hunting his brother and she had no idea how strong he was. How dangerous.

"You okay?" Temari asked, eyebrows drawn together in a frown. Chikako's gaze snapped back to her, only now realizing that she'd stared into the middle distance. Her breathing had become too fast and shallow, her heart was pounding and if Shikamaru's jutsu hadn't pinned her in place she would have probably shifted into a defensive stance at some point.

"Fine," Chikako lied. She didn't bother trying to sound convincing, but Temari dropped the topic anyway. With Gaara as a brother she was well versed in the art of knowing when not to pry. Shikamaru on the other hand didn't give up quite as easily. He wasn't in the habit of letting her pretend her problems didn't exist and he could usually read her even when she refused to talk.

Chikako had wanted to get away before, but now she wasn't just uncomfortable anymore. She was trapped. She'd expected that the Nara would be able to effectively restrain her sooner or later, what she hadn't considered though, was how damn scared she'd be when the time came and she couldn't just leave.

He wouldn't hurt her. She knew he wouldn't.

And still she couldn't help but try to get away. Konoha wasn't safe. The Hokage Tower especially. There were so many damn people. Locals and foreigners, every one of whom could be one of Danzo's spies or an assassin. Her back was unprotected, there was too much going on all around them for her to sense anything reliably and she couldn't fucking move. Wouldn't be able to react in time even if she did manage to see an attack coming.

The next burst of energy she used was much stronger than the last one and even though she directed that energy down and towards Shikamaru's shadow, it caused enough of a breeze to ruffle clothes and startle anyone with even a remote ability to sense chakra. Despite the brute force attempt, his jutsu barely flickered, adapting almost perfectly to the changes in energy. The Nara suddenly looked a lot more alert though. The lazy contentment of a secure victory had washed away, leaving nothing but concern in its wake.

Chikako knew she was panicking, recognized the way her throat suddenly felt too tight to breathe and the sense of terror that was creeping in on her even though there was no actual threat. It didn't matter how often she told herself that though, her heart was still racing and her chest still hurt because there wasn't enough air in her lungs. Usually she trusted her instincts to keep her safe, but right then it was all she could do to fight them.

 _Kill him_ , the voice suggested, latching on to what she so desperately tried not to think. Kill him and there is no reason to be afraid anymore. She did still have the tattoo. It was untestet, but should provide more than enough chakra to get the job done.

"Why are you still here? Get packing, we're leaving in an hour!" Someone barked and then fingers bit into her upper arm, clamping down like a steel trap. She stumbled forward as the shadow let go of her, but Raccoon didn't let her fall. He wasn't gentle when he dragged her after him and out of the tower. The grip he had on her would most definitely leave a huge bruise as well, but Chikako had never been more happy to see him.

He led her into a side alley, then slammed her back into the nearest wall with a growled, "Get a grip!"

Maybe happy wasn't the right word. Relieved fit better. She still didn't like him. Hated that he'd known exactly what to do, because it meant he understood how close she'd come to the edge. That he'd released her right after, taken a step back even, only confirmed her earlier suspicions. Raccoon saw too much, knew too much.

Now, slumped against the wall in a dirty alley, with only a livid ANBU for company, Chikako knew exactly why Shikamaru hadn't just let her go, but the thought hadn't even crossed her mind back in the tower. They'd been in the middle of a crowd and she probably would have attacked anyone who'd come too close. She'd felt as if a noose had drawn tight around her neck and when fight or flight kicked in she knew exactly what her first reaction was, and so did he.

Killing someone by accident would be bad. Would make her barely more than a rabbit animal. The thought that really horrified her though, was that, even just for a moment, she'd actually entertained the voice's suggestion.

She screwed her eyes shut. Then took a deep breath and held it. One second, two, three. She counted to twenty and then repeated the process until her heart rate evened out.

Raccoon didn't leave her. He stood far enough away not to crowd her, didn't say a word, didn't even look at her, but he didn't leave. She was grateful for that, but she resented it too. Resented him, because she was still off-kilter, unsure how to interpret his actions or what to expect.

"You are the most irresponsibly selfish person I have ever met in my life," Raccoon snarled at her as soon as he was sure she'd gotten herself under control. There was so much venom in those words, she didn't know why they made her smile. Maybe because she didn't know how to interact with him when he was being kind. Her reaction only made him angrier, made his words turn nasty. "What good is trying to protect your family when you are so broken that the shards will cut them up worse than any enemy ever could?"

Chikako cocked her head, curious. She felt like shit and it would only get worse once the after effects of her panic induced adrenaline rush fully set in, but she wasn't completely out of it. He wasn't wrong, not really. But he wasn't right either. She'd hurt the people she cared about more than once, but that wasn't all she did. Far from it.

Sai was dead and she'd mourn him for the rest of her life, but Chikako didn't think he'd have been better off never knowing her. Maybe he would have made friends, gotten away from Danzo and lived a long happy life. More likely he would have died on his next assignment or the one after that, lonely and without the capacity to even understand what was causing him pain. There was no way to tell of course. What she did know though, was that she'd made him smile and laugh and joke and huff in annoyance. She knew that he'd enjoyed traveling with Jiro and her, and that when he'd died it had been his own choice, not the duty of a tool, but the sacrifice of a friend.

Sometimes her family was in danger because of her and other times the way she chose to protect them hurt them, but in the end Chikako truly believed that she helped more than she caused harm. Shinobi were all a little broken, each in their own way. What counted was that she tried and Raccoon didn't get to take that away.

"And you're whole?" She hissed. "You've fought in two major wars, survived another. Are you telling me none of that got to you? You've never been caught off guard? Never felt like the walls were closing in on you?"

She didn't expect an answer to any of her questions. Had only asked them because she was sure she already knew. So it took her by surprise when he slammed a hand into the wall, right next to her head. She heard the stone crack as chakra spread through it. For a moment aggression was so thick in the air around them that she could almost taste it, but then his head fell forward and all that was left was a sense of grief she didn't understand.

"One day," he said, voice rough and quiet, "you're going to kill someone without meaning to. You might know who your friends are, but deep down you only rely on yourself and when you're too afraid to think, instinct takes over. Then everyone becomes a threat and that means you become a threat to everyone."

Chikako flinched, because those had been exactly her thoughts, exactly what she was scared of. It was also more than he'd ever revealed about himself and she was still too shaken not to poke at the new chink in his armor.

"Who did you kill?" It was only a whisper, barely loud enough to hear, but he recoiled as if she'd burned him. A second later he was gone and Chikako had the alley all to herself.

. . .

Packing her things took barely any time at all, since Chikako kept most everything she owned stashed away in pocket dimensions. Exchanging her Konoha outfit for Takehito's spare Hunter-nin uniform only cost her a few minutes. Telling Kankuro that he had to leave for Water right away on the other hand gave her a headache.

"I don't understand," the puppeteer insisted. "I get that you can't tell me whats going on, but if it's something bad, why would you send us away?"

Chikako sighed. He might say he got it, but if that were the truth he would have stopped asking questions when she'd refused to answer the first one. Instead he just kept circling around the topic from different angles, trying to get information out of her.

She'd waited a little longer after Raccoon had left her. Long enough to get her shit together, or so she'd though. Kankuro had immediately known something was off and he'd pestered her ever since. She wanted to tell him, if only to make him stop, but there was no benefit in Kankuro knowing.

The information that Orochimaru was dead most likely wouldn't put him at risk, but then if he connected the dots he might get it in his head that she needed his help. If there was one thing she really didn't want to do, it was add someone else to the team that she'd have to keep an eye on.

Kakashi at least she could trust to hold his own and Naruto was surprisingly hard to kill. Kankuro on the other hand would be a liability in more ways than one. He wasn't a tracker, he didn't do stealth and both Sasuke and Itachi would absolutely wipe the floor with him. Better if he didn't get any ideas in the first place.

"It's not something you can help with," she said. " And I need to get a message to Zabuza. Having your bodyguard deliver it is safest."

"Then why aren't you coming as well?"

Takehito sneered at him. "If you whine like this in Kiri they'll tear you to strips the second you pass the gates." He'd remained silent so far, only nodding to confirm that he'd understood the instructions Chikako had signed behind the puppeteer's back. He had, however, gotten progressively more irritated with every one of Kankuro's questions.

The feeling was apparently mutual.

"It's not whining! I'm worried, but you probably don't even know what that word means. You lot always let her-"

Takehito cut him off with a sharp laugh.

"We," he said, pronouncing the word in such a way as to make it obvious Kankuro was not, and would never be, included, "respect Wraith-sama enough to trust that she knows what she's doing."

Kankuro sputtered a protest, certain that caring about someone couldn't possibly be disrespectful, but the Hunter-nin didn't even let him finish.

"You talk and talk, but your actions don't match your words. Do you see the Hyuga girl here? What about the Nara boy or the torturer? They manage to care without all the bitching and moaning. You are no use to Wraith-sama. All you do is waste air and make her explain herself when instead-"

"That's enough." Chikako cut in. Kankuro ducked his head as if it was him she'd reprimanded, whereas Takehito stood proud, facing her anger head-on. That attitude was exactly what always got him in trouble with his usual partner, and Lyn had a penchant for doling out creative punishments - like forcing the scout play bodyguard for someone he considered beneath himself.

He was loyal to a fault. Something that Chikako usually appreciated, because it meant she could rely on him no matter what. He only ever questioned her orders to clarify or point out something she might have overlooked. And in the end, even when he didn't agree or didn't understand, he obeyed. It was the kind of blind trust that was both invaluable and incredibly dangerous.

She didn't know much about his past, only that he'd lived on the streets for a long time before joining the military. Now the Hunter-nin were his family and there was absolutely nothing he wouldn't do to defend them.

What Chikako knew without a shadow of a doubt was that Takehito would keep Kankuro safe, but she also knew better than to expect that he'd be nice about it. He wasn't a mindless tool and while he'd do his job, he'd also make his opinion known. Chikako didn't like that it would hurt Kankuro's feelings in this case, but the fact that Takehito spoke his mind was invaluable to her and she'd never order him to do otherwise. She had too much power over Kiri's military as it was - especially considering she'd left. She couldn't risk turning into Danzo.

"Trust me?" She asked the dejected puppeteer. "I'll be fine and you already made sure I'll have the means to protect myself."

. . .

The fluorescent lights of T&I's bowls weren't all that welcoming. Neither was the scowl on Ibiki's face. Chikako didn't greet him when she entered the office, well aware that it would be wasted breath while he was busy trying to incinerate paperwork with his eyes. She did get a little annoyed after five and then ten minutes passed and he still hadn't acknowledged her presence with so much as a glance.

"You need help with that?" She quipped. "I could slap an Exploding Tag on it if you like."

Ibiki grunted something and then waved at a stack of files on his desk. Chikako was about to protest that she wasn't one of his minions, but the dark bruises under his eyes when he did finally look up made her choke on the words.

Ibiki worked hard. In fact, he barely did anything else, but he also took care of himself. After all, the Head of T&I wouldn't be much use to anyone if he was too sick or tired to do his job.

Chikako gave him a sharp nod, but he'd already turned back to the file in front of him, so she didn't waste any time delivering the ones he'd indicated. It was a good opportunity to let Kotetsu, Izumo and Hinata know that she'd be leaving soon. Also gave her a convenient excuse to look around, see if anyone else seemed like they'd missed a few days of sleep.

Unlike Tsunade's office everything down here was tidy and organized. No clients demanding to see the person in charge, no guards lining the walls and no genin that hadn't yet realized that shinobi dealt primarily in in pain and death, even if they weren't assassins.

"You know, statistically speaking at least one of the teams we graduated with should have been wiped out by now," Chikako mused once she'd handed over the last of her files to Hinata. The other girl shrugged.

"Asuma-sensei is dead," she said as she skimmed a report and jotted down some notes. "So is Sai. You and Sasuke defected and I could list at least a dozen incidents during which one or more of us had a close brush with death. For example the rest of Team 10 in Bird."

"That last one doesn't count. You can't know for certain, " Chikako protested. "Sasuke doesn't count either. He's still alive and-"

"For now," was Hinata's dry response. Chikako hadn't told her anything about the actual mission, but obviously she knew something, which meant Ibiki did too.

"What exactly is going on?"

"Same as always apparently." Hinata used a series of seals to unlock a cupboard, then handed over an unmarked folder. In it were handwritten notes, encrypted with the code Jiraiya had made her learn, detailing a number of suspicious activities and how Danzo might be linked to them. "There is no proof for anything and the councilman does whatever he wants, seemingly without repercussions. He's slowly chipping away at Tsunade-sama's credibility. A few more months of this and they'll beg him to take the hat. There are already whispers in the ranks that he should have been the one to take over, not some drunk gambling addict who'd fled the village."

Hinata's inflection didn't give away what she personally thought of the matter, but the tight coil of her chakra certainly did. If Chikako were to slit Danzo's throat right then and there the other girl would probably congratulate her, maybe even throw a party and give a speech.

Underneath it all the Hyuga heiress had always had a spine of steel, but now she had the hard shell to match it. A few years ago such casual talk of death would have made her uncomfortable, a stuttering, blushing mess most likely. These days her voice remained even and her expression perfectly neutral, pleasant even.

Chikako blinked at her in surprise, just now realizing that her friend would eventually be the one to lead T&I. Ibiki hadn't just taken her on as some low-level minion or paper pusher. He was preparing her for his job. The girl was no longer a timid wall-flower, but a force to be reckoned with. Finally confident enough to stand her ground, and with the smarts and skill in combat to back it up.

If someone had told Chikako a couple of years ago ... well, she wouldn't have laughed, but she wouldn't have taken their word for it either. She'd seen the potential in Hinata, she'd just thought it would remain buried under tradition, social norms and her families crushing expectations.

"Fuck, I miss just sitting around during training and judging the boys for being idiots. Everyone is getting scary these days," Chikako complained, coaxing a smile out of her friend.

"You're one to talk."

She didn't stay much longer after that. Her time was almost up and Hinata reminded her rather pointedly that she did in fact have work to do.

. . .

Chikako didn't hurry to the gate. In fact, she walked deliberately slow and thus managed to arrive late. Ten minutes on the dot to be exact. She'd counted.

Catching up to the others, if they'd left on time, would have been child's play. Naruto's chakra control was so bad, she wouldn't even have needed to track them properly. Kakashi knew it too, yet they were there, waiting.

Chikako couldn't decide whether to be happy or annoyed. As she looked over the team though, the latter emotion quickly won out. Her sensei would lead them. Excellent tracker, in possession of the Sharingan, personally knew both Uchiha brothers and had experience fighting against their kekkei genkai. He was a good choice for this mission - the only good choice.

Naruto had ties to Sasuke, but he was prone to unpredictable behavior and would absolutely disregard orders if they went against what he thought was right. That already made him a wildcard, which was only compounded by the fact that over the past few years more and more of the Kyubi's chakra had leaked whenever he'd been involved in intense fights. If he lost control he might very well turn against them. No doubt the reason for Yamato's presence.

Chikako didn't understand the specifics, but the former ROOT agent could somehow reign Naruto in. That would, hopefully, neutralize the threat, but if it became necessary the team would temporarily loose a minimum of two members. Not exactly ideal cost-benefit wise.

Beyond that Chikako didn't know much Yamato or the way he fought, but as an ANBU chances were he'd at least not be in the way. Her main problem with him was that she didn't trust him, which seemed mutual considering the way he'd eyed her Hunter-nin uniform.

Then there was Raccoon, whose job was, supposedly, to guard her. As a Hyuga he'd also be useful when it came to tracking and his clan's signature taijutsu style lent itself well to disabling enemies in close combat. Chikako didn't like him any better than she did Yamato, but she was reasonably certain that he wouldn't try to kill her in her sleep.

Sadly it only went downhill from there, seeing as the remaining three members of their team were Neji, Coyote and Sakura of all people. She assumed the first two where there to learn. Despite the danger their targets posed, the tracking part in and of itself should be safe enough, a good opportunity to gain some experience.

Sakura though ...

She was strong, perfect chakra control, but she wasn't fast, wasn't stealthy, wasn't a tracker, wasn't an ANBU in training. Chikako looked form her to Kakashi, lifting a brow in question. He seemed oddly amused, whereas Yamato's chakra spoke of anger and Raccoon's held a sort of resigned annoyance.

"She's a medic," her sensei supplied patronizingly, as if Chikako hadn't already known that.

"I'm aware. Doesn't explain why she's here. ANBU has medics." And they knew how to stay out of sight until needed. They were also mostly assassins, because killing things was a lot easier once you understood how and why they worked in the first place. The Hokage's apprentice on the other hand was about as subtle as a hurricane and defaulted to brute force in combat.

Kakashi shrugged, still far too cheerful. "Sakura's better."

He said it as if the statement was fact, meaning he knew first hand that the girl was better. Whatever that meant. Better at healing? Killing? For this specific mission? Chikako scrunched up her nose. When it came down to it she didn't really care. Not about the pink-haired girl or any of her other companions. Once they got a real lead she could always just sneak away, run ahead, so the team didn't matter all that much.

"Where's Crow then?" Of the rookies he was the only one she'd trust to have her back in a fight. Not because she thought Coyote or Badger might turn on her, but because Shikamaru had already proven over and over again that he could hold his own. He didn't need instructions like Coyote did and unlike Neji he knew exactly what his weaknesses were and how to work around them.

This time it was Raccoon who answered, the sneer clear in his voice even if she couldn't see the accompanying expression beneath his mask. "Your pet isn't coming."

"That's a little unfair don't you think?" She returned in a sugary sweet tone that promised violence, then pointedly looked at Neji. "After all, you got to bring yours."

The younger Hyuga didn't outwardly react to the insult, but his chakra jumped in what was the equivalent of a flinch. Chikako knew she was being a bitch. He didn't deserve that, especially because Raccoon was the one who gave him preferential treatment even though he hadn't asked for it, but she couldn't muster up enough compassion to care.

Her question had been stupid and if she'd thought about it for a second instead of going with her gut she would have realized it too. Shikamaru was responsible for Temari and Temari didn't know he was an ANBU rookie. If Tsunade sent him on a mission someone would have to replace him and Temari was too smart not to figure out that what he'd been called away for was classified. She'd be able to draw her conclusions from there. Since the Nara's presence wasn't vital for the success of the mission it just wasn't worth the trouble.

If this were her mission Chikako would have taken him anyway, but then she'd gotten used to the way things were done in Kiri and there her word meant something. As far as she knew Kankuro was the first foreign shinobi to formally get permission to enter the village since Zabuza had taken over. Anyone else had been there on short notice and not in an official capacity. As far as he'd be concerned any and all missions were classified, accordingly when Takehito inevitably handed him over to a different babysitter so he could follow her orders, the puppeteer wouldn't be able to tell whether the Hunter-nin had just gotten sick of him or if it was something more serious than that.

She must have made a derisive noise, because Kakashi narrowed his eye at her in a silent reprimand. Chikako glared back at him for a moment, but then turned her head towards the sky.

"Fine, whatever."

As far as apologies went that had to be the shittiest one she'd ever tried to get away with. Lucky for her, he seemed satisfied with it and she didn't give a shit what the others thought. Good thing too, because Yamato was at least as unhappy with her presence as she was with his.

Once satisfied that nobody else was going to start arguing, Kakashi quickly went over the mission outline, but he didn't tell them much more than who the target was, where they were headed and in what formation to travel. Pretty standard considering how short notice the whole thing was. Chikako couldn't help but wonder if there had been a separate briefing though, because not even Naruto asked any questions.

Not that it mattered too much. She knew her own plan and that didn't involve any of the Konoha shinobi. Traveling with them was both safer and bound to yield results faster, but the second it became more convenient she fully intended to leave the team behind.

Kakashi had probably guessed as much, which was why she was rather surprised that he instructed her to scout ahead. Staying out of sight was what she did best and it put her in a fantastic position in case they encountered hostiles on the way, but it also meant he'd have no way of knowing whether she was still there.

In other words, it was the perfect position to bail. Of course doing so during the day could also put the others in danger, because once she missed a check in they wouldn't be able to tell whether she'd left or been taken out by an enemy. So maybe he knew exactly what he was doing and had decided to work with an emotional leash rather than a physical one.

The rest of the formation was structured in the same way, playing to everyone's strengths. As the medic and therefore highest priority target, Sakura was placed in the middle with heavy hitters to either side. Namely Yamato and Naruto to her left and Kakashi and Neji to her right. Raccoon made up the rear, because as an experienced Byakugan user he'd have the best chances of noticing anyone approaching form the back. That left the lead for Coyote and Blue. Both he and the wolf had good instincts on top of being very observant. Their task would be to keep an eye out for traps, ambushes or anything else out of place.

. . .

That first day they ran through the night, noon and into early evening. No training or detours, pretty boring all in all. Despite that though, they didn't get nearly as far as Chikako would have on her own. Because Neji and Sakura were seriously lacking in endurance compared to the rest of the team, Kakashi had to double the break frequency and even lengthen the duration. It was frustrating to say the least and just another reason to dislike the team.

Once her sensei finally decided it was time to make camp for the night, Chikako circled the area, attaching chakra strings to any tree, bush and stone she passed until they were encased in a semi-circular, invisible web. It was much faster than the way she used to do it, but still took her more than an hour to complete because of its size.

While she'd been gone Coyote and Blue had caught a rabbit each, and Naruto had already recovered enough to make a nuisance of himself. Yamato had decided to use his ability to create wood by making what was essentially a bungalow, which of course prompted the blond to ask for all sorts of modifications, including but not limited to a tower and a statue of himself as well as a miniature version of Konoha.

As far as Chikako was concerned the whole thing was too stupid to bother with, so she ripped a leg off of the rabbit that had already been cleaned and mostly cooked over the fire and found a perch on a tree near the perimeter she'd marked. Far enough away to get some quiet, but close enough to keep an eye on the others.

While Yamato dealt with Naruto, Kakashi was busy reading his favorite book and pretending to ignore everyone else. Meanwhile Coyote cleaned the second rabbit, Blue, ever watchful and fixated on the meat, at his side. Closer to the fire, Neji made sure that the first one didn't get burned, whereas Sakura was rolled up in her sleeping bag, dead to the world.

The only other person who apparently wanted nothing to do with the group was Raccoon. Well, either that or he'd decided to take his watchdog duties more seriously, because he'd sat down at the base of Chikako's tree only minutes after she'd gotten there.

He didn't say a word that night. Not the next one or the one after that either, but he was always there. On day two she noticed that Yamato was far more inquisitive than him or Kakashi when she checked in to make her reports, which either meant he'd decided to trust her or he didn't give a shit. Day three had her realize that Raccoon slept with his back to her, under a fucking tree and away from the fire every damn night and was likely to continue to do so.

When day four came around Chikako decided to roam a little further than usual to scout. Both because she was bored and to test whether her guard dog would react. She spotted a merchant on a road the team would have to cross around noon. The woman was so old that even her wrinkles seemed to have wrinkles, but she walked beside her ox-drawn cart instead of sitting in the back. There wasn't enough space between the all the crates and fabrics stuffed into it, she was tiny though and would have fit without too much trouble.

The cart itself didn't look like much, but judging by the gold jewelry adorning the woman's neck, wrists and hair she wasn't short on money. The fact that two shinobi with jonin-level chakra reserves were accompanying her only underlined that impression further. The one walking behind the cart was about average height for a man, with wide shoulders and a wider belly. In contrast the one in the front was tall, almost lanky and looked as if he'd fall over if he tried to wield the oversized war hammer that was strapped to his back.

What Chikako found especially interesting were their Kiri hitai-ate. She didn't know every ninja in Mist's military, not by a long shot, but she did know that escorting merchants wasn't what they did.

When Zabuza had made the decision to keep the name Chigiri he'd committed to the reputation that came with it. Even if he'd taken a mission to protect this old lady for whatever reason, no Kiri shinobi would walk out in the open like this. They lived and breathed stealth and by the time you saw them it was already too late to run. The ANBU and especially Hunter-nin were the true assassins, but to attain even the rank of genin basic stealth skills were required, be it in the form of literally remaining unseen, blending in with a crowd or posing as a civilian.

The voice in her head chuckled, no doubt reacting to the anticipation crawling through her veins and making her skin itch. It wasn't a friendly sound, but matched the grin on her face quite nicely. Seemed like she'd found her entertainment for the day.

Chikako let herself fall from the branch she'd sat on as soon as the trio had passed her, not bothering with Camouflage, but otherwise undetectable. Neither of the guards turned around. Not then and not during the half-hour she followed them. If nothing else that alone would have given them away as impostors. The only legitimate reason not to hide on a mission was as an intimidation tactic, to scare potential hostiles away before they got the stupid idea to attack. But even then they'd still have to remain vigilant of their surroundings.

One of the very first lessons taught in Zabuza's restructured academy was to always look around, especially up and down because that just wasn't something humans naturally did. Also to always expect an attack from behind. It came right after the lesson on picking one's battles and before the one to always assume the enemy played dirty. Chikako should know, she'd been roped into demonstrating more than once, because some people didn't understand that they had blind spots until someone held a kunai to their throat.

This time the demonstration was a little more permanent in nature. Her wakizashi appeared in her right hand as she walked up to the guard in the back, silent as always. It took him until the blade exited the front of his rib cage, crimson with fresh blood, to realize that they had company. Not that the discovery was much use at that point.

His gasp was almost inaudible, easily swallowed by the groaning of the wooden cart. The sound of his massive body hitting the ground though, was much louder, a dull thump as his head smacked into the back of the cart, rattling whatever was in the crates, and then another when he landed in the dirt.

His partner spun around, eyes wide and one hand on the hilt of his hammer. Stupid that he didn't draw it immediately. His stance was wrong to, feet too far together, knees stiff. He was right to be terrified, yet lacked the instincts to do anything about it.

Meanwhile the old lady, seemingly unconcerned, pulled her oxen to a stop with surprising ease and just waited for things to play out as they would. Chikako ignored her for the moment, fixing the other shinobi with a hard look. He took an involuntary step back, but aborted the second, choosing instead to finally draw his weapon and square his shoulders defiantly.

"Please enlighten me," Chikako said conversationally, "Where exactly did someone as incompetent as you get that hitai-ate?"

He swallowed, eyes darting to the dead body behind her, then her blade, still wet with his companions blood, and finally taking in the Hunter-nin uniform.

"P-pl-please," he stuttered, shaking all over, but Chikako had no mercy for fools. Clearly he knew Kiri's reputation well to be so afraid, yet he'd chosen to pose as a Mist nin regardless. She waited three full seconds before taking off his head, just in case he had anything interesting to say, any last words, but all that left his mouth was more begging.

Chikako mostly avoided the spray of blood, but got some on her left arm. It war warm and sticky, but at least it wouldn't be easily visible on the black uniform. The severed head rolled a few feet and she followed it to remove the hitai-ate. Next she patted the idiot's corpse down for valuables or anything else that might be of use and then did the same to his partner. All the while the old lady stood by, watching silently, but not the least bit afraid.

"Where'd you pick up these clown?" Chikako asked once she was done.

"In Wave," the woman cackled, "I figured they were full of shit when they said they were Hunter-nin, but they were cheap and common bandits can't tell the difference between fools and the real thing."

Wave? There were patrols in the area, even a few shinobi stationed permanently to keep an eye on things. The small country had become a good source for information since Gato's death. These two morons must have gotten lucky not to be discovered or someone would have taken them out much sooner.

"Where are you headed?"

"Just the next town over. You offering to escort me girly?"

Chikako shrugged, "Might as well." It would only take a few hours and merchants always had the best kind of gossip. If she regularly traveled the area she'd know if anything out of the ordinary had happened lately, say a stray Uchiha making some noise.


End file.
